A private house gives its homeowners the opportunity not only to admire their beauty, but also to constantly change and transform something. That is why a person who does not live in an apartment, but who has his own dacha or even a private house, has to learn everything, even how to operate a welding machine. It is known that a welding machine is necessary for home craftsmen so that they can carry out any work on both repair and restoration of anything on their land. And also very often a welding machine becomes a reliable friend during construction. Therefore, in almost every household the owners have their own welding machine.
Choosing the right welding machine
Very often, private amateurs, when purchasing a welding machine, are faced with a difficult choice, not knowing what equipment to buy.
At the same time, they try to choose those that are small in size and inexpensive. And only a small part of these homeowners understand that they will still have to work with this device, so first of all, it is necessary to find out what their technical characteristics and operating conditions are. There are many models of inverters, so it's worth learning a little more about everything in more detail when you go shopping. After all, the choice of a welding machine is very important, and the price paid for it is never small. For example, the Resant welding machine has recently become very popular; its appearance cannot help but catch the eye.
Resant looks very nondescript in appearance. So, usually it is a small box, silver in color. A small handle is attached to the box, which turns out to be inconvenient for carrying, and from the appearance of the entire device it seems awkward and, perhaps, even a little funny. But it is small in size and quite lightweight , and can be easily transported by placing it in a large bag or backpack.
The problem of choosing a welding machine
Since I am not a welder by profession and in general at that time I was far from the topic of electric welding (I welded a couple of times in my life), I was faced with the question of choosing a device at the lowest possible cost because... I didn’t yet know what horizons I had to conquer and whether I would even engage in construction and arrangement.
Naturally, my first choice fell on classic heavy-duty transformer devices; a used 160A device was offered on an advertisement site for only 2500 rubles, but I was in no hurry to buy it because... I haven’t decided how I’m going to carry this welding box with me without having a car. And then one day, I went to a hardware store to buy screws and decided to pay attention to the range of welding equipment provided.
First of all, I was struck by small but expensive boxes called inverters, and despite their childish size and lack of weight compared to the classics, they promised output currents of 140-250A. Because I strictly limited the budget range from 3000 to 6000 rubles (I wasn’t going to pay more for a device that I didn’t know would be needed or not), my choice fell on the FUBAG IR 160 model for 5300 rubles.
Having written down the model, I came home and began to study all the available information, and the next day, having finally decided that I would take the inverter, I decided to go around all the stores and study the offer, model range and pricing policy. Having entered one of the stores, during a conversation with the seller, they advised me of a certain Resanta model, telling me that this was the most popular model and everyone was happy. Looking at this inverter, I immediately did not like it with its silver body and clumsy strap-handle. It was the second evening of studying the entire Internet, it was necessary to decide on both the brand, the model and the current...
General characteristics of the resant
The welding machine comes with several cables, but sometimes they are too short, so you should immediately pick up several wires and purchase them so that you always have them at hand.
In order for the resant to work, it does not require a lot of voltage, because it spends and absorbs very little of it. It is better to purchase universal electrodes for such an inverter; they usually have blue markings.
Working with such a device does not cause any trouble. He is obedient and does not require any additional skills or knowledge. The sai inverter is also excellent for those who are just starting to work with a welding machine. This Chinese miracle is also loved by professionals, as it easily works even on alternating current.
It does not require additional spare parts other than electrodes. But you can always have it on hand and transport it to where you need it. Of course, in addition to the positive qualities, it has small negative sides, but they are insignificant compared to the benefits that the homeowner receives by purchasing such a welding machine.
Advantages of purchasing a resanta inverter:
- Easily transported from one place to another.
- Reliable.
- Does not require additional equipment.
- It has its own circuit diagram.
- Protected from overheating.
- Equipped with a forced ventilation system.
Causes of breakdowns of the Resanta welding inverter
Here are just the main signs by which you can determine that the welding inverter is faulty and requires repair:
- The electrode sticks;
- The arc burns unstable or does not burn at all;
- The device overheats all the time, even if it does not work constantly;
- The welding inverter does not turn on.
The reasons for these malfunctions of the Resanta device may be as follows:
— The electrode sticks due to low voltage or the use of a long extension cord whose conductor cross-section is less than 2.5 mm. The connectors may be burnt or the power cables may have poor contact.
— The arc may burn unstably due to incorrect welding current adjustments. Also, the reasons for this may well be inappropriate welding electrodes or their diameter. A complete lack of arc is most often caused by a broken ground cable or overheating of the inverter. Often the printed circuit board on which capacitors swell or several parts fail at once also fails.
— The Resanta inverter overheats in case of prolonged operation without interruption or as a result of a cooling fan failure. Overheating of the inverter is also possible as a result of the accumulation of a thick layer of dust on the printed circuit board.
— If the inverter does not respond at all to being turned on, then most likely there is no power, or the voltage does not correspond to the rated value. Often the reasons are caused by a cable breakdown or a malfunction of the sockets/switches to which the inverter is connected. It may also be a problem with the power extension cord.
Schematic diagram of resant
The electrical circuit of this inverter is based on the operation of its transistor microcircuit , which has fashionable bipolar zones. The operation of inverter transistors is based on an insulated gate. This welding device is designed for current welding in various types of shielding gas:
- Carbon dioxide.
- Argon.
- Other similar mixtures.
The design of the inverter uses electronic circuits, which help novice welders who do not have the proper experience to work with such equipment. Moreover, usually there are no complaints about working with such a device and a person, despite the fact that the work is new for him, very quickly learns to effectively use the welding machine for his own purposes.
The inverter also has its own features, which you should also know about so that no questions arise during the welding work. Thus, the output current changes automatically and due to this, the inaccuracy that occurs when moving the electrode along the surface where welding takes place is easily compensated. But the electrode is done manually.
But sometimes there are still stickings. But such short circuits are short and the inverter makes it possible to easily remove the electrode from the surface, reducing the output current. The surface of the welding part is not damaged. The main purpose of the inverter according to the circuit is electric arc welding using direct current , which is covered with an electrode.
According to the diagram, it turns out that the main principle of such a welding machine is voltage conversion. It arrives variable, with a frequency of approximately 50 Hz, and is converted to constant. And therefore, according to the scheme, the same action occurs in reverse: from the direct voltage of the network to an alternating voltage, which has a high frequency.
Main types of repair work for Resanta welding inverters
Repairs to the following units and components of the Resanta welding machine should only be carried out by a service center specialist.
It is in the service center that they will help eliminate complex inverter malfunctions and make replacements:
- Printed circuit board and transformer;
- Fan;
- Diode rectifier;
- Swollen capacitors;
- IMS of inverter module and control module.
In order not to frequently repair the Resanta welding machine, it is enough to follow the recommendations and operating rules specified by the manufacturer. Try not to overheat the inverter and also give it time to cool down.
Clean the fan regularly and ensure that the ventilation openings are always clean and open. Remember that most malfunctions of the internal components of inverters occur due to overheating of parts on the board.
The choice has been made. Welding inverter Resanta SAI 160A
As a result of all the long deliberations, I decided to take Resanta, due to its time-tested circuitry, installation and reliability confirmed by a large number of people. All that remains is to find the cheapest price tag, and I found it - 5,300 rubles for the non-professional version of SAI 160A with a 12-month warranty
I want to say right away that FUBAG and Resanta and others in this price category, made in China, with a representative office in Riga (Latvia) are only a marketing ploy for the Russian consumer and, as you can see, quite successful. Despite this, in many workshops, as well as on construction sites, I actually came across Resant inverters
First of all, I want to say that immediately after the store where I bought the inverter, I went to the nearest electrical goods store and bought 3 meters (I should have taken 4 anyway) of VG 16mm.kv cable and four tinned crimp sleeves, all this because , that the wires that come with the inverters are outrageously short and the first thing you need to do is immediately resolve this issue with them using a simple extension method.
Nothing got hot in the places where the tubes were pressed, despite the fact that we had to reduce the cross-section of the original cable because... there is 25 mm.sq of aluminum or something else
I could never imagine that a welding machine could be so small and light, easily fit into my 20L backpack, with which I go to the country on a bicycle. Also, I could not imagine such low power consumption, the range of current regulation from 10 to 160 amperes and reliable operation with 4mm electrodes (however, I now use exclusively 3mm ones). I use universal electrodes with blue coating MP-3S, as well as ANO-21, I could not choose between them because everyone cooks perfectly and with their own twist
I repeat once again that I purchased a welding machine for the first time, I had no experience in welding, therefore I did not consider professional expensive models of welders, I was interested in a device for home/garage use, inexpensive, but reliable and easy to use.
Recommendations and impressions about the operation of the welding inverter Resanta SAI 160A
What operating current should I buy a Resanta inverter for? - this is the most common question when buying an inverter and, unfortunately, people often overpay for higher current unreasonably. I have often seen that people use a 220 amp inverter for their home, tell me why? They explain their motivation by a large reserve of power, thereby attributing greater durability and reliability to this, but these arguments are controversial, and even more so, 220 amperes are useless for an ordinary person, unless of course he is going to cook with 4.5 electrodes all day long. For a dacha, your home and a workshop, 160 amperes is more than enough for an ordinary person, and if you want to be psychologically relaxed, overpay and take 180 amperes, but you should not overpay for 220 amperes, which you will never use. Of course, if you don’t have any problems with finances, then you can take 250 amperes... They say that before turning on/off you need to reduce the current to a minimum with the regulator, otherwise the inverter may burn out, is this true? – I will answer this question without delving into the depths of electronics. I personally do exactly this every time, I don’t know whether there really can be dangerous amplitudes when turned on, but these recommendations are mandatory, firstly, they are written in the instructions, and secondly, it’s not so difficult to do, the main thing is to get used to it and treat your little box like I’m a favorite , which pleasantly rustles with a fan and is able to help out at any moment. Accidentally touched and broke a paper seal, what should I do? - yes, this is really a problem. In this case, you will lose your warranty and there is nothing you can do about it. It is better to prevent the possibility of such a disaster. I carefully sealed the seal with a large margin of black electrical tape and now I don’t worry about hitting the corner and voiding the warranty
First of all, at the moment I am very pleased with the purchase, I carry it with me in a backpack or carry it in a sports bag so as not to leave the trophy at the dacha. I’m glad to be able to work with a jewelry current of 10-20A, and in general, direct current in welding outperforms alternating current. I was also pleased with the meter readings; for a couple of kilograms of electrodes I paid only 4-6 kW, or maybe less because an angle grinder and a drill are a plus
I would like to hope that with this Chinese technology there will not be such sad consequences as happened to me with a chainsaw, which I wrote about here. If I have any problems with the inverter, I will definitely add to this article, but for now I’m glad to see your comments and feedback regarding your experience of using Chinese inverters
