Polishing a Turd.....

admin

I have an electronics background, and as I near retirement I am trying to learn about welder design with the end goal of creating a DIY project to add AC square wave capabilities to the multitude of cheap Chinese DC Inverter TIG welders available. Maybe producing semi-universal kits for those who want to convert their welders, like the old HF boxes. This would be sort of an "open source" project freely available to anyone interested, not a commercial venture. I have collected several broken DC TIG welders and have returned a couple to working status. To further my knowledge, I am looking for 3 things: First, any schematic diagrams of AC TIG welders so I can understand the principles. Second, an education on the most important features you feel are necessary for AC TIC welding (AC Offset, slope rise and fall times, frequency, start method, etc). Third, I would like to buy a couple broken chinese AC TIG welders for a reasonable price to reverse engineer. The latest Chinese TIG welders I have bought seem to have really good design and basic components, but the execution has simple common problems like wires with heavy ferrite beads flopping around during shipment and breaking. I think with a few simple modifications and upgrades they might surprise a few people. If anyone can help with info or offers on their broken AC TIG welders I would appreciate it.Bob G.