Welding Tips and Tricks

Has anyone fitted a PC dust filter or similar to their inverter machine?
Seems a bit odd that most machines I've seen choose not to run a filter.
I'd have thought dust would be a major factor in the life of inverters seeing as they are mostly electronic boards no?

I had that on my GYS Tig, from the factory.
Fried the AC board anyway....

If someone cleaned it on a regular basis that would be ok. Otherwise it will clog up solid and restrict air flow.

Lost of new boards have a clear coat that's silicone based I think. It keeps contaminates off the board a lot better.

True, you should see the thickness of the coating on a Kemppi board
(Probably not silicone though, big no no around electronics)

Actually they make a silicone based dielectric spray you can put on boards and contractors in dirty environments.

I haven't pulled the case off my machine to see what's inside yet but I imagine I'll need to do this every 6 months to blow out all the accumulated dust.
Is that what everyone else is doing?

You mentioned having the same pedal in that other thread, do you have a tokentools machine?

I opened mine up to take an output off the gas solenoid relay. I don't thing it was too hard to open up. Probably wouldn't hurt to give it blow out with the air gun once in a while.

Rupes wrote:You mentioned having the same pedal in that other thread, do you have a tokentools machine?

I opened mine up to take an output off the gas solenoid relay. I don't thing it was too hard to open up. Probably wouldn't hurt to give it blow out with the air gun once in a while.

Yep the Alupulse 210

tonij wrote:Has anyone fitted a PC dust filter or similar to their inverter machine?
Seems a bit odd that most machines I've seen choose not to run a filter.
I'd have thought dust would be a major factor in the life of inverters seeing as they are mostly electronic boards no?

I'd like to see this with a visual indicator for when it's not flowing enough - similar to what is found on a Diesel engine system.

Biggest problem I see is it can't be a paper element - sparks could light it up.

On several things at work, I use the cut-to-fit replacement AC filters screens, the molded plastic ones. They hold up quite well, and are easily washed. They catch remarkably fine dust for the apparent pore size, and are bright white so the color change tells you when they're dirty.

This stuff:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/AC-Safe-Fact ... /100150627
Cut to fit. I simply have it taped to some of the stuff I don't have time to build a frame for.

A shot of end-dust spray after cleaning helps, too.

Steve S

Poland308 wrote:Actually they make a silicone based dielectric spray you can put on boards and contractors in dirty environments.

I should have written electro mechanical instead of electronics in general. Silicone does bad things to relays and other mechanical contact tips.

Different brand than I use but same kinda stuff.
https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-Sil ... B008O9YGQI

I use something like this even on the contactors inside mechanical equipment that's at a coal fire power plant. Some of it is exposed to the fine coal dust to the point the dust piles up inside everything. It's down wind of the coal pile.

MinnesotaDave wrote: I'd like to see this with a visual indicator for when it's not flowing enough - similar to what is found on a Diesel engine system.

Biggest problem I see is it can't be a paper element - sparks could light it up.

Some type of air flow meter gauge would be very cool to have as a feature.

I did a sort of crude air flow test on my machine.
I stuck a small strip of paper next to the air vents to act as a needle indicator.
I removed my machines rear plastic cover so the fan is fully exposed and marked the angle of the paper then compared that to when the cover was back on and there was in my opinion a pretty significant reduction in airflow not to mention increase in noise just from its own cover...