Fitting a fan to an arc welder-best options?

[mart]

I want to fit a fan to my SIP 160amp arc welder. It has been no problem in the past (I’ve had it since about 1982), but recently I have been burning quite a few 3.2 rods and it cuts-out after a while to cool down. I destroyed an old discarded microwave oven yesterday to get the fan out, but it was unsuitable in size and type. I feel sure that other members will have fitted a fan for the same reason. What have you used ?

I’m thinking of cutting a square hole in the back of the casing and mounting a fan on the outside as there is limited space available on the inside.

 

[R Kraft]

If a mig type fan would fit your case.
We talked about fans in this thread. you just needs a 220v one.:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=8046
Robert

 

[Dr pepper]

A microwave fan would be ok air flow wise, I see your point though they are pretty much a skeleton.
A computer type fan would work, a 150mm one, there are 240v options around, beware of the airflow, they go from useless silent running ones to others like a tornado, the better the airflow the more cooling.
Check out ebay, theres usually a few surplus ones cheap.

 

[john224]

Fan

Go to the lokal computer shop and see if they have a second hand 240 volt or 12 volt fan 4" or 6" if you know where to wire it up to that is what we have done to one of out arc welders wired it up so its on when welder is switched on so runs all the time,,

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Use the fan out of an old fan oven ..get such an oven from your local " freecycle group ".

Make a new fan blade so it is about 6 inches in diameter and has 12 blades that are uniformly twisted to give the air movement.

Mount the motor up on a simple strip of steel bent to give a right angle and wire it in to the on off switch of the 240 power switch.

Mount the fan so it is at the opposite end of the windings to the current control mechanism , this helps to blow clean air forward and blows much off the switches etc, , cable tie any wiring safely out the way and also use some fixed anchors to cable tie the wiring to for you don't want any flapping wired near the open bladed fan inside the welders casing.

Re the space needed .. my fan blade & motor is only 2 1/2 inches wide and fits inside the main case .

 

[the snooper]

i think you have to be careful installing a fan because you don't want the fan blow directly on the thermal cutout if you can even find out where on the transformer it is.
if that were to happen the temperature in the core of the transformer would keep on rising and the innermost windings would fail.

 

[madkayaker]

i fitted a case fan from Maplin a 230V one. I got a large one and ended up haveing to mount on an angle. I would got for two smaller ones ever side of the slider. i have it wired to the perminantly live side of the switch so that its on all the time. will take a couple of pics when i get five and its a sip!