DIY Welder Control Board


Posted on Feb 4, 2014

The first board was digitally controlled but the actual welding current is analog. This allows the board to operate real time without the need for the CPU to process the voltage/current. A block Diagram is shown below: It is basically a switching power supply controller. The CPU generates a 0 to 5 volt reference, that represents a 0-100V welding v


DIY Welder Control Board
Click here to download the full size of the above Circuit.

oltage. The voltage sense amplifier has a gain of 1/20 so a 0-100V weld voltage will output a 0-5V signal. This is fed into a summing amp that generates a difference signal. this difference is fed to the comparator. The comparator is also fed a 20kHz triangle wave. The comparator will then output a PWM signal that varies with the difference in the desired voltage and the actual voltage. This signal is fed to the output driver to control the field current. The output stage uses MOSFETs for efficiency. For MIG welding, the above is all that is used. For Arc and TIG, the voltage should drop with current. The current sense input will also feed the current into the summing amplifier. A variable gain allows the current slope to be programmable. As an example, suppose the voltage is set to 40V. The current sense is programmed to a slope of 0. 3 volts per amp. At about 50 amps, the current sense will output the equivalent of 15 volts. The circuit will then drop the output voltage to 25V. At 100 amps it will drop to 10V. The inputs and outputs are optically isolated. This is for safety, protection from spikes and also allow the output to drive the field or saturation current off of any power source. There is a small switching power supply that generates 3 isolated power supplies to power the input and output circuitry. The CPU can program the variable gain via an electronic potentiometer. The voltage reference is generated from a...




Leave Comment

characters left:

Related Circuits

  • New Circuits

    .

     


    Popular Circuits

    Logic probe yields three discrete states
    Head light timer circuit
    BQ24020 battery charger
    White LED Voltage Booster Uses 555 Timer IC
    op amp Trouble transferring schematic (working) to actual circuit (not working)
    control electric appliances
    Schematic Diagram Wiper Speed Control Circuits
    Voltmeter with LED for car battery PCB
    FM CB radio receiver circuit design using TCA440



    Top