How Welding Transformers Work. Teardown and Explanation 

New video about welding machines is now online: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6Gx9cBPrjAs.html

I enjoy watching your videos and experiments. Way over my head and too late to learn at 72 years old. I was a welder for 40 years and really enjoyed what I learned while welding. Now I have a couple of welding machines that I need to repair and was trying to see if I could gain any information on RU-vid. It would have been nice to learn the electrical side of the machines I have used. Keep up the great work and teachings, much appreciated Sir. Paul Greenlee

very good command of english for a not native speaker, solid theoric knownledge of electronics, good video making skills, and bit of humor. you are the man, man! :-) Grusse aus Italien

I wish my professors in electrical engineering had been as articulate and concise as you. Thank you for taking the time to deconstruct these systems into their basic, first-principles components and concepts!

This literally answered every single question I had about the mechanisms by which transformers operate, in a remarkably well-structured format demonstrating a thorough understanding of the subject matter, making for the most time-efficient educational video I have ever seen in my life. Outstanding channel. I have never subscribed to anyone so fast before. This man is a veritable genius.

Thank you. I think that I'm very fortunate to live in a time when I can watch teachers and researchers do their work like this. It is a very personal experience. Thank you again.

Though i am a doctor by proffession yet i have great love for electronics and respect for the geniuses who have shown what human mind is capable of. Your video has been a great help to further my understanding oc transformers. Thank you!!

I feel smart just watching this. So much information and explained in an accessible way!

I've been an electrician for over 30yrs. I was apprentice of the year for my class and I have to say THANK YOU. Its been way too long since I've studied electricity. I knew there was a good reason I subscribed.

Being an engineer n enthusiastic of "how stuff works", I have bee watching electrical n mechanical videos on you tube since 2012- Today i stumbled upon best video i ever watched, which gave me great deal of knowledge n information. Must admit being good in academic n practical, i had overvalued myself. I m down on earth after watching n listening to sound technical knowledge from this video! Thx not only for uploading it, but reveling me how practical n knowledgeable a person can be-

I know NOTHING about electronics, but still I watch these videos. I have almost no idea what you're talking about, but as long as you keep saying 'moss-fats' and I'll stay subscribed :)

The information density of your videos makes for one of the best channels I've seen Nice stuff

Wow. So impressive. I am quarter German and I am sure I had the same monotone voice when I explained things to people as well. I am retired now but people commented about this to me when I worked and I realized I was doing it intuitively because it’s the most efficient way to teach someone. Being and acting like a clown or following like a sheep makes you popular but you don’t achieve anything. They called me a genius so many times I was sick of hearing it. I am sure he also has a very good sense of hummer as well. I feel like giving this guy a job not money. Sure it was not perfect and some depressed people will pick on the small cracks in his explanations but this kid presented a brilliant summary with virtually nothing. Thank you so much for your efforts.

I could write a lengthy piece detailing the various ways you impress with your videos, but I'll say this simple sentence, with deep & profound meaning behind it: You Sir, are an asset to a world of hungry minds... Thank you! From Joseph in Hudson Falls, New York, USA. 😎👍

I just love the simplicity of the old welders! Our forefathers are a lot more clever than we give them credit for.

I could listen to TPAA all day. I love how he sounds so casually brilliant. He's like this regular guy that you went to high school with, who also just happens to be an actual mad scientist. It's awesome.

What a brilliant video! Clear, concise and no jibber-jabber. I understand my Welder better because of this video. Perhaps I can get it working! Thank you very much!

Thanks for your time, money and effort into this piece of work.

Crisp and easy explanation, that electrical students can understand well. Good job....

ASTONISHED BY THE QUALITY OF YOUR VIDEO :))) Best video I've seen on YT in the last years. I'm visiting your Patreon site now.

I love these experimental setups you used to do. That reminds me.... I've got to get my dummy load designed. .. should keep me busy for a few days of lockdown.

It would be terrific to have someone like you as a teacher at our school! Great video.

As usual, I only understood about half of the info you presented but I sure learned a lot. Reminds me of the old adage about drinking from a fire hose. I keep going back to videos that I've already seen and learn more each time. Thanks!

Your videos are great, I enjoy listening to you speak. Very concise

Love your work ! I have an Electronic Engineering degree from 30 years ago, but I find your exceptional clarity of explanations wonderful for clearing the cobwebs away from the long dis-used magnetic theory stored in my head from way back then :) Ive mainly been a "Digitologist" in my career, working with Microcontrollers, PowerFets and embedded systems (EFI, Robot ESC's etc) so to see you working in the power electronic/electrical realm is excellent ! ...aaand. funnily enough, just a little while ago, I bought a modern DC Inverter Tig (and Plasma cutter) and taught myself to TIG weld (through youtube videos of course).. and I would *love to upgrade it to be able to do AC for Aluminium. Like you, I cant quite swallow the extra $600 (Australian) more than the DC machines just to do AC for some occasional Aluminium welding.. ... so If you are planning on trying to come up with some form of add-on micro-controller board to be able to generate the wave-forms (Frequency, Mark/Space ratio (cleaning action), Pulse Rate, Ramp up and Down, and external control (pedal, finger pressure trigger) etc, required to make a DC welder into an AC one, then I'm with you 100%. Ive already joined your Patreon campaign, If theres else I might be able to help things along with, let me know.... ...If you think its possible to microprocessor control the DC Welder electronics without requiring major PowerDrive component replacement, then maybe a Kickstarter project to develop an Open-source modulator add on board would garner some support to help development along ?.. ..In any case, keep on with the videos, theyre great ! Thank you ! :)

Fascinating stuff. Its much easier to learn this stuff from such a concise format as these well done videos. Plus this generally isn't the kind of knowledge you run into outside of an electrical engineering degree by the sounds of it.

Thanks for showing the dusting with the compressor, that was super satisfying.

Extremely good and clear output, as always! :)

This is my favorite video by one of my favorite u tube channels . thank you

I really liked this video, i just started my first electronics design job and now only design FPGA/analog stuff for the semiconductor test industry. now I finally got the money to do cool projects like this.

you are a very good lecturer and your videos are priceless. God bless you

By far the best, most educational video on electrickary. Well Done

So well explained!! I wish my university teachers would have been only a fraction as good as teachers as your videos!

Loved your video! Always neat to learn new things about welding.

to the sound of evil buzzing at 50Hz: "as you can see, we are at an output power of roughly - oh wait, my Fluke is melting" great vid and perfect demonstration of shunting

Wonderful Video! I will donate when able. Thank you for the excellent videos!

Fantastische Video! Große Lektion in Induktivität, Elektrotechnik und Transformatoren.

I thoroughly enjoy your videos. Very educational. Keep them coming.

Very good video, as always very educational with explaining everything in details with examples. :)

Great video. You have excellent teaching skills and a very professional voice.

Extremely thorough. Well done.

Awesome presenter. Zero fluff. Very smart

I have a feeling some of my tutorials helped you disassemble your transformer :). Well done, interesting video. I appreciate a thorough explanation that is not too technical. Great content.

23:50 thanks for showing this picture it helps me to understand the mystery of shunt plats :)

Awesome video.. Definitely looking forward to the next ones!

Love the way you explain things. I'm already a subscriber.

Excellent detail in practical and theoretical regards. Thanks for sharing!

I am NOT an electrician or something like that!! Watching this TUTORIAL makes me feel like I could become an electrician. WELL - THOUGH & PREPARED => WORK!! T-H-A-N-K-S 4 the AMOUNT of TIME spent on this! You should REALLY consider RE-UPLOADING this TUTORIAL in/auf DEUTSCH😅

Very informative. Im impressed. Well done!

Excellent lesson, you are an outstanding teacher, remind me of Salman khan. You know how to explain things that seem difficult when explained by 99% of teachers and engineers. I hope you make lots of videos experimenting with different electronic devices. Thank you, keep it up

nice explanations, and good discipline in creating this tutorial

This is so great and so inspiring. Thanks for doing this.

Thanks for an excellent video. AC/DC welders are fascinating and as you know fall into two main groups, the older being switched by SCR pairs and the newer ones with IGBT units. Hope you eventually get to look at both kinds and share your thoughts. The dummy coil in the back of all the SCR units I have seen is fascinating and seems to be a balance coil to save the SCR from damage when the field reverses. Look forward to future videos.

Great video! Hope to see the next one soon!

SOmehow I prefer your videos even more than those other super high budget youtubers

You videos are fun and educative thanks alot 💕

Excellent Video as usual... Thanks for sharing

Thank you so much for this video. I learned so much!

I wish i understood this better than i do, but great anyway. I enjoy your videos, and hope to learn from your also.

اقسم بالله اني احببتك واحببت قناتك .... عن جد انت ممتاز ...very very good ....thanks

I have one of those welders, and added a 110mm 220VAC fan on the rear panel to cool it, which helped a lot with increasing duty cycle from it's original 2 minutes per 15 minutes to around 5 minutes per 15 minutes. It keeps the core cool, even if the stray magnetic field when the arc strikes stops the fan dead while welding.

Fantastic and well explained video! I learned a lot.

very detailed and informational explanation, thank you

Wicked cool, u are my favorite mad scientist as of now🎆🎆🎆

Great video, very nicely explained.

Extraordinary video. Thanks!

Well another superb video here... I wish I had such a good teacher in my earlier years... Can't wait to get more of these incredibly informative videos. Thank you for all your time and efforts at making these tricky subjects so clear and understandable by the masses ! If only I had s few dollar to spare, I'd be glad to help you build your TIG devices from spare parts... I'll try to play lottery...

I went to school for the wrong thing every time I listen to these videos I get excited to learn more. Should have been a engineer.

Like the coverage of things we take for granted, transformers are more than step up, step down and isolation.

Thanks for the good explanation. Thank you very much

Very cool. Your explanations were a great brush up on transformers. I found the part on stray field transformers and coupling to be quite informative as I haven't thought about those in some time. I finally found my first mot to fashion a resistance welder for both batteries and general spot welding. I plan to also build a basic arc welder with a variac, but would like to start working on a couple switching designs soon. Thanks for the video.

thoroughly enjoyed your video, even speaking in your second language you are a better teacher than my professors lol

I'm simply in awe of your brilliant effort, delivery and genius! Yours are the most productive, inventive and knowledge packed videos on the entire internet and my appreciation for your effort can only be expressed in e-notation! 6.022 x 10^23. Keep up the great work!

Amazing video dude, regards from argentina.

Thank you. That's exactly what I needed to know.

Your the champ! another excellent vid! Cheers from Toronto

Quite decent content. Thank you.

Great explanation. The genius man you are showing respect must be Charles Proteus Steinmentz.

Brilliant. Good science and cleverness. Spend much time in a factory? Say as a Millwright or Electrician? I feel like I know you. Writing in 2018, this style was really fun. There is value in that.

You have really great videos and you can think really well. Many hours of work must have gone into that. Thank you for the great material! I live near Hamburg and might need your help and advice with some projects I have in mind for the near future. Thank you!

Excelent video. Thank you

Appreciate the efforts

i hope you can make a lot of video in the future. thanks so much

wow my head is spinning Great depth!

perfect explanations !

I built my own arc welder by rewinding the secondaries on some microwave oven transformers. I even d/c weld with it through an MDQ200A bridge rectifier. It works.

Great stuff. I like the way your brain works. ;-)

You Sir are a GOD, what is it like walking around us intellectual mortals?

Only watched 2 minutes and I'm already subscribing.

Great explanation! The only thing missing was the equivalent magnetic circuit.

Thanks for the vid, nice vise!

vary nicely said Thankyou

ts off to you sir! Impressive!! :)

Very well done.

Great video on how it is broken down to the t.. Man I wonder how long it took u to set everthing up and how long it took u too learn all this .. I have too say u are one smart dude !! Keep up the good work and showing us how all this works !!

A tip for cleaning a really dirty electronic part is to use a pressure washer. After a few day it can be powered up again one it is completely dry. This applies to old television sets, old radios etc.

Great video.

The simplest welding machine consists of two separate pieces of tin sheet stuck in a bucket of salty water. One sheet connects to the live wire, the other to the welding stick holder. The neutral is common. - Half a handful of salt is needed for 8-10 l of water. Dissolve the salt in hot water. - The conductor thickness should be 2.5 - 3.2 mm2 for 2.5 thick sticks. - If the fuse is tripped, add more water and avoid electric contact with the earth. - You can use a car battery box (with the internal walls pierced) instead of a bucket for power control. *Keep in mind that this machine should be operated very carefully because the live wire voltage is on the stick holder AND in the bucket.*

Really brilliant, u rock!

actually there is another reason the transformer heated up so quickly. during normal usage the cables, clamp, clamp ground connection and the wire electrodes have a lot more resistance probably 10x more than the two short fat wires you bolted to the outputs, which of course caused more than the 140 max amps that the transformer is rated for. comparing the two fat wires to the secondary wires shows that difference. also most welders are sole with 20% duty cycle.apart from my above comment, I think I agree with all the good compliments about your videos. excellent understanding of the subject and very clear and precise explanations. thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to the "reverse engineering" video of the inverter welder.