I need a POW CON welding manual

admin

I have just purchased a used pow con 630 smp welder that is set up for welding aluminum. It has a 3phase 440 plug on it, and is capable of being wired for single phase 220. I do not see any schematic on the machine to direct me and am not an electrician. Can anyone advise me so that I can get going?
Reply:I have a couple or three of the 300 series.  I am not sure if they have the same internals, but generally what you have to do is switch around the copper conductor plates on inside (3 locations for this on the 300 and all three have to be switched) and tape up the red wire (using the white, black and green as usual).  You might have some problems with finding a plug and breaker that can handle that thing on single phase 220.  You probably want to wire it directly into the breaker box and skip the plug alltogether.  ArcProducts provides tech info and service for some of the powcons, but I dont know about this one.  if you google arcproducts and powcon, you will get their page and there is a phone # that you can use to get more info...maybe.If this is a big inverter welder (likely) you will need to discharge the capacitors before you start messing with the conductor plates....otherwise, we may not hear from you again.  Google "discharging capacitors" for a good discription on how this is done.  In my welders, the capacitors are 600v and pack quite a punch.  I accidently discharged one with a screwdriver and it burnt the end of the screwdriver and sounded like a rifle shot.Last edited by smithboy; 10-24-2005 at 12:37 PM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:thanks smithboy
Reply:thanks smithboy; hope is restored. I will google arcproducts right now!!
Reply:For the conversion from three phase to single phase, it's probably best to have the manual.  PowCon is out of business at this point and the service and support is being done by Arc Products.  If they have the manual for that unit, they'll probably sell it to you for about $20.-Heath
Reply:Since ITW/Miller Electric bought Powcon. You may be able to contact Miller for Help.WWW.MILLERWELDS.COMKnowledge is GOLD
Reply:www.arc-products.com has all the support info and parts for PowCons.  They hooked me up with just the two pages I needed via E-mail instead of having to buy the manual.  I converted a 300SM from 460V 3-phase to 240V single-phase.  If the thing's been unplugged for a day (some say 15 minutes) the caps are discharged enough anyway.