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Thread: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

  1. #1
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    Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    Went to use my machine that has very little use on it yesterday. Turned it on and POP and nothing. I'm guessing something on a power board blew. Does anyone have any experience similar to this? I would have though maybe this would manifested into a common issue but I haven't been able to find anyone else that had this happen. I called them and they pretty much just told me to find a repair center.

  2. #2
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    Re: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    If you're not afraid of opening the cover.... then that's what I'd do -- Unless you know there is some warranty on it.

    ****Just be careful of what you touch as these have some serious capacitors in them that can store lots!!! of energy for some time!!!!***

    Once you're in then take some good pics of the boards, it is most likely a PS board like you think... but can easily be other things

  3. #3
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    Re: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    Sounds lije you need to pull the covers and check all the magic smoke containers.

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  5. #4
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    Re: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    Quote Originally Posted by dump View Post
    Went to use my machine that has very little use on it yesterday. Turned it on and POP and nothing. I'm guessing something on a power board blew. Does anyone have any experience similar to this? I would have though maybe this would manifested into a common issue but I haven't been able to find anyone else that had this happen. I called them and they pretty much just told me to find a repair center.
    The 186i was made by a reputable Chinese company called WTL. It's actually a quality product. Sadly the pop your heard is the Pop of death for an inverter. Unless you know a board repair man.
    Thermal Arc 320SP ( Lorch )
    Cobra Pythons
    Thermal Arc 300 AC/DC ( Sanrex )
    ESAB 301i AC/DC ( Lorch )
    Thermal Arc 161STL ( WTL )
    Thermal Arc 190S ( Sanrex )
    Cut Master 82, 42. Cut45 ( WTL )
    Victor Gas Apps.
    Boxes and boxes of welding crap.

  6. #5
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    Re: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    In case anyone else ever comes across this, I suspected a failure on the aux power board. I opened the welder up and found a piece that blew off of the board. It blew off of the aux power board and it was a TOP246YN AC/DC off-line switcher. I ordered a whole new aux-power board part # W7005503 for $40. Hopefully when this arrives I'll plug it in and be back in business. Fingers crossed!
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  7. #6
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    Re: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    Excellant. I hope you dodged a bullet with the $40 board. Good Luck !
    Thermal Arc 320SP ( Lorch )
    Cobra Pythons
    Thermal Arc 300 AC/DC ( Sanrex )
    ESAB 301i AC/DC ( Lorch )
    Thermal Arc 161STL ( WTL )
    Thermal Arc 190S ( Sanrex )
    Cut Master 82, 42. Cut45 ( WTL )
    Victor Gas Apps.
    Boxes and boxes of welding crap.

  8. #7
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    Re: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    Where did you purchase the board from? Bob

  9. #8
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    Re: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    I purchased from weldingsupply.com

  10. #9
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    Re: Thermal Arc 186 made a pop and now won't turn on

    Thanks Bob

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