POWER-MASTER 500 - Victor Technologies

POWER-MASTER 500
450 Amp In verter Welding
Power Source
For the Fol low ing Specs:
• 100054
• 100060
SER VICE MAN UAL Num ber 430581-004 (Rev 0)
Is sued March 29,2002
IMPORTANT: Read these instructions before installing, operating, or servicing this system.
THERMAL ARC INC., TROY, OHIO 45373-1085, U.S.A.

New Ta ble of Con tents
IN TRO DUC TION ...........................1
How To Use This Man ual. ..................................1-1
Equip ment Iden ti fi ca tion. ..................................1-1
Re ceipt Of Equip ment .................................... 1-1
ARC WELDING SAFETY IN STRUC TIONS AND WARN INGS. . . . 2
PRE CAU TIONS DE SECURITE EN SOUDAGE A L’ARC ......2
DE SCRIP TION OF EQUIP MENT ...................3
Gen eral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Spec i fi ca tions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Stan dard Fea tures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
De scrip tion of Con trols and Fea tures for Power-Mas ter 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
De scrip tion of Con trols and Fea tures for Power-Mas ter 500P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
De scrip tion of Pro gram ma ble Fea tures for Power-Mas ter 500P . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
IN STAL LA TION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Lo ca tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Volt age Change over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Con necting Welding Ma chine to Line Volt age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Con nec tion In struc tions ...................................4-2
Grounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Welding Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
MAIN TE NANCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
TROU BLE SHOOTING ........................6
Gen eral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Ba sic Trou ble shooting .................................... 6-1
Block Di a grams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Con trol Board Con nec tor Sig nals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Power Cir cuit Tests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Semi con duc tor re place ment re quire ments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Con trol Cir cuit tests: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
Cal i bra tion Pro ce dure .................................... 6-15
RE PAIR PRO CE DURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Out put Di ode Re place ment: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
IGBT Mod ule Re place ment: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
PARTS LIST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Equip ment Iden ti fi ca tion. ..................................8-1
How To Use This Parts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Di a grams ...............................9

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
INTRODUCTION
How To Use This Manual
This Service Man ual ap plies to just the spec i fi ca -
tion or part num bers listed on the cover.
To en sure safe op er a tion, read the en tire man -
ual, in clud ing the chap ter on safety in struc tions
and warn ings.
Through out this man ual, the words WARNING,
CAU TION, and NOTE may ap pear. Pay par tic u -
lar at ten tion to the in for ma tion pro vided un der
these head ings. These spe cial an no ta tions are
eas ily rec og nized as fol lows:
WARNING gives in for ma tion re -
gard ing pos si ble per sonal in -
jury. Warn ings will be en closed
in a box such as this.
CAU TION re fers to pos si ble equip ment
dam age. Cau tions will be shown in bold
type.
NOTE of fers help ful in for ma tion con cern -
ing cer tain op er at ing pro ce dures. Notes will
be shown in ital ics.
Equipment Identification
The unit’s iden ti fi ca tion num ber (spec i fi ca tion or
part num ber), model, and se rial num ber usu ally
ap pear on a name plate at tached to the con trol
panel. In some cases, the name plate may be at -
tached to the rear panel. Equip ment which does
not have a con trol panel such as gun and ca ble
as sem blies are iden ti fied only by the spec i fi ca -
tion or part num ber printed on the ship ping con -
tainer. Re cord these num bers for fu ture
ref er ence.
Receipt Of Equipment
When you re ceive the equip ment, check it
against the in voice to make sure it is com plete
and in spect the equip ment for pos si ble dam age
due to ship ping. If there is any dam age, no tify the
car rier im me di ately to file a claim. Fur nish com -
plete in for ma tion con cern ing dam age claims or
ship ping er rors to Thermal Arc, Or der De part -
ment, 2200 Cor po rate Drive, Troy, Ohio
45373-1085. In clude all equip ment iden ti fi ca tion
num bers as de scribed above along with a full de -
scrip tion of the parts in er ror.
Move the equip ment to the in stal la tion site be -
fore uncrating the unit. Use care to avoid dam ag -
ing the equip ment when us ing bars, ham mers,
etc., to uncrate the unit.
WARNING: Do not use a weld -
ing power source for pipe
thaw ing.
This (or any) weld ing power source is nei ther de -
signed nor in tended to be used for thaw ing
frozen pipes. Do not use it for this pur pose.
Sym bols
Mean ing of mark ings and graph i cal sym bols
In crease/De crease
Cir cuit Breaker
AC Aux il iary Power
Re mote
Am per age
Volt age
Hertz
Fre quency
Neg a tive
1-1

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
1-2
Pos i tive
Di rect Cur rent (DC)
Pro tec tive Earth (Ground)
Line
Line Con nec tion
Aux il iary Power
Re cep ta cle Rat ing-Auxiliary
Power
Sin gle Phase
Three Phase
Three Phase Static Fre quency
Con verter-Transformer-Rectifier
Dan ger ous Volt age
Off
On
Panel/Lo cal
Shielded Metal Arc Welding
(SMAW)
Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
Gas Tung sten Arc Welding
(GTAW)
Air Car bon Arc Cut ting
(CAC-A)
Con stant Cur rent
Con stant Volt age Or Con stant
Po ten tial
High Tem per a ture
Dis tur bance
Arc Force
Touch Start (GTAW)
Vari able In duc tance
Ad di tional cop ies of this man ual may be pur -
chased by con tact ing Ther mal Arc at the ad dress
given above. In clude the Service Man ual num -
ber and equip ment iden ti fi ca tion num bers.

ARC WELDING SAFETY IN STRUC TIONS AND WARN INGS
ARC WELDING SAFETY IN STRUC TIONS AND WARN INGS
In struc tion 830001
PROTECT YOUR SELF AND OTHERS FROM POS SI BLE SE RI OUS IN JURY OR DEATH. KEEP CHILDREN AWAY. PACE M AKER
WEARERS KEEP AWAY UN TIL CON SULTING YOUR DOC TOR. DO NOT LOSE THESE IN STRUC TIONS. READ OP ER ATING/IN STRUC -
TION MAN UAL BE FORE IN STALLING, OP ER ATING OR SER VICING THIS EQUIP MENT.
Welding prod ucts and weld ing pro cesses can cause se ri ous in jury or death, or dam age to other equip ment or prop erty, if the op er a tor does not
strictly ob serve all safety rules and take pre cau tion ary ac tions.
Safe prac tices have de vel oped from past ex pe ri ence in the use of weld ing and cut ting. These prac tices must be learned through study and train -
ing be fore us ing this equip ment. Any one not hav ing ex ten sive train ing in weld ing and cut ting prac tices should not at tempt to weld. Cer tain of the
prac tices ap ply to equip ment con nected to power lines; other prac tices ap ply to en gine driven equip ment.
Safe prac tices are out lined in the Amer i can Na tional Stan dard Z49.1 en ti tled: SAFETY IN WELDING AND CUTTING . This pub li ca tion and other
guides to what you should learn be fore op er at ing this equip ment are listed at the end of these safety pre cau tions.
HAVE ALL IN STAL LA TION, OP ER A TION, MAIN TE NANCE, AND RE PAIR WORK PER FORMED ONLY BY QUAL IFIED PEO PLE.
ELEC TRIC SHOCK can kill.
Tou ching live elec tri cal parts can cause fa tal shocks
or se vere burns. The elec trode and work cir cuit is
elec tri cally live when ever the out put is on. The in put
power cir cuit and ma chine in ter nal cir cuits are also
live when power is on. In semi au to matic or au to -
matic wire weld ing, the wire, wire reel, drive roll
hous ing, and all metal parts touch ing the weld ing
wire are elec tri cally live. In cor rectly in stalled or im -
prop erly grounded equip ment is a haz ard.
1. Do not touch live elec tri cal parts.
2. Wear dry, hole-free in su lat ing gloves and body pro tec tion.
3. In su late your self from work and ground us ing dry in su lat ing mats
or cov ers.
4. Dis con nect in put power or stop en gine be fore in stall ing or ser vic -
ing this equip ment. Lock in put power dis con nect switch open, or
re move line fuses so power can not be turned on ac ci den tally.
5. Properly in stall and ground this equip ment ac cord ing to its
Owner’s Man ual and na tional, state, and lo cal codes.
ARC RAYS can burn eyes and skin;
NOISE can dam age hear ing.
Arc rays from the weld ing pro cess pro duce in tense
heat and strong ul tra vi o let rays that can burn eyes
and skin. Noise from some pro cesses can dam age
hear ing.
Welding or Cut ting
Op er a tion
Torch sol der ing
Torch braz ing
Ox y gen cut ting
Light
Me dium
Heavy
Gas weld ing
Light
Me dium
Heavy
Shielded metal-arc weld ing
(stick) elec trodes
ARC WELDING can be haz ard ous.
6. Turn off all equip ment when not in use. Dis con nect power to
equip ment if it will be left un at tended or out of ser vice.
7. Use fully in su lated elec trode hold ers. Never dip holder in wa ter to
cool it or lay it down on the ground or the work sur face. Do not
touch hold ers con nected to two weld ing ma chines at the same
time or touch other peo ple with the holder or elec trode.
8. Do not use worn, dam aged, un der sized, or poorly spliced ca bles.
9. Do not wrap ca bles around your body.
10. Ground the workpiece to a good elec tri cal (earth) ground.
11. Do not touch elec trode while in con tact with the work (ground) cir -
cuit.
12. Use only well-maintained equip ment. Re pair or re place dam aged
parts at once.
13. In con fined spaces or damp lo ca tions, do not use a welder with
AC out put un less it is equipped with a volt age re ducer. Use
equip ment with DC out put.
14. Wear a safety har ness to pre vent fall ing if work ing above floor
level.
15. Keep all pan els and cov ers se curely in place.
1. Wear a weld ing hel met fit ted with a proper shade of fil ter (see
ANSI Z49.1 listed in Safety Stan dards) to pro tect your face and
eyes when weld ing or watch ing.
2. Wear ap proved safety glasses. Side shields rec om mended.
3. Use pro tec tive screens or bar ri ers to pro tect oth ers from flash
and glare; warn oth ers not to watch the arc.
4. Wear pro tec tive cloth ing made from du ra ble, flame-resistant ma -
te rial (wool and leather) and foot pro tec tion.
5. Use ap proved ear plugs or ear muffs if noise level is high.
Eye pro tec tion fil ter shade se lec tor for weld ing or cut ting (gog gles or hel met), from AWS A6.2-73.
Elec trode Size
Metal Thick ness
or Welding Cur rent
—
—
Un der 1 in., 25 mm
1 to 6 in., 25-150 mm
Over 6 in., 150 mm
Un der 1/8 in., 3 mm
1/8 to ½ in., 3-12 mm
Over ½ in., 12 mm
Un der 5/32 in., 4 mm
5/32 to 1/4 in., 4 to 6.4 mm
Over 1/4 in., 6.4 mm
Fil ter
Shade
No.
2
3 or 4
3 or 4
4 or 5
5 or 6
4 or 5
5 or 6
6 or 8
10
12
14
Welding or Cut ting
Op er a tion
Gas metal-arc weld ing (MIG)
Non-ferrous base metal
Fer rous base metal
Gas tung sten arc weld ing
(TIG )
Atomic hy dro gen weld ing
Car bon arc weld ing
Plasma arc weld ing
Car bon arc air goug ing
Light
Heavy
Plasma arc cut ting
Light
Me dium
Heavy
Elec trode Size
Metal Thick ness
or Welding Cur rent
March 29, 2002 2-1
All
All
All
All
All
All
Un der 300 Amp
300 to 400 Amp
Over 400 Amp
Fil ter
Shad
e No.
11
12
12
12
12
12
12
14
9
12
14

ARC WELDING SAFETY IN STRUC TIONS AND WARN INGS
In struc tion 830001
FUMES AND GASES can be haz ard ous
to your health.
Welding pro duces fumes and gases. Breathing
these fumes and gases can be haz ard ous to your
health.
1. Keep your head out of the fumes. Do not breath the fumes.
2. If in side, ven ti late the area and/or use ex haust at the arc to re -
move weld ing fumes and gases.
3. If ven ti la tion is poor, use an ap proved air-supplied res pi ra tor.
WELDING can cause fire or ex plo sion.
Sparks and spat ter fly off from the weld ing arc. The
fly ing sparks and hot metal, weld spat ter, hot
workpiece, and hot equip ment can cause fires and
burns. Ac ci den tal con tact of elec trode or weld ing
wire to metal ob jects can cause sparks, over heat ing,
or fire.
1. Pro tect your self and oth ers from fly ing sparks and hot metal.
2. Do not weld where fly ing sparks can strike flam ma ble ma te rial.
3. Re move all flammables within 35 ft (10.7 m) of the weld ing arc. If
this is not pos si ble, tightly cover them with ap proved cov ers.
FLYING SPARKS AND HOT METAL can
cause in jury.
Chipping and grind ing cause fly ing metal. As welds
cool, they can throw off slag.
CYL IN DERS can ex plode if dam aged.
Shielding gas cyl in ders con tain gas un der high pres -
sure. If dam aged, a cyl in der can ex plode. Since gas
cyl in ders are nor mally part of the weld ing pro cess, be
sure to treat them care fully.
1. Pro tect com pressed gas cyl in ders from ex ces sive heat, me chan -
i cal shocks, and arcs.
2. In stall and se cure cyl in ders in an up right po si tion by chain ing
them to a sta tion ary sup port or equip ment cyl in der rack to pre -
vent fall ing or tip ping.
ENGINE EX HAUST GASES can kill.
Engines pro duce harm ful ex haust gases.
4. Read the Ma te rial Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) and the man u
-
fac turer’s in struc tion for met als, consumables, coat ings, and
clean ers.
5. Work in a con fined space only if it is well ven ti lated, or while wear -
ing an air-supplied res pi ra tor. Shielding gases used for weld ing
can dis place air caus ing in jury or death. Be sure the breath ing air
is safe.
6. Do not weld in lo ca tions near degreasing, clean ing, or spray ing
op er a tions. The heat and rays of the arc can re act with va pors to
form highly toxic and ir ri tat ing gases.
7. Do not weld on coated met als, such as gal va nized, lead, or cad -
mium plated steel, un less the coat ing is re moved from the weld
area, the area is well ven ti lated, and if nec es sary, while wear ing
an air-supplied res pi ra tor. The coat ings and any met als con tain -
ing these el e ments can give off toxic fumes if welded.
4. Be alert that weld ing sparks and hot ma te ri als from weld ing can
eas ily go through small cracks and open ings to ad ja cent ar eas.
5. Watch for fire, and keep a fire ex tin guisher nearby.
6. Be aware that weld ing on a ceil ing, floor, bulk head, or par ti tion
can cause fire on the hid den side.
7. Do not weld on closed con tain ers such as tanks or drums.
8. Con nect work ca ble to the work as close to the weld ing area as
prac ti cal to pre vent weld ing cur rent from trav el ing long, pos si bly
un known paths and caus ing elec tric shock and fire haz ards.
9. Do not use welder to thaw frozen pipes.
10. Re move stick elec trode from holder or cut off weld ing wire at con
-
tact tip when not in use.
1. Wear ap proved face shield or safety gog gles. Side shields rec -
om mended.
2. Wear proper body pro tec tion to pro tect skin.
3. Keep cyl in ders away from any weld ing or other elec tri cal cir cuits.
4. Never al low a weld ing elec trode to touch any cyl in der.
5. Use only cor rect shield ing gas cyl in ders, reg u la tors, hoses, and
fit tings de signed for the spe cific ap pli ca tion; main tain them and
as so ci ated parts in good con di tion.
6. Turn face away from valve out let when open ing cyl in der valve.
7. Keep pro tec tive cap in place over valve ex cept when cyl in der is in
use or con nected for use.
8. Read and fol low in struc tions on com pressed gas cyl in ders, as so -
ci ated equip ment, and CGA pub li ca tion P-1 listed in Safety Stan -
dards.
ENGINES can be haz ard ous.
1. Use equip ment out side in open, well-ventilated ar eas.
2. If used in a closed area, vent en gine ex haust out side and away
from any build ing air in takes.
2-2 March 29, 2002

ARC WELDING SAFETY IN STRUC TIONS AND WARN INGS
ENGINE FUEL can cause fire or
ex plo sion.
En gine fuel is highly flam ma ble.
1. Stop en gine be fore check ing or add ing fuel.
MOVING PARTS can cause in jury.
Moving parts, such as fans, ro tors, and
belts can cut fin gers and hands and catch
loose cloth ing.
SPARKS can cause BAT TERY GASES
TO EX PLODE; BAT TERY ACID can burn
eyes and skin.
Bat teries con tain acid and gen er ate ex plo sive
gases.
STEAM AND PRES SUR IZED HOT
COOL ANT can burn face, eyes, and skin.
The cool ant in the ra di a tor can be very hot and un der
pres sure.
Safety in Welding and Cut ting, ANSI Stan dard Z49.1, from Amer i can
Welding So ci ety, 550 N.W. LeJeune Rd., Mi ami, FL 33126.
Safety and Health Stan dards, OSHA 29 CFR 1910, from Su per in ten
-
dent of Doc u ments, U.S. Gov ern ment Print ing Of fice, Wash ing ton,
D.C. 20402.
Rec om mended Safe Prac tices for the Prep a ra tion for Welding and
Cut ting of Con tainers That Have Held Haz ard ous Sub stances , Amer -
i can Welding So ci ety Stan dard AWS F4.1, from Amer i can Welding
So ci ety, 550 N.W. LeJeune Rd., Mi ami, FL 33126.
Na tional Elec tri cal Code, NFPA Stan dard 70, from Na tional Fire Pro -
tec tion As so ci a tion, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269.
PRIN CI PAL SAFETY STAN DARDS
In struc tion 830001
2. Do not add fuel while smok ing or if unit is near any sparks or open
flames.
3. Al low en gine to cool be fore fuel ing. If pos si ble, check and add
fuel to cold en gine be fore be gin ning job.
4. Do not over fill tank — al low room for fuel to ex pand.
1. Keep all doors, pan els, cov ers, and guards closed and se curely
in place.
2. Stop en gine be fore in stall ing or con nect ing unit.
3. Have only qual i fied peo ple re move guards or cov ers for main te -
nance and trou ble shoot ing as nec es sary.
4. To pre vent ac ci den tal start ing dur ing ser vic ing, dis con nect neg a -
tive (-) bat tery ca ble from bat tery.
1. Al ways wear a face shield when work ing on a bat tery.
2. Stop en gine be fore dis con nect ing or con nect ing bat tery ca bles.
3. Do not al low tools to cause sparks when work ing on a bat tery.
4. Do not use welder to charge bat ter ies or jump start ve hi cles.
1. Do not re move ra di a tor cap when en gine is hot. Al low en gine to
cool.
2. Wear gloves and put a rag over cap area when re mov ing cap.
3. Al low pres sure to es cape be fore com pletely re mov ing cap.
WARNING: This prod uct, when used for weld ing or cut ting, pro duces fumes or gases which con tain chem i cals known to the State of
Cal i for nia to cause birth de fects and, in some cases, can cer. (Cal i for nia Health & Safety Code Sec. 25249.5 et seq.)
NOTE: Con sid er ations About Welding And The Ef fects Of Low Fre quency Elec tric And Mag netic Fi elds
The fol low ing is a quo ta tion from the Gen eral Con clu sions Sec tion of the U.S. Con gress, Of fice of Tech nol ogy As sess ment, Bi o log i cal Ef fects of
Power Fre quency Elec tric & Mag netic Fields — Back ground Pa per, OTA-BP-E-63 (Wash ing ton, DC: U.S. Gov ern ment Print ing Of fice, May
1989): “... there is now a very large vol ume of sci en tific find ings based on ex per i ments at the cel lu lar level and from stud ies with an i mals and peo -
ple which clearly es tab lish that low fre quency mag netic fields can in ter act with, and pro duce changes in, bi o log i cal sys tems. While most of this
work is of very high qual ity, the re sults are com plex. Cur rent sci en tific un der stand ing does not yet al low us to in ter pret the ev i dence in a sin gle co -
her ent frame work. Even more frus trat ing, it does not yet al low us to draw def i nite con clu s ions about ques tions of pos si ble risk or to of fer clear sci -
ence-based ad vice on strat e gies to min i mize or avoid po ten tial risks.”
To re duce mag netic fields in the work place, use the fol low ing pro ce dures:
1. Keep ca bles close to gether by twist ing or tap ing them.
2. Ar range ca bles to one side and away from the op er a tor.
About Pace makers:
3. Do not coil or drape ca bles around the body.
4. Keep weld ing power source and ca bles as far away from body as
prac ti cal.
The above pro ce dures are among those also nor mally rec om mended for pace maker wear ers. Con sult your doc tor for com plete in for ma tion.
Safe Han dling of Com pressed Gases in Cyl in ders, CGA Pam phlet
P-1, from Com pressed Gas As so ci a tion, 1235 Jef fer son Da vis High -
way, Suite 501, Arlington, VA 22202.
Code for Safety in Welding and Cut ting, CSA Stan dard W117.2, from
Ca na dian Stan dards As so ci a tion, Stan dards Sales, 178 Rexdale
Bou le vard, Rexdale, On tario, Can ada M9W 1R3.
Safe Prac tices for Oc cu pa tion and Ed u ca tional Eye and Face Pro tec -
tion, ANSI Stan dard Z87.1, from Amer i can Na tional Stan dards In sti -
tute, 1430 Broad way, New York, NY 10018.
Cut ting and Welding Pro cesses, NFPA Stan dard 51B, from Na tional
Fire Pro tec tion As so ci a tion, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269.
March 29, 2002 2-3

PRE CAU TIONS DE SECURITE EN SOUDAGE A L'ARC
PRE CAU TIONS DE SECURITE EN SOUDAGE A L’ARC
In struc tion 830002
PROTEGEZ-VOUS, AINSI QUE LES AUTRES, CONTRE LES BLESSURES GRAVES POSSIBLES OU LA MORT. NE LAIS SEZ PAS LES
EN FANTS S’APPROCHER, NI LES PORTEURS DE STIMULATEUR CARDIAQUE (A MOINS QU’ILS N’AIENT CONSULTE UN MEDECIN).
CONSERVEZ CES IN STRUC TIONS. LISEZ LE MANUEL D’OPERATION OU LES IN STRUC TIONS AVANT D’INSTALLER, UTILISER OU
ENTRETENIR CET EQUIPEMENT.
Les produits et procédés de soudage peuvent sauser des blessures graves ou la mort, de même que des dommages au reste du matériel
et à la propriété, si l’utilisateur n’adhère pas strictement à toutes les règles de sécurité et ne prend pas les précautions nécessaires.
En soudage et coupage, des pra tiques sécuritaires se sont développées suite à l’expérience passée. Ces pra tiques doivent être ap prises
par étude ou entraînement avant d’utiliser l’equipement. Toute personne n’ayant pas suivi un entraînement intensif en soudage et
coupage ne devrait pas tenter de souder. Certaines pra tiques concernent les équipements raccordés aux lignes d’alimentation alors que
d’autres s’adressent aux groupes électrogènes.
La norme Z49.1 de l’American Na tional Stan dard, intitulée “SAFETY IN WELDING AND CUTTING” présente les pra tiques sécuritaires à suivre.
Ce doc u ment ainsi que d’autres guides que vous devriez connaître avant d’utiliser cet équipement sont présentés à la fin de ces in struc tions de
sécurité.
SEULES DES PERSONNES QUALIFIEES DOIVENT FAIRE DES TRAVAUX D’INSTALLATION, DE REP A RA TION, D’ENTRETIEN ET
D’ESSAI.
L’ELECTROCUTION PEUT ETRE
MORTELLE.
Une décharge électrique peut tuer ou brûler
gravement. L’électrode et le cir cuit de soudage sont
sous ten sion dès la mise en cir cuit. Le cir cuit
d’alimentation et les cir cuits internes de
l’équipement sont aussi sous ten sion dès la mise en
marche. En soudage automatique ou
semi-automatique avec fil, ce der nier, le rou leau ou
la bobine de fil, le logement des galets
d’entrainement et toutes les pièces métalliques en
con tact avec le fil de soudage sont sous ten sion. Un
équipement inadéquatement installé ou
inadéquatement mis à la terre est dangereux.
1. Ne touchez pas à des pièces sous ten sion.
2. Portez des gants et des vêtements isolants, secs et non troués.
3. Isolez-vous de la pièce à souder et de la mise à la terre au moyen
de tapis isolants ou autres.
4. Déconnectez la prise d’alimentation de l’équipement ou arrêtez
le moteur avant de l’installer ou d’en faire l’entretien. Bloquez le
commutateur en cir cuit ouvert ou enlevez les fusibles de
l’alimentation afin d’éviter une mise en marche accidentelle.
5. Veuillez à in staller cet équipement et à le mettre à la terre selon le
manuel d’utilisation et les codes nationaux, provinciaux et locaux
applicables.
LE RAYONNEMENT DE L′ARC PEUT
BRÛLER LES YEUX ET LA PEAU; LE
BRUIT PEUT ENDOMMAGER L′OUIE.
L’arc de soudage produit une chaleur et des
rayons ultraviolets intenses, susceptibles de
brûler les yeux et la peau. Le bruit causé par
certains procédés peut endommager l’ouïe.
1. Portez une casque de soudeur avec filtre oculaire de nu ance
appropriée (consultez la norme ANSI Z49 indiquée ci-après)
LE SOUDAGE A L′ARC EST DANGEREUX
6. Arrêtez tout équipement après us age. Coupez l’alimentation de
l’équipement s’il est hors d’usage ou inutilisé.
7. N’utilisez que des porte-électrodes bien isolés. Ne jamais
plonger les porte-électrodes dans l’eau pour les refroidir. Ne
jamais les laisser traîner par terre ou sur les pièces à souder. Ne
touchez pas aux porte-électrodes raccordés à deux sources de
cou rant en même temps. Ne jamais toucher quelqu’un d’autre
avec l’électrode ou le porte-électrode.
8. N’utilisez pas de câbles électriques usés, endommagés, mal
épissés ou de sec tion trop pe tite.
9. N’enroulez pas de câbles électriques autour de votre corps.
10. N’utilisez qu’une bonne prise de masse pour la mise à la terre
de la pièce à souder.
11. Ne touchez pas à l’électrode lorsqu’en con tact avec le cir cuit de
soudage (terre).
12. N’utilisez que des équipements en bon état. Réparez ou
remplacez aussitôt les pièces endommagées.
13. Dans des espaces confinés ou mouillés, n’utilisez pas de source
de cou rant alternatif, à moins qu’il soit muni d’un réducteur de
ten sion. Utilisez plutôt une source de cou rant continu.
14. Portez un harnais de sécurité si vous travaillez en hau teur.
15. Fermez solidement tous les panneaux et les capots.
pour vous protéger le vis age et les yeux lorsque vous soudez ou
que vous observez l’exécution d’une soudure.
2. Portez des lu nettes de sécurité approuvées. Des écrans latéraux
sont recommandés.
3. Entourez l’aire de soudage de rideaux ou de cloisons pour
protéger les autres des coups d’arc ou de l’éblouissement;
avertissez les observateurs de ne pas regarder l’arc.
4. Portez des vêtements en matériaux ignifuges et durables (laine
et cuir) et des chaussures de sécurité.
5. Portez un casque antibruit ou des bouchons d’oreille approuvés
lorsque le niveau de bruit est élevé.
March 29, 2002 2-5

PRE CAU TIONS DE SECURITE EN SOUDAGE A L'ARC
In struc tion 830002
SE LEC TION DES NU ANCES DE FILTRES OCULAIRES POUR LA PRO TEC TION DES YEUX EN COUPAGE ET SOUDAGE
( selon AWS A 8.2-73 )
Opération
de
Coupage ou soudage
Brasage tendre au cha lu meau
Brasage fort au cha lu meau
Oxycoupage
mince
moyen
épais
Soudage aux gaz
mince
moyen
épais
Soudage à l’arc avec
elec trode enrobées (SMAW)
Soudage à l’arc sous gaz
avec fil plein (GMAW)
métaux non-ferreux
métaux ferreux
Soudage à l’arc sous gaz
avec électrode de tungstène (GTAW)
Soudage à l’hydrogène
atomique (AHW)
Soudage à l’arc avec
électrode de carbone (CAW)
Soudage à l’arc Plasma (PAW)
Gougeage Air-Arc avec
électrode de carbone
mince
épais
Coupage à l’arc Plasma (PAC)
mince
moyen
épais
LES VAPEURS ET LES FUMEES SONT
DANGEREUSES POUR LA SANTE.
Le soudage dégage des vapeurs et des fumées
dangereuses à respirer.
1. Eloignez la tête des fumées pour éviter de les respirer.
2. A l’intérieur, assurez-vous que l’aire de soudage est bien
ventilée ou que les fumées et les vapeurs sont aspirées à l’arc.
3. Si la ven ti la tion est in ad e quate, portez un respirateur à
adduction d’air approuvé.
4. Lisez les fiches signalétiques et les consignes du fab ri cant rel a -
tives aux métaux, aux produits consummables, aux
revêtements et aux produits nettoyants.
Di men sion d’électrode ou
Epaisseur de métal ou
Intensité de cou rant
toutes con di tions
toutes con di tions
moins de 1 po. (25 mm)
de 1 à 6 po. (25 à 150 mm)
plus de 6 po. (150 mm)
moins de 1/8 po. (3 mm)
de 1/8 à 1/2 po. (3 à 12 mm)
plus de 1/2 po. (12 mm)
moins de 5/32 po. (4 mm)
de 5/32 à 1/4 po. (4 à 6.4 mm)
plus de 1/4 po. (6.4 mm)
toutes con di tions
toutes con di tions
toutes con di tions
toutes con di tions
toutes con di tions
toutes di men sions
moins de 300 ampères
de 300 à 400 ampères
plus de 400 ampères
Nu ance de
de filtre
oculaire
2
3 ou 4
2 ou 3
4 ou 5
5 ou 6
4 ou 5
5 ou 6
6 ou 8
10
12
14
2-6 March 29, 2002
11
12
12
12
12
12
12
14
9
12
14
5. Ne travaillez dans un espace confiné que s’il est bien ventilé;
sinon, portez un respirateur à adduction d’air. Les gaz
protecteurs de soudage peuvent déplacer l’oxygène de l’air et
ainsi causer des mal aises ou la mort. Assurez-vous que l’air est
propre à la res pi ra tion.
6. Ne soudez pas à proximité d’opérations de dégraissage, de
nettoyage ou de pulvérisation. La chaleur et les rayons de l’arc
peuvent réagir avec des vapeurs et for mer des gaz hautement
toxiques et ir ri tants.
7. Ne soudez des tôles galvanisées ou plaquées au plomb ou au
cad mium que si les zones à souder ont été grattées à fond, que
si l’espace est bien ventilé; si nécessaire portez un respirateur à
adduction d’air. Car ces revêtements et tout métal qui contient
ces éléments peuvent dégager des fumées toxiques au mo -
ment du soudage.

PRE CAU TIONS DE SECURITE EN SOUDAGE A L'ARC
LE SOUDAGE PEUT CAUSER UN
INCENDIE OU UNE EX PLO SION
L’arc produit des étincellies et des pro jec tions. Les
particules volantes, le métal chaud, les pro jec tions
de soudure et l’équipement surchauffé peuvent
causer un incendie et des brûlures. Le con tact
accidentel de l’électrode ou du fil-électrode avec un
objet métallique peut provoquer des étincelles, un échauffement
ou un incendie.
1. Protégez-vous, ainsi que les autres, contre les étincelles et du
métal chaud.
2. Ne soudez pas dans un endroit où des particules volantes ou
des pro jec tions peuvent atteindre des matériaux inflammables.
3. Enlevez toutes matières inflammables dans un rayon de 10, 7
mètres autour de l’arc, ou couvrez-les soigneusement avec des
bâches approuvées.
LES ETINCELLES ET LES PRO JEC -
TIONS BRULANTES PEUVENT
CAUSER DES BLESSURES.
LES BOUTEILLES ENDOMMAGEES
PEUVENT EXPLOSER
Les bouteilles contiennent des gaz protecteurs
sous haute pression. Des bouteilles endommagées
peuvent exploser. Comme les bouteilles font
normalement partie du procédé de soudage,
traitez-les avec soin.
1. Protégez les bouteilles de gaz comprimé contre les sources de
chaleur in tense, les chocs et les arcs de soudage.
2. Enchainez verticalement les bouteilles à un sup port ou à un
cadre fixe pour les empêcher de tomber ou d’être renversées.
3. Eloignez les bouteilles de tout cir cuit électrique ou de tout
soudage.
LES GAZ D’ECHAPPEMENT DES
MOTEURS PEUVENT ETRE MORTELS.
Les moteurs produisent des gaz d’échappement
no cifs.
LE CAR BU RANT PEUR CAUSER UN
INCENDIE OU UNE EX PLO SION.
Le car bu rant est hautement in flam ma ble.
1. Arrêtez le moteur avant de vérifier le niveau de
car bu rant ou de faire le plein.
In struc tion 830002
4. Méfiez-vous des pro jec tions brulantes de soudage susceptibles
de pénétrer dans des aires adjacentes par de petites ouvertures
ou fis sures.
5. Méfiez-vous des incendies et gardez un extincteur à portée de la
main.
6. N’oubliez pas qu’une soudure réalisée sur un plafond, un
plancher, une cloison ou une paroi peut enflammer l’autre côté.
7. Ne soudez pas un récipient fermé, tel un réservoir ou un baril.
8. Connectez le câble de soudage le plus près pos si ble de la zone
de soudage pour empêcher le cou rant de suivre un long
parcours inconnu, et prévenir ainsi les risques d’électrocution et
d’incendie.
9. Ne dégelez pas les tuyaux avec un source de cou rant.
10. Otez l’électrode du porte-électrode ou coupez le fil au
tube-contact lorsqu’inutilisé après le soudage.
11. Portez des vêtements protecteurs non huileux, tels des gants
en cuir, une che mise épaisse, un pantalon re vers, des bottines
de sécurité et un casque.
Le piquage et le meulage produisent des particules métalliques
volantes. En refroidissant, la soudure peut projeter du éclats de
laitier.
1. Portez un écran fa cial ou des lu nettes protectrices approuvées.
Des écrans latéraux sont recommandés.
2. Portez des vêtements appropriés pour protéger la peau.
4. Empêchez tout con tact en tre une bouteille et une électrode de
soudage.
5. N’utilisez que des bouteilles de gaz protecteur, des détendeurs,
des boyauxs et des raccords conçus pour chaque ap pli ca tion
spécifique; ces équipements et les pièces connexes doivent
être maintenus en bon état.
6. Ne placez pas le vis age face à l’ouverture du robinet de la
bouteille lors de son ouverture.
7. Lais sez en place le cha peau de bouteille sauf si en uti li sa tion
ou lorsque raccordé pour uti li sa tion.
8. Lisez et respectez les consignes rel a tives aux bouteilles de gaz
comprimé et aux équipements connexes, ainsi que la pub li ca -
tion P-1 de la CGA, identifiée dans la liste de doc u ments
ci-dessous.
LES MOTEURS PEUVENT ETRE DANGEREUX
1. Utilisez l’équipement à l’extérieur dans des aires ouvertes et
bien ventilées.
2. Ne faites pas le plein en fumant ou proche d’une source
d’étincelles ou d’une flamme nue.
3. Si c’est pos si ble, lais sez le moteur refroidir avant de faire le
plein de car bu rant ou d’en vérifier le niveau au début du
soudage.
4. Ne faites pas le plein de car bu rant à ras bord: prévoyez de
l’espace pour son ex pan sion.
5. Faites at ten tion de ne pas renverser de car bu rant. Nettoyez tout
car bu rant renversé avant de faire démarrer le moteur.
March 29, 2002 2-7

PRE CAU TIONS DE SECURITE EN SOUDAGE A L'ARC
In struc tion 830002
DES PIECES EN MOUVEMENT
PEUVENT CAUSER DES BLESSURES.
Des pièces en mouvement, tels des ventilateurs, des
ro tors et des courroies peuvent couper doigts et
mains, ou accrocher des vêtements amples.
1. Assurez-vous que les portes, les panneaux, les capots et les
protecteurs soient bien fermés.
2. Avant d’installer ou de con necter un système, arrêtez le moteur.
DES ETINCELLES PEUVENT FAIRE
EXPLOSER UN ACCUMULATEUR;
L’ELECTROLYTE D’UN
ACCUMU-LATEUR PEUT BRULER LA
PEAU ET LES YEUX.
Les accumulateurs contiennent de l’électrolyte
acide et dégagent des vapeurs ex plo sives.
LA VAPEUR ET LE LIQUIDE DE
REFROIDISSEMENT BRULANT SOUS
PRESSION PEUVENT BRULER LA
PEAU ET LES YEUX.
Le liquide de refroidissement d’un radiateur peut
être brûlant et sous pression.
Safety in Welding and Cut ting, norme ANSI Z49.1, Amer i can Welding
So ci ety, 550 N.W. LeJeune Rd., Mi ami, FL 33128.
Safety and Health Stan dards, OSHA 29 CFR 1910, Su per in ten dent
of Doc u ments, U.S. Gov ern ment Print ing Of fice, Wash ing ton, D.C.
20402.
Rec om mended Safe Prac tices for the Prep a ra tion for Welding and
Cut ting of Con tainers That Have Held Haz ard ous Sub stances,
norme AWS F4.1, Amer i can Welding So ci ety, 550 N.W. LeJeune
Rd., Mi ami, FL 33128.
Na tional Elec tri cal Code, norme 70 NFPA, Na tional Fire Pro tec tion
As so ci a tion, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269.
PRINCIPALES NORMES DE SECURITE
3. Seules des personnes qualifiées doivent démonter des
protecteurs ou des capots pour faire l’entretien ou le dépannage
nécessaire.
4. Pour empêcher un démarrage accidentel pen dant l’entretien,
débranchez le câble d’accumulateur à la borne négative.
5. N’approchez pas les mains ou les cheveux de pièces en
mouvement; elles peuvent aussi accrocher des vêtements
amples et des outils.
6. Réinstallez les capots ou les protecteurs et fermez les portes
après des travaux d’entretien et avant de faire démarrer le
moteur.
1. Portez toujours un écran fa cial en travaillant sur un
accumu-lateur.
2. Arrêtez le moteur avant de con necter ou de déconnecter des
câbles d’accumulateur.
3. N’utilisez que des outils anti-étincelles pour travailler sur un
accumulateur.
4. N’utilisez pas une source de cou rant de soudage
pour charger un accumulateur ou survolter
momentanément un véhicule.
1. N’ôtez pas le bouchon de radiateur tant que le moteur n’est pas
refroidi.
2. Mettez des gants et posez un tor chon sur le bouchon pour l’ôter.
3. Lais sez la pression s’échapper avant d’ôter complètement le
bouchon.
Safe Han dling of Com pressed Gases in Cyl in ders, doc u ment P-1,
Com pressed Gas As so ci a tion, 1235 Jef fer son Da vis High way, Suite
501, Arlington, VA 22202.
Code for Safety in Welding and Cut ting , norme CSA W117.2 As so ci -
a tion canadienne de nor mali sa tion, Stan dards Sales, 276 Rexdale
Bou le vard, Rexdale, On tario, Can ada M9W 1R3.
Safe Prac tices for Oc cu pa tion and Ed u ca tional Eye and Face Pro tec -
tion , norme ANSI Z87.1, Amer i can Na tional Stan dards In sti tute, 1430
Broad way, New York, NY 10018.
Cut ting and Welding Pro cesses, norme 51B NFPA, Na tional Fire
Pro tec tion As so ci a tion, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269.
2-8 March 29, 2002

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENT
General
The Power-Master 500 is a pri mary in verter DC
power source that can be used for con stant volt -
age and con stant cur rent weld pro cesses. The
out put is rated at 450 Amps/38 Volts at 100%
duty cy cle and 560 Amps/42.4 Volts at 60% duty
cy cle. The power source also pro vides 24VAC
and 120VAC aux il iary out puts both rated at 10
Amps.
Specifications
In put Data
Line Fre quency: 50/60 HZ
Out put Cur rent Range: 5 – 560 Amps
Out put Volt age Range: 10 – 44 Volts
Max i mum Out put Cur rent: 600 Amps
Max i mum Open Cir cuit Volt age ( OCV): 70 Volts
Op er ating Tem per a ture Range: 0 – 40 C
In put Line Vari a tions: ± 10%
Line Reg u la tion: ± 1%
Load Reg u la tion: ± 1%
Wa ter Pro tec tion Class: IP23S
This ser vice man ual cov ers two vari a tions of the
Power-Master. The pri mary dif fer ence be tween
the two be ing in the front panel and weld ing con -
trol fea tures. The Power-Master 500 is a multi
pro cess ma chine for CC and CV weld ing pro -
cesses. The Power-Master 500P has pulse
GMAW added along with sev eral pro gram ma ble
fea tures. (See fea ture de scrip tions for de tails).
Line Volt age Line Cur rent kVA Eff. PF Out put
208 VAC/3 Phase 68 Amps 24.5 89% .83 450A/38V/100% Duty Cy cle
230 VAC/3 Phase 62 Amps 24.7 90% .82 450A/38V/100% Duty Cy cle
400 VAC/3 Phase 35 Amps 24.2 90% .84 450A/38V/100% Duty Cy cle
460 VAC/3 Phase 30 Amps 23.9 91% .84 450A/38V/100% Duty Cy cle
208 VAC/3 Phase 88 Amps 31.7 89% .88 560A/42.4/60% Duty Cy cle
230 VAC/3 Phase 82 Amps 32.7 89% .87 560A/42.4/60% Duty Cy cle
400 VAC/3 Phase 43 Amps 29.8 91% .86 560A/42.4/60% Duty Cy cle
460 VAC/3 Phase 39 Amps 31.1 90% .88 560A/42.4/60% Duty Cy cle
No load data
208 VAC/3 Phase 0.38 Amps 0.13 KVA 0.09 kW
230 VAC/3 Phase 0.33 Amps 0.13 KVA 0.09 kW
400 VAC/3 Phase 0.19 Amps 0.13 KVA 0.09 kW
460 VAC/3 Phase 0.17 Amps 0.13 KVA 0.09 kW
Fig ure 3-1 shows the ba sic out put volt-amp char ac ter is tics of the Power-Master 500
3-1

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
3-2
Fig ure 3-1

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Standard Features
The power source has the fol low ing stan dard
fea tures.
a. Short-Circuit Pro tec tion – The out put of the
power source can be short cir cuited in any of the
modes of op er a tion. This pro tec tion fea ture will
in stantly limit the out put cur rent to a safe value, to
as sure re li able op er a tion of the power source.
b. Out put Over load Pro tec tion – The over load
pro tec tion fea ture will limit the con tin u ous weld
cur rent to the max i mum value listed in the spec i fi -
ca tions for any of the modes of op er a tion. The
ma chine will con tinue to op er ate but the cur rent
will be lim ited to this max i mum value.
c. Cooling Fan Con trol – The cool ing fans are
de signed to op er ate only when re quired. They
will come on when ever the out put contactor con -
trol of the ma chine is on. The fans will come on for
sev eral min utes when the ma chine is first turned
on and will nor mally stay on for sev eral min utes
af ter the out put contactor con trol has been
switched off. The fans will turn off af ter sev eral
min utes of in ac tiv ity, to min i mize the amount of
Net weight: 154 LBS
Fig ure 3-2 Power Source Di men sions
dirt be ing drawn into the ma chine, as well as
lengthen the life of the fans.
d. Overtemperature Pro tec tion – If the ma -
chine over heats be cause of blocked air flow, ex -
ces sive am bi ent tem per a tures, failed fan, or
other cause, the overtemperature pro tec tion will
dis able the out put of the power source un til it has
cooled down. If the overtemperature pro tec tion
cir cuit op er ates, it will turn on the in di ca tor light
on the front panel and the fans should con tinue to
run un til the ma chine cools. The
overtemperature cir cuit will re set it self au to mat i -
cally once the ma chine has cooled.
e. Multi-Voltage Op er a tion – The power source
is de signed to op er ate from a wide range of in put
line volt ages as given in the spec i fi ca tions. The
ma chine can be re con fig ured for the dif fer ent line
volt ages with a sim ple, rug ged volt age change -
over panel ac ces si ble by re mov ing the left side
panel of the ma chine. (See in stal la tion chap ter
for de tailed in struc tions).
3-3

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
Description of Controls and
Features for Power-Master 500
Front Panel
(See Fig ure 3-3)
1– Con trol Power ON/OFF Switch: This cir cuit
breaker/switch ac ti vates the con trols on the
power source. When this switch is in the OFF po -
si tion, the power source is in standby mode.
There is still line volt age pres ent in ter nal to the
ma chine, but the con trols are not en er gized. In
the ON po si tion the con trol power is ap plied and
the con trols are en er gized. In the ON po si tion the
dig i tal dis play should be on. This cir cuit
breaker/switch also pro tects the aux il iary 24 VAC
and 120 VAC power in the case of an over load. If
cir cuit breaker trips, de ter mine cause of over load
be fore re set ting, al low breaker time to cool be -
fore re set ting.
2– Mode Se lect Switch: The mode se lect switch
is a four-position switch used to se lect the weld
pro cess. The four modes are as fol lows:
3-4
Fig ure 3-3 Front Panel
Power-Mas ter 500
GTAW mode: In this mode the power source op -
er ates in con stant cur rent mode with a lift arc
start ing cir cuit ac ti vated and arc force/in duc -
tance dis abled. The lift arc cir cuit al lows the arc
to be ini ti ated by mo men tarily touch ing the tung -
sten to the work and then lift ing. The lift arc cir cuit
lim its the “touch” cur rent to a low value and then
switches to pre set cur rent af ter lift ing. The lift arc
fea ture can be dis abled if de sired to al low
“scratch” start ing by mov ing two jump ers in ter nal
to the ma chine on the main con trol board. (See
con fig u ra tion set tings un der In stal la tion in struc -
tions chap ter of this man ual for an ex pla na tion of
how to dis able the lift arc fea ture).
SMAW mode: In this mode the power source op -
er ates in con stant cur rent mode with the arc
force con trol en abled.
CAG mode: In this mode the power source op er -
ates in con stant cur rent mode with arc force/in -
duc tance con trol dis abled.
GMAW mode: In this mode the power source op -
er ates in con stant volt age mode with the in duc -
tance con trol en abled. A Wire-Sharpening cir cuit
is also ac tive to help con di tion the end of the wire
when the weld is com plete to im prove the arc
start on the next weld. The Wire-Sharpening fea -
ture can be dis abled if de sired. (See con fig u ra -
tion set tings un der In stal la tion in struc tions
chap ter of this man ual for an ex pla na tion of how
to dis able the Wire-Sharpening fea ture).
3– Out put Contactor In di ca tor: This green light
will be ON when ever the out put of the weld ing
ma chine is en er gized.
4 – Out put Contactor Switch: This switch is
used to en er gize the out put of the ma chine.
5– Overtemp In di ca tor: This am ber light will be
ON when ever an overtemperature con di tion has
been de tected in ter nal to the ma chine. This light
will re main on with the fans run ning un til the unit
cools down. If this light is on, the out put of the
ma chine will be dis abled. Once the ma chine
cools down this light will go off and the
overtemperature con di tion will au to mat i cally re -
set.
6– Me ter Dis play: The dig i tal me ter is used to
pre set the out put volt age or cur rent when the
power source is not weld ing, and to dis play the
ac tual amps or volts while weld ing. To pre set out -
put cur rent (amps) for GTAW, SMAW or CAG,
place me ter Amps/Volts switch in the Amps po si -
tion and ad just the main Amps/Volts con trol pot.
to the de sired cur rent. To pre set out put volts for
GMAW, place the me ter Amps/Volts switch in the
Volts po si tion and ad just the main Amps/Volts
con trol pot. to the de sired volt age.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
The me ter will au to mat i cally switch over to ac tual
amps or volts while weld ing, de pend ing on the
po si tion of the me ter Amps/Volts switch.
7 – Me ter Amps/Volts Switch : This two-position
tog gle switch is used to se lect whether the dig i tal
me ter will dis play amps or volts. To pre set weld
am per age for GTAW, SMAW or CAG, place this
switch in the AMPS po si tion. To pre set weld volt -
age for GMAW, place this switch in the VOLTS
mode. Af ter an arc has been ini ti ated, this switch
al lows ei ther ac tual weld amps or weld volts to be
dis played on the me ter.
8 – Re mote/Lo cal Switch: The re mote/lo cal
tog gle switch is used to se lect ei ther front panel
con trol of out put amps/volts (LO CAL mode), or
re mote con trol of out put amps/volts through the
19 pin or 14 pin re cep ta cles lo cated on the rear
panel (RE MOTE mode). For GTAW mode, the
max i mum out put cur rent must be pre set by the
front panel Amps/Volts con trol pot. For all other
modes, the re mote con trol is full out put of the ma -
chine.
9– Amps/Volts Con trol: This con trol pot. sets
the out put amps or volts de pend ing on the weld
pro cess. Clock wise is in creas ing out put. For all
modes ex cept GTAW, this con trol is only ac tive
when the LO CAL/RE MOTE switch is in the LO -
CAL mode. For GTAW this con trol pot. is used to
set the max i mum weld cur rent avail able to a foot
pedal or hand con trol. To pre set max i mum out put
for GTAW, place the LO CAL/RE MOTE switch in
the LO CAL mode and set the max i mum de sired
am per age on the dig i tal me ter. (The me ter
amps/volts switch must be in the amps po si tion).
Place the LO CAL/RE MOTE switch in the RE -
MOTE mode to ac ti vate foot pedal con trol.
10 – Arc Force/In duc tance Con trol: This con -
trol pot. is ac tive for SMAW (Stick) and GMAW
(Mig). In SMAW mode, this pot. con trols the
amount of arc force or dig that the arc has. Max i -
mum arc force is full clock wise, full coun -
ter-clockwise is zero arc force. In GMAW mode,
this be comes an in duc tance con trol. Max i mum
in duc tance is full clock wise. Higher in duc tance
set tings make the arc “softer” with less spat ter.
Lower in duc tance set tings give a stron ger “driv -
ing” arc. The in duc tance should be set ac cord ing
to the type of wire and gas and de sired arc char -
ac ter is tics de sired. Gen erally, the in duc tance
con trol can be set at mid-range as a good start ing
point.
11 – Out put Neg a tive Ter mi nal: Con nec tion
point for neg a tive weld ing lead.
12 – Out put Pos i tive Ter mi nal: Con nec tion
point for pos i tive weld ing lead.
13 – Receptacle, 14 Pin: This re cep ta cle al lows
the power source to in ter face with wire feed ers,
and re mote con trols such as a foot pedal. This re -
cep ta cle pro vides aux il iary power, contactor
con trol for en er giz ing the out put of the power
source, and re mote out put con trol. The pinout is
as fol lows:
A) 24 VAC aux il iary power high side
B) 24 VAC Contactor cir cuit, (clo sure be tween
pin A and pin B will en er gize out put).
C) Re mote con trol max i mum (top side of
re mote pot.)
D) Con trol cir cuit com mon
E) Re mote con trol in (wiper of re mote pot.,
0 to 10 Volts).
CV mode: 0 to 10 Volts gives 10 – 44 Volts
CC mode: 0 to 10 Volts gives 5 – 560 Amps
of out put.
F) Scaled out put cur rent sig nal:
Ifb = 100 Amps/Volt
G) 24/115 VAC neu tral
Fig ure 3-4 Rear Panel
Power-Mas ter 500P
H) Out put volt age sig nal: 10 Volts/Volt
3-5

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
I) 115 VAC aux il iary power high side
J) 115 VAC Contactor cir cuit, (clo sure be tween
pin I and pin J will en er gize out put).
K) Chas sis ground
L) N/C
M) N/C
N) N/C
14 – Receptacle, 19 Pin : This re cep ta cle al lows
the power source to in ter face with wire feed ers,
and re mote con trols such as a foot pedal. This re -
cep ta cle pro vides aux il iary power, contactor con -
trol for en er giz ing the out put of the power source,
and re mote out put con trol. The pinout is as fol -
lows:
A) Contactor cir cuit (+15 Volts)
B) Contactor cir cuit in, (clo sure be tween pin A
and pin B will en er gize out put).
C) Scaled out put volt age sig nal: Vfb = 10 Arc
Volts/Volt
D) 24 VAC aux il iary power high side
E) 115 VAC aux il iary power high side
F) 24/115 VAC neu tral
G) Chas sis ground
H) Re mote con trol max i mum (top side of
re mote pot.)
J) Re mote con trol in (wiper of re mote pot.,
0 to 10 Volts).
CV Mode: 0 to 10 Volts gives 0 – 44 Volts
CC Mode: 0 to 10 Volts gives 0 – 560 Amps
K) Re mote con trol min i mum (bot tom side of
re mote pot.)
L) Con trol cir cuit com mon
M) Arc Es tab lished = +12 Volts
N) Con trol cir cuit com mon
P) 24 VAC aux il iary power high side
(same as pin D)
R) 24/115 VAC neu tral (same as pin E)
S) N/C
T) N/C
U) Scaled out put cur rent sig nal:
Ifb = 100 Amps/Volt
V) N/C
If a re mote con trol is plugged into both the 14 pin
and 19 pin re cep ta cles the de vice plugged into
the 19 pin re cep ta cle will have con trol over the
out put cur rent or volt age. Ei ther de vice can con -
trol the out put contactor cir cuit.
3-6
15– Du plex: This re cep ta cle can pro vide up to
10 amps of 120 VAC aux il iary power for pow er -
ing wire feed ers, wa ter circulators, etc.
16. Fuse: This fuse pro tects the con trol trans -
former in the power source. If the fuse opens it
should be re placed with a like am per age and
volt age, (20 amps, 600VAC).
17– In put Power Ac cess : This open ing pro -
vides ac cess to the in put ter mi nal block for the in -
put ca ble. See in stal la tion chap ter of this man ual
for de tailed in struc tions.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Description of Controls and
Features for Power-Master 500P
Fig ure 3-5 Front Panel
Power-Mas ter 500P
1 - Con trol Power ON/OFF Switch: This cir cuit
breaker/switch ac ti vates the con trols on the
power source. When this switch is in the OFF po -
si tion, the power source is in standby mode. Line
volt age is still pres ent in ter nal to the ma chine, but
the con trols are not en er gized. In the ON po si -
tion, power is ap plied to the con trol cir cuit of the
power source. When ever the switch is in the ON
po si tion, the dig i tal me ter dis plays are ac ti vated.
This cir cuit breaker also pro tects the aux il iary 24
VAC and 115 VAC power in case of an over load.
If the cir cuit breaker trips, de ter mine the cause of
the over load be fore re set ting.
2. Out put Con trol: This con trol is used to set
the out put volt age or am per age de pend ing on
the op er at ing mode of the power source. For
GTAW and SMAW modes, this con trol is used to
pre set the am per age. For GMAW this con trol
pre sets the weld ing volt age. For Pulse GMAW
this con trol sets the pulse ref er ence, which is
sim i lar in func tion to a volt age con trol.
This con trol be comes in ac tive if RE MOTE con -
trol is se lected, ex cept for GTAW mode. In
GTAW mode this con trol is used to set the max i -
mum weld ing cur rent avail able to the re mote
con trol.
3. Overtemp In di ca tor: This in di ca tor light will
be on if the power source has over heated.
When ever this light is on, the power source will
be dis abled from weld ing, but the fans will con -
tinue to run to cool the unit. Once the power
source cools down, this light will au to mat i cally go
off and the unit will be ready to weld. If this light
co mes on, the cause of the over heat ing con di -
tion should be in ves ti gated and re solved be fore
con tin u ing.
4. Amps Dis play: The top dis play shows pre set
am per age for GTAW and SMAW modes when
not weld ing. This dis play shows the ac tual weld -
ing cur rent for all modes while weld ing. For
GMAW and Pulsed-GMAW modes, the me ter
will hold the last value at the end of the weld for
up to 5 sec onds.
5. Volts Dis play: The bot tom dis play shows
pre set volt age for GMAW, and pre set pulse ref -
er ence for Pulsed-GMAW, when not weld ing.
The dis play will show ac tual weld ing volt age for
all modes while weld ing. For GMAW and
Pulsed-GMAW modes, the me ter will hold the
last value at the end of the weld for up to 5 sec -
onds.
6. Mode Se lect Switch: The mode se lect
switch is used to se lect one of the four built in op -
er at ing modes of the power source. One of the
four in di ca tor lights lo cated above the switch
should be on at all times, in di cat ing the mode
which is cur rently se lected. The four modes are
as fol lows:
GTAW mode: In this mode the power source op -
er ates in con stant cur rent mode. The front panel
con trol can be used to pre set the weld ing am per -
age. If a foot pedal or other re mote con trol is
used, then the front panel con trol is used to set
the max i mum weld ing cur rent avail able to the
foot pedal. For GTAW mode the arc force con trol
is not ac tive.
3-7

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
A lift arc cir cuit is au to mat i cally ac ti vated for
GTAW mode, un less dis abled in ter nally by
jumper se lec tions on the con trol board (See in -
stal la tion chap ter for jumper set tings). The lift arc
cir cuit al lows the arc to be ini ti ated by mo men -
tarily touch ing the tung sten to the work and then
lift ing or rock ing the tung sten off the work. The lift
arc cir cuit lim its the “touch” cur rent to a low value
and then switches to the pre set cur rent af ter the
arc is struck.
SMAW mode: In this mode the power source op -
er ates in con stant cur rent mode. The front panel
con trol can be used to pre set the de sired weld ing
am per age. The arc force con trol is ac ti vated for
SMAW mode al low ing the amount of “dig” or arc
force to be set by the arc force con trol. Max i mum
arc force is full clock wise, full coun ter clock wise
is zero arc force.
GMAW mode: In this mode the power source op -
er ates in con stant volt age mode. The front panel
con trol can be used to pre set the de sired weld ing
volt age. The in duc tance con trol is ac ti vated for
GMAW mode. The in duc tance con trol al lows the
arc char ac ter is tics to be ad justed. Max i mum in -
duc tance is full clock wise. Higher in duc tance
set tings make the arc “softer” with less spat ter.
Lower in duc tance set tings give a stron ger “driv -
ing” arc. Gen erally the in duc tance con trol can be
set at mid range as a good start ing point.
The GMAW mode also has a built in
wire-sharpening cir cuit to help con di tion the end
of the wire at the end of the weld. This fea ture re -
duces the size of the ball on the end of the wire to
im prove the next arc start. The wire sharp set -
tings can be mod i fied or dis abled by us ing the
pro gram mer in ter face.
PULSED GMAW mode: In this mode the power
source uses the built in pulse con trol for pulsed
GMAW weld ing. The pulse con trol is fac tory pro -
grammed with 24 dif fer ent pulse weld sched ules.
The ac tive pulse sched ule is shown on the pulse
sched ule dis play. The la bel on the in side of the
con trol door shows the pulse sched ules as
shipped from the fac tory. Sched ules 1 - 12 are
pro grammed as stan dard (non AVC) and sched -
ules 13-24 are pro grammed as AVC sched ules.
The AVC sched ules pro vide for con trol of the arc
length as the torch to work dis tance is var ied. In
the pulsed GMAW mode the front panel out put
con trol is used to pre set a pulse ref er ence for the
pulse con trol cir cuit. The pulse sched ules can be
mod i fied by us ing the pro gram mer in ter face.
7. Arc Force/In duc tance Con trol: When the
SMAW mode is se lected this con trol is ac ti vated
3-8
and al lows ad just ment of the amount of arc force
or “dig”. Max i mum arc force is full clock wise, full
coun ter clock wise is zero arc force. For GMAW
mode this con trol can be used to ad just the
amount of “in duc tance” in the cir cuit. Higher in -
duc tance set tings make the arc “softer” with less
spat ter. Lower in duc tance set tings give a stron -
ger “driv ing” arc. Gen erally the in duc tance con -
trol can be set at mid range as a good start ing
point. For GTAW and PULSED-GMAW modes,
this con trol is not ac tive.
8. Contactor On In di ca tor: This in di ca tor light
is on when ever the out put of the power source is
en er gized, ei ther by the contactor switch on the
front panel or by the re mote gun switch sig nal.
9. Contactor Switch: This switch can be used
to en er gize the out put of the power source, when
a re mote gun switch is not be ing used. This
switch would pri mar ily be used for SMAW weld -
ing or GTAW weld ing with out a re mote pen dant
or foot pedal.
10. Pulse Sched ule Dis play: This two digit dis -
play shows the cur rent se lected pulse GMAW
weld ing sched ule. The cur rent sched ule can be
changed by us ing the sched ule up and down se -
lect but tons.
11. Pulse Sched ule Se lect But tons: These
two but tons can be used to se lect one of the built
in pulse GMAW weld ing sched ules. These but -
tons can only be used to change the pulse
sched ule when the out put contactor is off, see
de scrip tion 8 above.
12. Re mote On Se lec tor: This but ton al lows
the se lec tion of ei ther re mote con trol of the out -
put or lo cal (front panel) con trol of the out put.
The in di ca tor light next to the switch will be on if
re mote con trol is se lected, and off if lo cal con trol
is se lected. Re mote con trol is via ei ther the 19
pin or 14 pin re cep ta cle on the rear panel of the
power source.
13. Pro gram mer Port: This port al lows the con -
nec tion of the power source to a com puter for ac -
cess ing the pro gram ma ble fea tures of the power
source. This port is con fig ured for di rect con nec -
tion to a se rial port on a com puter.
14. Out put Neg a tive Ter mi nal: Con nec tion
point for neg a tive weld ing lead.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
15. Out put Pos i tive Ter mi nal : Con nec tion point
for pos i tive weld ing lead.
Fig ure 3-6 Rear Panel
Power-Mas ter 500P
16. CAN Port: This se rial port is used for con -
nec tion to a CAN com pat i ble Ther mal Arc wire
feeder or other auxilliary de vice. All of the pro -
gram ma ble fea tures of the power source can be
ac cessed via this port.
17. Receptacle, 14 Pin: This re cep ta cle al lows
the power source to in ter face with wire feed ers,
and re mote con trols such as a foot pedal. This re -
cep ta cle pro vides aux il iary power, contactor con -
trol for en er giz ing the out put of the power source,
and re mote out put con trol. The pinout is as fol -
lows:
A) 24 VAC aux il iary power high side
B) 24 VAC Contactor cir cuit, (clo sure be tween
pin A and pin B will en er gize out put).
C) Re mote con trol max i mum (top side of
re mote pot.)
D) Con trol cir cuit com mon
E) Re mote con trol in (wiper of re mote pot.,
0 to 10 Volts).
CV mode: 0 to 10 Volts gives 10 – 44 Volts of
out put.
CC mode: 0 to 10 Volts gives
5 – 560 Amps of out put.
F) Scaled out put cur rent sig nal:
Ifb = 100 Amps/Volt
G) 24/115 VAC neu tral
H) Out put volt age sig nal: 10 Volts/Volt
I) 115 VAC aux il iary power high side
J) 115 VAC Contactor cir cuit, (clo sure
be tween pin I and pin J will en er gize out put).
K) Chas sis ground
L) N/C
M) N/C
N) N/C
18. Receptacle, 19 Pin: This re cep ta cle al lows
the power source to in ter face with wire feed ers,
and re mote con trols such as a foot pedal. This re -
cep ta cle pro vides aux il iary power, contactor
con trol for en er giz ing the out put of the power
source, and re mote out put con trol. The pinout is
as fol lows:
A) Contactor cir cuit (+15 Volts)
B) Contactor cir cuit in, (clo sure be tween
pin A and pin B will en er gize out put).
C) Scaled out put volt age sig nal:
Vfb = 10 Arc Volts/Volt
D) 24 VAC aux il iary power high side
E) 115 VAC aux il iary power high side
F) 24/115 VAC neu tral
G) Chas sis ground
H) Re mote con trol max i mum (top side of re mote
pot.)
J) Re mote con trol in (wiper of re mote pot.,
0 to 10 Volts).
CV Mode: 0 to 10 Volts gives 0 – 44 Volts of
out put.
CC Mode: 0 to 10 Volts gives 0 – 560 Amps
of out put.
K) Re mote con trol min i mum (bot tom side of
re mote pot.)
L) Con trol cir cuit com mon
M) Arc Es tab lished = +12 Volts
N) Con trol cir cuit com mon
P) 24 VAC aux il iary power high side (same as
pin D)
3-9

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
R) 24/115 VAC neu tral (same as pin E)
S) N/C
T) N/C
U) Scaled out put cur rent sig nal:
Ifb = 100 Amps/Volt
V) N/C
If a re mote con trol is plugged into both the 14 pin
and 19 pin re cep ta cles the de vice plugged into
the 19 pin re cep ta cle will have con trol over the
out put cur rent or volt age. Ei ther de vice can con -
trol the out put contactor cir cuit.
19. Du plex Re cep ta cle: This re cep ta cle can
pro vide up to 10 amps of 120 VAC aux il iary
power for pow er ing wire feed ers, wa ter
circulators, etc.
20. Fuse: This fuse pro tects the con trol trans -
former in the power source. If the fuse opens it
should be re placed with a like am per age and
volt age, (20 amps, 600VAC).
21. In put Power Ac cess: This open ing pro vides
ac cess to the in put ter mi nal block for the in put ca -
ble. See in stal la tion chap ter of this man ual for de -
tailed in struc tions.
Description of Programmable
Features for Power-Master 500P
The fol low ing is a sum mary of the fea tures which
are pro gram ma ble in the power source us ing the
pro gram mer in ter face and the Power-Master
pro gram ming soft ware.
These fea tures only ap ply to the Power-Mas ter
500P.
1. Lock out fea tures: Any or all of the fol low ing
con trols can be locked out on the Power-Master
500P so they will have no af fect on the op er a tion
of the ma chine. The ma chine will re main in what -
ever mode or con di tion it is in be fore the fea ture is
locked out.
1.1 Mode Se lect Switch - Pre vents chang ing of
the mode of op er a tion.
1.2 Re mote On Switch - Pre vents chang ing of
the re mote con trol fea ture.
1.3 Sched ule Se lect Switches - Pre vents chang -
ing of the pulse mig sched ule.
3-10
2. Re stricted out put ad just ment: The range of
ad just ment of the out put of the power source can
be re stricted for the var i ous modes of op er a tion.
2.1 Amps Ad just Range Locked: A high and low
am per age limit can be pro grammed which will
limit the out put am per age ad just range. This am -
per age ad just range is in ef fect for both GTAW
and SMAW modes.
2.2 Volts Ad just Range Locked: A high and low
volt age limit can be pro grammed for GMAW
modes which will limit the volt age ad just range of
the power source.
2.3 Pulse Ref er ence Range Locked: A high and
low pulse ref er ence limit can be pro grammed
which will limit the ad just range of the out put of
the ma chine for the Pulsed-GMAW mode.
3. Pulse Pa ram e ters: All 24 of the Pulsed
GMAW sched ules can be mod i fied, to al low for a
very flex i ble de sign of the op ti mum pulse wave -
form. In ad di tion the arc start ing con di tions, and
arc end con di tions can be mod i fied.
4. Wire sharp: Both GMAW and Pulsed GMAW
modes pro vide a wire sharp en ing se quence at
the end of the weld to con di tion the end of the
wire. The wire sharp en ing time and volt age can
be mod i fied.
5. Me ter Func tions: The me ter hold fea ture
and me ter re fresh rate can both be mod i fied if de -
sired.
6. Soft ware Con trol: In ad di tion to the pro -
gram ma ble fea tures of the Power-Master 500P,
the power source can be con trolled through ei -
ther the pro gram mer port or the CAN port. This
in cludes com plete con trol of the power source,
such as mode, pulse sched ule, pulse pa ram e -
ters, re mote/lo cal con trol, etc. Most of the fea -
tures of the power source can be con trolled in
real time un der live arc con di tions. For fur ther
de tails please con sult Thermal Arc technical
service

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
INSTALLATION
Location
Ad e quate air cir cu la tion is needed at all times in
or der to as sure proper op er a tion. Pro vide a min -i
mum of 12 inches (305 mm) of free airspace on
all sides of the unit. Make sure that the ven ti la tor
open ings are not obstructed. Ven ti la tion air flow
is from rear to side.
Voltage Changeover
For proper op er a tion and to pre vent dam age to
the ma chine, the volt age change over must be set
ac cord ing to the in com ing AC line volt age. Re -
move the left side panel of the ma chine to gain
ac cess to the volt age change over board. Set the
links to agree with one of the four avail able volt -
age set tings. (See Fig ures 4-1 through 4-4).
The four set tings are:
200 VAC
230 VAC
400 VAC
460 VAC
1. Check the name plate of the ma chine for
proper line volt age.
2. Move the volt age links by loos en ing the nuts
se cur ing the links in place. For 200 and 230 VAC
set tings place the two links in the 200/230V po si -
tions. For 400 and 460 VAC set tings place the
two links di rectly on top of each other in the
400/460V po si tion. See fig ures 4-1 through 4-4.
Make sure that the con nec tions are prop erly
tight ened.
Fig ure 4-1
Fig ure 4-2
Fig ure 4-3
Fig ure 4-4
Fig ure 4-5
4-1

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
Dan ger: Elec tric shock can kill.
Open the main wall dis con nect
switch or breaker, be fore re mov ing
any cov ers or ac cess pan els on the
weld ing ma chine. Live volt age is
still pres ent even with the front
panel con trol switch OFF. Wait at
least three full min utes af ter power
has been re moved be fore re mov ing
any cov ers or ac cess pan els to al -
low ad e quate time for in ter nal ca -
pac i tors to dis charge.
Connecting Welding Machine to
Line Voltage
The in put power should be con nected to the unit
through a fused dis con nect switch, or other suit -
able dis con nect ing means fur nished by the user.
Ac cess is pro vided in the rear panel of the ma -
chine for the en try of the in put con duc tors.
DANGER: ELEC TRIC SHOCK CAN
KILL. Open the dis con nect switch,
or breaker, and de ter mine that no
volt age is pres ent, be fore con nect -
ing wires be tween weld ing ma chine
and power sup ply.
4-2
Line
Volts Rated Line
Amps
200
230
400
460
88
82
43
39
Approx.
Line
Fuse Size
Amps
100
100
60
60
CAU TION: The method of in stal la tion,
con duc tor size, and overcurrent pro tec -
tion shall con form to the re quire ments
of the lo cal elec tri cal code, the Na tional
Elec tri cal Code, or other na tional codes,
as ap pli ca ble. All in stal la tion wir ing and
ma chine con nec tions shall be done by
qual i fied per sons.
Ta ble 4-1 pro vides min i mal in for ma tion for se lec -
tion of line con duc tors, fuses, and the equip ment
ground ing con duc tor. This in for ma tion is from
the Na tional Elec tri cal Code NFPA 70-1981 Edi -
tion. In stall this equip ment per the lat est edi tion,
avail able from the Na tional Fire Pro tec tion As so -
ci a tion, 470 At lan tic Av e nue, Boston, MA 02210.
Connection Instructions
1. Re move left side panel to gain ac cess to the in -
put ter mi nal block and ground screw.
2. Con nect the three phase power line to the ter -
mi nal block as shown in Fig ure 4-5.
3. Con nect the power sys tem safety ground to
the the screw la beled PE GROUND lo cated on
the base of the ma chine near the in put ter mi nal
block as shown in Fig ure 4-6.
4. Re place side panel.
WARNING: Never con nect the
safety ground screw to one of
the three line phases. This
would rep re sent a se ri ous elec -
tri cal shock haz ard. The wir ing
to this ma chine should be per -
formed by a qual i fied per son
only.
Cop per
Line Wire Size*
No. 6 (16 mm2)
No. 6 (16 mm2)
No. 10 (6 mm2)
No. 10 (6 mm2)
Ta ble 4-1 Rec om mended Wire and Fuse Size Ta ble
Cop per
Grounding
Con duc tor
Min. Size
No. 6 (16 mm2)
No. 6 (16 mm2)
No. 10 (6 mm2)
No. 10 (6 mm2)
*Con duc tor size shall be mod i fied as re quired for line volt age drop and am bi ent tem per a t ure. Sizes listed
are based on 90°C con duc tor in su la tion, des ig nated as FEP, FEPB , RHH , and THHN.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Grounding
The frame of this weld ing ma chine should be
grounded for per son nel safety, and to as sure op -
er a tion of the overcurrent pro tec tion. The
ground ing method, and the equip ment ground ing
con duc tor size and type shall con form to lo cal
and na tional codes.
For the Na tional Elec tri cal Code, the equip ment
ground ing con duc tor shall be green, green with a
yel low stripe, or bare.
If flex i ble power ca ble is used, use a ca ble as -
sem bly which in cludes the equip ment ground ing
con duc tor. If me tal lic ar mored ca ble or con duit is
used, the metal sheath ing or con duit must be ef -
fec tively grounded per lo cal and na tional codes.
Rub ber-tire mounted equip ment shall be
grounded to con form to lo cal and na tional codes.
The ground ing as sists in pro vid ing pro tec tion
Fig ure 4-6
against line volt age elec tri cal shock and static
shock. The ground ing serves to dis charge the
static elec tric charge which tends to build up on
rub ber-tire mounted equip ment. This static
charge can cause pain ful shock and lead to the
er ro ne ous con clu sion that an elec tri cal fault ex -
ists in the equip ment.
If a sys tem ground is not avail able, con sult the
elec tri cal code en force ment body for in struc -
tions. The weld ing ma chine should be con nected
to an ad e quate driven ground rod, or to a wa ter
pipe that en ters the ground not more than 10 feet
(3 me ters) from the ma chine.
The equip ment ground ing con duc tor size is
listed in Ta ble 4-1 as a guide if no lo cal or na -
tional code is ap pli ca ble.
At tach the equip ment ground ing con duc tor to the
stud pro vided on the yoke panel. De ter mine that
4-3

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
the ground wire size is ad e quate be fore the ma -
chine is op er ated.
Welding Leads
Con nect the weld ing leads to the out put bus bar
ter mi nals of the power source. Se lec tion of the
proper size of weld ing leads should be based
upon both the rated ampacity of the wire as well
as the volt age drop on the ca ble. When con sid er -
ing volt age drop, the en tire loop (elec trode plus
work lead) must be con sid ered.
Re fer to Ta ble 4-2 as a ba sic guide line to the re -
quired cop per ca ble sizes.
As a gen eral rule, the weld ing ca bles should be
kept as short as pos si ble and placed close to -
gether. Try to avoid coil ing up the ca bles if pos si -
ble. A dam aged or frayed ca ble should not be
used, and all con nec tions must be prop erly tight -
ened.
4-4
Avg. Welding
Amps
50 Feet
(15.2 M)
TO TAL LENGTH OF LEAD CIR CUIT IN FEET (AND ME TERS)
(ELEC TRODE LEAD PLUS WORK LEAD)
100 Feet
(30.5 M)
150 Feet
(45.7 M)
200 Feet
(61.0 M)
250 Feet
(76.2 M)
100 #4 (20mm2) #4 (20mm2) #2 (35mm2) #1 (50mm2) #1 (50mm2)
150 #3 (25mm2) #3 (25mm2) #1 (50mm2) #1/0 (50mm2) #2/0 (70mm2)
200 #2 (35mm 2 ) #2 (35mm 2 ) #1/0 (50mm 2 ) #2/0 (70mm 2 ) #3/0 (95mm 2 )
250 #1 (50mm2) #1 (50mm2) #2/0 (70mm2) #3/0 (95mm2) #4/0 (120mm2)
300 #1/0 (50mm2) #1/0 (50mm2) #3/0 (95mm2) #4/0 (120mm2) 2 - #2/0
2 - (70mm2)
350 #2/0 (70mm2) #2/0 (70mm2) #4/0 (120mm2) 2 - #2/0
2 -(70mm 2)
400 #3/0 (95mm 2 ) #3/0 (95mm 2 ) #4/0 (120mm 2 ) 2 - #2/0
2 - (70mm2)
450 #3/0 (95mm 2 ) #3/0 (95mm 2 ) #4/0 (120mm 2 ) 2 - #3/0
2 - (95mm2)
500 #4/0 (120mm 2 ) #4/0 (120mm 2 ) 2 - #2/0
2 - (70mm 2)
550 #4/0 (120mm 2 ) #4/0 (120mm 2 ) 2 - #2/0
2 - (70mm 2)
600 #4/0 (120mm 2 ) #4/0 (120mm 2 ) 2 - #3/0
2 - (95mm2)
2 - #3/0
2 - (95mm2)
2 - #4/0
2 - (120mm2)
2 - #4/0
2 - (120mm2)
2 - #2/0
2 - (70mm2)
2 - #3/0
2 - (95mm2)
2 - #3/0
2 - (95mm2)
2 - #4/0
2 - (120mm2)
2 - #4/0
2 - (120mm2)
2 - #4/0
2 - (120mm2)
NOTE: Lead size shown is for 90°C (194°F) ca ble in su la tion, 30°C (86°F) am bi ent, and not over 4.5
volts lead drop.
Ta ble 4-2

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Con fig u ra tion Set tings
A. Lift Tig (Ap plies to both 100054 & 100060)
The power source is con fig ured from the fac tory
with the Lift-Arc start ing cir cuit ac tive for GTAW .
This fea ture should be dis abled if an ex ter nal
high volt age arc starter is be ing used to start the
arc. To dis able the lift arc fea ture pro ceed as fol -
lows:
1. Turn off the power to the power source at the
main dis con nect.
2. Re move the top panel to gain ac cess to the
con trol board. (see Fig ure 4-7).
3. To dis able Lift-Arc place jumper plugs JP1 and
JP2 if the OFF po si tion (pins 2 to 3 shorted).
4. To re-enable Lift-Arc place jumper plugs JP1
and JP2 back in the ON po si tion (1 to 2 shorted).
5. Re place the top panel.
Fig ure 4-7
Lift TIG Jumpers
4-5

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
B. Wire-Sharpening for GMAW (Ap plies to
100060 only)
The power source is con fig ured from the fac tory
with the Wire-Sharpening cir cuit ac tive for
GMAW. This fea ture im proves arc start ing by re -
duc ing the size of the ball on the wire at the end of
the weld. To dis able this fea ture pro ceed as fol -
lows:
1. Turn off the power to the power source at the
main dis con nect.
2. Re move the top and side pan els to gain ac -
cess to the dis play board. (see Fig ure 4-7).
3. Re move the knobs and hard ware from the
front panel to al low re moval of the dis play board.
4. To dis able Wire-Sharpening place jumper
plug JP1 in the OFF po si tion (pins 3 to 4 shorted).
5. To re-en able Wire-Sharpening place jumper
plug JP1 back in the ON po si tion (pins 1 to 2
shorted).
6. Re place board and pan els.
4-6
Fig ure 4-8
Wire Sharpening Jumper

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
MAINTENANCE
If this equip ment does not op er ate prop erly, stop
work im me di ately and in ves ti gate the cause of
the mal func tion. Main te nance work must be per -
formed by an ex pe ri enced, qual i fied per son only.
Any elec tri cal work must be per formed by an
elec tri cian or other per son prop erly trained in ser -
vic ing elec tri cal equip ment. Do not per mit un -
trained per sons to in spect, clean or re pair this
equip ment. Use only rec om mended re place -
ment parts when ser vic ing this ma chine.
Dan ger: HIGH VOLT AGE is pres ent
in ter nally even with the con trol
power switch in the OFF po si tion.
Be fore in spect ing, clean ing, or ser -
vic ing, dis con nect and lock out the
in put power to the power source.
Pe ri odically clean the in side of the weld ing power
source by us ing clean dry com pressed air of not
over 25 psi as nor mal pre ven tive main te nance.
At the time of the clean ing, a full in spec tion of the
weld ing ma chine and setup should be per -
formed.
The fol low ing check list can be used as a guide for
rou tine main te nance.
• Check warn ing la bels for read abil ity.
• Check sheet metal pan els, all screws and fas -
ten ers should be firmly se cured, heavily cor -
roded pan els and fas ten ers or dam aged
pan els should be re placed.
• Check pri mary in put power wir ing to the ma -
chine in clud ing ground. Re pair or re place any
wires that have cracked or dam aged in su la tion
or frayed con nec tions.
• Check out put weld con nec tions in clud ing any
con nec tions to wire feed ers, fix tures, etc.
Loose or frayed con nec tions can cause over -
heat ing of the out put ter mi nals, or ex ces sive
volt age drop which may de grade weld ing per -
for mance.
• Check con trol ca ble con nec tions to the power
source and wire feeder or other con trols.
Dam aged ca bles can cause in ter mit tent prob -
lems which are of ten dif fi cult to trou ble shoot.
Ca bles should be re paired or re placed if dam -
age is ev i dent.
• Check all con trol switches and po ten ti om -
eters. If any of the con trols are dam aged or
bro ken they should be re placed. Most of the
con trols on this ma chine are in te gral com po -
nents to a cir cuit board, and will re quire re -
place ment of the board.
• In spect in ter nal wir ing of the weld ing ma chine
for loose or frayed con nec tions, tighten or re -
pair as nec es sary.
• Check in ter nal con nec tions in clud ing cir cuit
board con nec tors. Any loose or cor roded con -
nec tions should be re paired.
5-1

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
TROUBLESHOOTING
General
This man ual is in tended to be used by qual i fied,
trained, ser vice tech ni cians. It’s pur pose is to
give the ser vice tech ni cian an en hanced, de -
tailed un der stand ing of the weld ing ma chine.
This trou ble shoot ing sec tion is in tended to help
de ter mine which com po nent or sub-as sem bly is
faulty. This man ual only pro vides in for ma tion to
the point of de ter min ing whether a cir cuit board is
de fec tive, it does not pro vide in for ma tion to trou -
ble shoot and re pair a cir cuit board.
There are many out side in flu ences on the over all
weld ing pro cess which can of ten point to wards a
“de fec tive” weld ing power source. It is im por tant
to make sure that these out side in flu ences are
not the ac tual cause of a com plaint or faulty op er -
a tion be fore trou ble shoot ing the weld ing power
source.
Some com mon things to look for are listed be low:
In put power
In cor rect volt age, blown fuses, loose con nec
-
tions, im proper volt age change over set ting.
Im proper Op er a tion
In cor rect switch po si tions (re mote/lo cal, mode,
trig ger hold, volt age or wire feed set ting, in duc -
tance set ting, pulse sched ule, etc. ), Loose, dam -
aged or miss ing con trol or weld con nec tions.
NOTE: The Power-Mas ter 500P has a num ber of
pro gram ma ble fea tures, in clud ing the abil ity to
dis able front panel switches and limit the out put
range of the ma chine. These fea tures can be
pro grammed us ing an op tional soft ware pack age
(GUS).
Poor weld ing or start ing
Shielding gas type, flow or con tam i na tion, in cor -
rect weld po lar ity, wire feed ing prob lem (liner,
feed rolls, tip, guides, etc. ), Torch to work dis -
tance in cor rect, travel speed, torch an gle, etc.
Basic Troubleshooting
There are two gen eral types of prob lems or fail -
ures which can oc cur with the Power-Mas ter.
The first would re late to a fail ure within the power
cir cuit, and the sec ond would be a con trol type
prob lem.
Power Cir cuit fail ure
Typ i cal symp toms
• Blown line fuses
• No out put
• Vi sual dam age to power com po nents
Di ag nos tics:
• Check in put rec ti fier
• Check IGBT mod ules
• Check out put di odes
• Check ca pac i tor boards
• Check in put contactors for dam aged con tacts
Con trol cir cuit fail ure
Typ i cal symp toms
• Lack of out put con trol
• Im proper op er a tion
• Er ratic weld ing (rule out ex ter nal causes first)
Di ag nos tics:
Re fer to block di a gram, con trol board sig nal in -
for ma tion and spe cific con trol tests to pin point
trouble.
Block Diagrams
See the fol low ing pages.
6-1

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
6-2
Fig ure 6-1
Power-Mas ter 500 Block Di a gram (100060)

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Fig ure 6-2
Power-Mas ter 500 Pulse Block Di a gram (100054)
6-3

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
Control Board Connector Signals
(For 830894 main con trol board)
Con nec tor Volt age De scrip tion
J1: 26 pin rib bon ca ble to front panel board
J1-1 1V or 14V GTAW mode se lect, 1V = GTAW selected
J1-2 1V or 14V SMAW mode se lect, 1V = SMAW selected
J1-3 1V or 14V CAG or PULSE mode se lected, 1V = CAG or PULSE selected
J1-4 1V or 14V GMAW mode se lected, 1V = GMAW selected
J1-5 Arc force pot high side in SMAW mode
J1-6 In duc tance pot high side in all modes ex cept SMAW
J1-7 Arc force pot low side in SMAW mode
J1-8 In duc tance pot low sidein all modes ex cept SMAW
J1-9 1V or 14V Re mote/Lo cal, 1V = re mote selected
J1-10 +15V Power supply
J1-11 0V or 13.5V Contactor in put, +13.5V = in verter on
J1-12 +10V High side ref er ence for front panel con trol pot.
J1-13 0.07V or 2.22V Low side of front panel pot., 2.22 for GMAW, .07 for other modes
J1-14 0 to 10V Wiper in put from front panel con trol pot.
J1-15 0 to 6V Cur rent feed back, 100Amps/volt
J1-16 0 to 6V Volt age feed back, 10Volts/volt
J1-17 0 or 14V Arc es tab lished sig nal, 14V = arc established
J1-18 0 or 15V Gun Switch sig nal, +15V = gun switch on
J1-19 -15V Power supply
J1-20 Common Sig nal common
J1-21 +5V Power Supply
J1-22 Over-tem per a ture light drive
J1-23 0 to 10V Ref er ence output
J1-24 0 to 13.5V Pulse or CAG con trol input
J1-25 Common Sig nal common
J1-26 0 to 10V Ref er ence in put to main board
J2: 4 pin con nec tor to cur rent sensor
J2-1 +15V Power sup ply to cur rent sensor
J2-2 -15V Power sup ply to cur rent sensor
J2-3 0 to 5V Out put cur rent, 4V = 500 Amps
J2-4 Common Sig nal com mon for cur rent sensor
J3: 2 pin con nec tor for out put volt age feedback
J3-1 0 to +60V Pos i tive out put ter mi nal voltage
J3-2 0 to -60V Neg a tive out put ter mi nal voltage
J4: 12 po si tion con nec tor header for op tional wire stick de tect circuit
J4-1 +5V Power sup ply to wire de tect circuit
J4-2 Common Sig nal common
J4-3 to J4-10 N/C
J4-11 0 to +60V Pos i tive out put terminal
J4-12 0 to -60V Neg a tive out put terminal
J5: 5 po si tion to pri mary cur rent transformer
J5-1 Cur rent trans former secondary
J5-2 Cur rent transformer secondary
J5-3 N/C
J5-4 +15V In ter lock jumper
J5-4 +15V In ter lock jumper
6-4

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
J6: 4 po si tion to ther mo stats
J6-1 +15V Power to thermostats
J6-2 +15V From ther mo stat, 15V for nor mal operation
J6-3 +15V From ther mo stat, 15V for nor mal operation
J6-4 +15V From ther mo stat, 15V for nor mal operation
J7: 8 po si tion to IGBT gate drive
J7-1 to J7-5 0 or 14 VAC Gate drive sig nal #1
J7-4 to J7-8 0 or 14 VAC Gate drive sig nal #2
J8: 8 po si tion to IGBT gate drive
J8-1 to J8-5 0 or 14VAC Gate drive sig nal #3
J8-4 to J8-8 0 or 14 VAC Gate drive sig nal #4
J9: 14 po si tion to contactors and fans
J9-1 0 or 115VAC Main contactor coil drive
J9-3 0 or 115VAC In rush contactor coil drive
J9-5 115VAC neutral Neu tral com mon con nec tion
J9-7 0 or 115VAC Fan drive
J10: 16 po si tion rib bon to amphenol board
J10-1 +15V Volt age sup ply to re mote gun switch
J10-2 0 or +15V Gun switch in put, +15V = Gun switch on
J10-3 0 to 6V Volt age teedback 10V/Volt
J10-4 0 to 10V Re mote con trol maximum
J10-5 0 to 10V Re mote con trol in put from 19 pin
J10-6 0.07 or 2.22V Re mote con trol min i mum, 2.22V for GMAW mode
J10-7 0 or 15V Arc es tab lished sig nal, +15V = arc established
J10-8 0 to 6V Cur rent feed back 100 Amps/Volt
J10-9 Common Con trol cir cuit common
J10-10 0 to 10V Re mote con trol in put from 14 pin
J10-11 0 to 6V Volt age feed back for 14 pin re mote, 10V/Volt
J10-12 to J10-16 N/C
J11: 4 po si tion AC volt age to board
J11-1 21VAC Sup ply voltage
J11-2 21VAC Sup ply voltage
J11-3 Common Cir cuit com mon for sup ply voltages
J12: 5 po si tion op tion connector
J12-1 +15V Sup ply voltage
J12-2 -15V Sup ply voltage
J12-3 +5V Sup ply voltage
J12-4 Common Power sup ply common
J12-5 N/C
Ta ble 6-1
Con trol board in ter con nect sig nals
6-5

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
Power Circuit Tests
Dan ger: HIGH VOLT AGE is pres ent
in ter nally even with the con trol
power switch in the OFF po si tion.
Be fore in spect ing, clean ing, or ser -
vic ing, dis con nect and lock out the
in put power to the power source.
The fol low ing test must be per formed with power
dis con nected from the ma chine. These tests re -
quire a dig i tal multi-me ter with a di ode checker.
Note; Normally a good di ode will check in the
range of 0.2 to 0.9 Volts in the for ward di rec tion
de pend ing on the par tic u lar di ode.
In put Rec ti fier test (see Fig ure 6-3 and con nec -
tion di a gram)
Ter mi nal 4 (+) to ter mi nal 1 (-) : Open
Ter mi nal 4 (+) to ter mi nal 2 (-) : Open
Ter mi nal 4 (+) to ter mi nal 3 (-) : Open
Ter mi nal 4 (-) to ter mi nal 1 (+) : 0.2 - 0.9
Ter mi nal 4 (-) to ter mi nal 2 (+) : 0.2 - 0.9
Ter mi nal 4 (-) to ter mi nal 3 (+) : 0.2 - 0.9
Ter mi nal 5 (+) to ter mi nal 1 (-) : 0.2 - 0.9
Ter mi nal 5 (+) to ter mi nal 2 (-) : 0.2 - 0.9
Ter mi nal 5 (+) to ter mi nal 3 (-) : 0.2 - 0.9
Ter mi nal 5 (-) to ter mi nal 1 (+) : Open
Ter mi nal 5 (-) to ter mi nal 2 (+) : Open
Ter mi nal 5 (-) to ter mi nal 3 (+) : Open
6-6
Fig ure 6-3 In put rec ti fier
IGBT Test: (See Fig ure 6-4 and con nec tion di a -
gram).
Note: Be cause of the ca pac i tor boards con -
nected across the IGBTs they may ini tially show
a short cir cuit when us ing the di ode checker, un til
the ca pac i tors charge up.
Check both IGBTs as fol lows:
E2 (+) to C2E1 (-): 0.2 - 0.9
E2 (-) to C2E1 (+): Open (See Note above)
C2E1 (+) to C1 (-): 0.2 - 0.9
C2E1 (-) to C1 (+): Open (See Note Above)
Out put Di ode test:
Fig ure 6-4 IGBT Mod ule
Check the out put di odes at the out put weld ter mi -
nals as fol lows:
Pos i tive ter mi nal (+) to Neg a tive terminal (-):
Open
Pos i tive ter mi nal (-) to Neg a tive ter mi nal (+):
0.2 - 0.9
Ca pac i tor Board tests:
The ca pac i tors can be checked us ing the di ode
checker func tion on a dig i tal multi-me ter, with the
power dis con nected from the ma chine. A good
ca pac i tor will ini tially show a short and then go to
an open cir cuit as the ca pac i tor charges up. If
the me ter leads are then re versed the ca pac i tor
will again show a short and go to an open as the
ca pac i tor charges with the op po site po lar ity.
Note: Check the IGBTs and in put rec ti fier first. If
an IGBT is shorted it will have to be dis con nected
from the ca pac i tor board be fore the ca pac i tor
can be checked.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Check the four ca pac i tor banks us ing the di ode
checker func tion on the me ter with power dis con -
nected from the machine as fol lows:
C1 to C2E1 top IGBT.
C2E1 to E2 top IGBT.
C1 to C2E1 bot tom IGBT.
C2E1 to E2 bot tom IGBT.
The ca pac i tor banks should have the fol low volt
-
age read ings when power is ap plied to the unit,
by switch ing the front panel CON TROL POWER
switch ON.
Note: The volt age must be checked with the
OUT PUT CONTACTOR con trol OFF.
C1(+) to C2E1(-) top IGBT : 140 to 180 VDC
C2E1(+) to E2(-) top IGBT : 140 to 180 VDC.
C1(+) to C2E1(-) bot tom IGBT: 140 to 180 VDC.
C2E1(+) to E2(-) bot tom IGBT: 140 to 180 VDC.
All read ings should be within 15 VDC of each
other.
DANGER: Use ex treme cau tion
when mak ing mea sure ments in ter -
nal to the ma chine. Pri mary volt age
is pres ent in side the ma chine even
with the CON TROL POWER switch
in the OFF po si tion. Do not touch
ex posed metal or wir ing con nec -
tions if the main wall dis con nect is
ac ti vated.
Dan ger: Af ter power has been re -
moved al low 2 min utes for the volt -
age to de cay on the ca pac i tor
banks.
Semiconductor replacement
requirements
The fol low ing guide lines must be fol lowed when
re plac ing one of the power semi con duc tors. This
in cludes the in put rec ti fier mod ule, out put di ode,
or IGBT mod ule.
1. Re move the failed com po nent and thor oughly
clean the heat sink area where the part mounts.
2. Ap ply a thin layer of heat sink ther mal com -
pound to the semi con duc tor mod ule.
3. Tighten and torque the mount ing screws and
ter mi nals per the chart be low.
Note: It is im por tant to fol low the torque re quire -
ments to avoid pos si ble dam age to the com po -
nent
Com po nent Torque
Out put Diode
Cen ter mount ing screw 15 in-lbs
Outer mount ing screws 35 in-lbs
Ter mi nal screws 35 in-lbs
In put Rectifier
Mount ing Screws 27 in-lbs
Ter mi nal Screws 27 in-lbs
IGBT Module
Mount ing Screws 35 in-lbs
Ter mi nal Screws 27 in-lbs
Ta ble 6-2
Semi con duc tor Torque Re quire ments
6-7

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
Ground
Fig ure 6-5
Main Con trol Board
6-8

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Control Circuit tests:
Most of the con trol cir cuit mea sure ments can be
made on the main con trol board. (See Fig ure 6-5)
Note: Un less stated oth er wise, use TP4-2 as
the ground or com mon con nec tion when
mak ing mea sure ments on the con trol cir -
cuits.
Dan ger: The gate drive sig nals (T1,
T2, R24-R27, J7 and J8, are all con -
nected to the pri mary cir cuit, and
are live when ever power is ap plied
to the ma chine, even if the CON -
TROL POWER switch is in the OFF
po si tion. Switch off power at main
dis con nect be fore unplugging J7
and J8.
Note: Dis con nect con nec tors J7, J8 and J9
from the con trol board be fore mak ing the fol -
low ing checks. This will keep the in put
contactors off and keep from fir ing the gates
on the IGBTs.
Con nect pri mary power to the ma chine and turn
the CON TROL POWER switch ON to power up
the con trol cir cuit.
1. Power Sup plies:
TP2-6 to TP4-2 (GND): +15 VDC
TP2-3 to TP4-2 (GND): -15 VDC
6-9
L1: 21 VAC
L3: 21 VAC
TP2-2 to TP4-2 (GND): +5 VDC
If the power sup plies do not check ok, then dis -
con nect the rib bon ca ble from J1 to iso late the
main con trol board from the front panel board/s.
If the power sup plies still do not check ok, ver ify
that the proper AC volt age is com ing up to the
board.
L1 to TP4-2 (GND): 21 VAC
L3 to TP4-2 (GND): 21 VAC
L1 to L3: 42 VAC
Fig ure 6-7
AC power check
Fig ure 6-6
Power sup ply test points

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
2. Ref er ence Cir cuit
Set front panel to LO CAL (Re mote off) con -
trol and mode to GMAW.
Mea sure 10V_Ref. as main A/V con trol pot
on front panel is var ied min to max.
A) TP2-1 to TP4-2: 2.27 to 10.0 VDC
Volts dis play on front panel reads 10 to 44
Volts.
B) For GTAW, SMAW modes:
TP2-1 to TP4-2: 0.1 to 10.0 VDC
Amps dis play on front panel reads 4 to 560
Amps.
C) For PULSE GMAW mode:
TP2-1 to TP4-2: 0.1 to 10.0 VDC
Volts Dis play on front panel reads 4 to 440.
19 pin input
Fig ure 6-8
14 pin input
Gun Switch Input
If TP2-1 reads OK but front panel dis play is
wrong then the prob lem is with the front
panel board or rib bon ca ble inter-con nect..
If TP2-1 is not OK, then make the fol low ing
checks: (See Fig ure 6-8 be low)
A) R195 top side: +10V all the time with or
with out J1 plugged in.
B) Min. ref RV2 bot tom side: 0.07 VDC for
SMAW, GTAW, or PULSE, 2.22 VDC for
GMAW or with J1 un plugged.
C) Ref. in to main con trol board at R222 top
side: 0.07 to 10 VDC for GTAW min to max,
2.22 - 10 VDC min to max for GMAW. This is
the ref er ence in put from the front panel.
+10V
Ref. In
Re mote Max.
Ref. Min.
6-10

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
3. Gun Switch Cir cuit
This is the gun switch from the 19/14 pin re mote
re cep ta cle. To ac ti vate gun switch short Pins A &
B on 19 pin re mote.
A) Gun switch in put: D85-An ode +15VDC for gun
switch on, 0V for gun switch off. (See Fig ure 6-8)
B) Gun switch out put R131: +15VDC for gun
switch on, 0V for gun switch off. (See Fig ure 6-9)
6-11
Gun Switch out -
put
Contactor In put
sig nal
4. Out put Contactor cir cuit:
The contactor sig nal co mes from the front panel
board to the main con trol board. It is based on the
gun switch out put sig nal. This is the sig nal which
ac tu ally turns the in verter on and off.
A) With gun switch on (jumper A-B on 19 pin re -
mote), R175 is 13.6 VDC, with gun switch off,
R175 is 0VDC. (See Fig ure 6-9)
B) Out put contactor switch on front panel should
give the same re sults.
C) With R175 at 13.6 VDC, D10-Cath ode should
also be high (+15VDC), with R175 at 0,
If gun switch in put is not pres ent to main con trol
board that most likely in di cates a prob lem with ei -
ther the amphenol board or the J10 rib bon ca ble.
If the gun switch in put is pres ent but the gun
switch out put is not cor rect, then the prob lem is
with the main con trol board. (Note: J1 must be
plugged in for this cir cuit to work)
Fig ure 6-9
D10-Cath ode should also be low. (See Fig ure
6-10)
D) With R175 at +13.6VDC, D10-An ode should
be around 12VDC, with R175 at 0, D10-An ode
should be 0.7. D10-An ode is the ON/OFF con trol
sig nal to the PWM con trol ler chip.
E) If D10-Cath ode is right but the An ode side is
not, then check J5-4 to J5-5 jumper to make sure
it is in place, and also make sure power sup plies
are ok. Also make sure the ther mo stat light is not
on. Any one of these con di tions can in hibit the in -
verter cir cuit from run ning by keep ing D10-An -
ode low.

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
D10-Cathode
D10-Anode
5. Gate Sig nal Checks:
Note: Re move jumper from pins A & B of 19 pin
amphenol if it is still in place.
A) Set ma chine for SMAW, LO CAL, pre set A/V
for 100 amps.
B) Check gate drive volt ages us ing dig i tal me ter
set for AC volts.
Gate Drive Signals
Fig ure 6-10
C) Use the CONTACTOR switch on the front
panel to ac ti vate the gate drive. With
CONTACTOR on the gate volt age should be ap -
prox i mately 14.5 VAC (at 17KHz), with the
CONTACTOR off, the gate volt age should read 0
volts.
D) Mea sure all four gate drive sig nals, J7-1 to
J7-5, J7-4 to J7-8, J8-1 to J8-5 and J8-4 to J8-8.
6-12

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
6. Re mote Con trol Checks:
A) Jumper pins H and J to gether at 19 pin re mote
re cep ta cle on rear panel.
B) Se lect GMAW mode, and RE MOTE on front
panel.
C) TP2-1 10V Ref should mea sure +10VDC all
the time.
D) Switch to GTAW mode.
E) TP2-1 should vary from 0.1 to 10 VDC as the
front panel A/V con trol is var ied from min. to max.
F) Re move jumper from pins H and J of 19 pin re -
mote and jumper pin C to E on 14 pin re mote re -
cep ta cle on the rear panel.
7. Mode Checks:
The fol low ing checks can be done to ver ify that
the cor rect sig nals are com ing from the front
panel board to the main con trol board. If a sig nal
is not cor rect it most likely in di cates a prob lem
with ei ther the front panel board or the rib bon ca -
ble inter-con nect.
For the fol low ing, if the mode is se lected the sig -
nal should read around 1 Volt if it is not se lected it
should read around 14 Volts.
A) GTAW mode, check at R133 (See Fig ure
6-11).
6-13
Arc es tab -
lished
GTAW
SMAW
Lo cal/
Re mote
GMAW
CAG/
Pulse
G) In GTAW mode, TP2-1 should vary from 0.2 to
10 VDC as the front panel con trol is var ied from
min. to max.
H) In GMAW mode, TP2-1 should read 10 VDC
all the time.
If ei ther of these are not cor rect, then ver ify that
the main board is pro vid ing the cor rect volt age at
RV3 (see Fig ure 6-8) for re mote max. This volt -
age should be 10VDC all the time for GMAW
mode, and should vary from 0.1 to 10VDC for
GTAW mode as the front panel con trol is var ied
from min. to max.
If RV3 is ok, then ver ify that the re mote sig nal is
mak ing it to the main board from the amphenol
board. The in put from the 19 pin re mote is at
R269, and the in put from the 14 pin re mote is at
R276. (See Fig ure 6-8)
B) SMAW mode, check at R145 (See Fig ure
6-11).
C) GMAW mode, check at R198 (See Fig ure
6-11).
D) CAG /PULSE mode, check at R200 (See Fig -
ure 6-11)
E) Check RE MOTE/LO CAL mode at R173 (See
Fig ure 6-11). LO CAL = 14 Volts, RE MOTE = 1
Volt.
Fig ure 6-11

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
8. Re lay Checks:
K2 con trols the main contactor. K3 con trols the
precharge in rush contactor, and K4 con trols the
fans.
A) Mea sure the con ti nu ity at J9 when power is
first ap plied to the board.
B) J9-3 to J9-5 checks shorted when power is
first ap plied to the board, open af ter ap prox i -
Fig ure 6-12
mately 7 sec onds. This drives the in rush
contactor.
C) J9-1 to J9-5 checks open when power is first
ap plied, checks shorted af ter ap prox i mately 4
sec onds. This drives the main contactor.
D) J9-7 to J9-5 checks open be fore power is ap -
plied to the board, checks shorted as soon as
power is ap plied. This drives the fans.
J9-1: Main
Contactor
J9-3: In rush
Contactor
J9-5: Common
J9-7: Fans
6-14

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
9. Cur rent Feed back Ifb:
Ver i fi ca tion of the Ifb sig nal re quires putt ing a
load on the ma chine. Make sure that all con nec -
tors are plugged into the board.
Note: The fol low ing test is in tended as a sim ple
ver i fi ca tion that the cir cuit is func tion ing. To ver -
ify the cal i bra tion of the cur rent and volt age feed -
back sig nals, see the cal i bra tion test later in this
chap ter.
A) Con nect to a load bank set for ap prox i mately
200 amps at 24 volts.
B) Set ma chine for SMAW mode, set Arc Force
to min i mum. Set for LO CAL, and pre set to 200
amps on front panel.
C) With no load on the ma chine Ifb should read 0
volts.
D) En er gize the out put of the ma chine us ing the
front panel contactor switch.
E) TP2-5 Ifb should read 2 Volts, and the amps
dis play on the front panel should read ap prox -i
mately 200 amps.
F) If TP2-5 is ok but the me ter does not read ac -
tual amps cor rectly, then check the volt age feed -
back as well as the arc es tab lished sig nal.
G) If TP2-5 is not cor rect then ver ify the func tion -
al ity and con nec tion of the cur rent sen sor de vice.
It con nects to J2 on the main control board.
H) With the plug dis con nected at the cur rent sen -
sor and power off of the ma chine, the sen sor
should show the fol low ing re sis tance;
Pin 1 to pin 4 > 1 meg
Pin 2 to pin 4 > 1 meg
Pin 3 to pin 4 ap prox i mately 22K
With the sen sor plugged in and power ap plied the
sen sor should have the fol low ing volt ages:
Pin 1 +15V sup ply
Pin 2 -15V sup ply
Pin 3 0 to 4 volts feed back sig nal
Pin 4 cir cuit com mon (same as TP4-2)
Note: If the cur rent sen sor is un plugged from the
board or the sig nal line is bro ken then the ma -
chine will not pro duce any out put and Ifb will
mea sure ap prox i mately 14 Volts all the time.
10. Volt age Feed back Vfb:
Ver i fi ca tion of the Vfb sig nal re quires putt ing a
load on the ma chine. Make sure that all con nec -
tors are plugged into the board.
Note: The fol low ing test is in tended as a sim ple
ver i fi ca tion that the cir cuit is func tion ing. To ver -
ify the cal i bra tion of the cur rent and volt age feed -
back sig nals, see the cal i bra tion test later in this
chap ter.
A) Con nect to a load bank set for ap prox i mately
200 amps at 24 volts.
6-15
B) Set ma chine for GMAW mode, Set to Lo cal
con trol and pre set the out put to 24.0 volts.
C) With no load on the ma chine Vfb should read
0 volts.
D) En er gize the out put us ing the GUN SWITCH
in put (jumper A-B on the 19 pin amphenol re cep -
ta cle on the rear panel). The gun switch must be
used in stead of the front panel contactor switch
or the volt age will not read cor rect.
E) TP2-4 should read 2.4 Volts, and the front
panel volts dis play should read ap prox i mately 24
volts.
F) If TP2-4 is ok but the front panel dis play is
wrong then ver ify both cur rent feed back and arc
es tab lished sig nals.
G) If TP2-4 is not cor rect then ver ify that the out -
put ter mi nal volt age is com ing up to the main
con trol board at J3-1 (plus) to J3-2 (mi nus)
11. Arc es tab lished cir cuit:
Mea sure the arc es tab lished sig nal at R132 (See
Fig ure 6-11).
A) With no load on the ma chine, arc es tab lished
should read 0 volts.
B) With any load greater than ap prox i mately 4
amps and 4 volts, arc es tab lished should read
ap prox i mately 14 volts.
Note: Arc es tab lished should also be pres ent on
pin M of the 19 pin re mote re cep ta cle on the rear
panel.
Calibration Procedure
Volt age and cur rent feed back cal i bra tion pro ce -
dure:
The fol low ing pro ce dure can be used to check
the cal i bra tion of the Power-Mas ter.
A re sis tive load bank set for ap prox i mately
100Amps/24 Volts is re quired. A re sis tive ex ter -
nal shunt and dig i tal me ter set to read av er age
DC mil li volts is re quired to check the cur rent. A
dig i tal me ter set to read av er age DC volts is re -
quired to read the ma chine out put voltage.
A) Set the Power-Mas ter to SMAW, LO CAL, and
arc force set to min i mum.
B) Pre set the out put am per age to 100.
C) En er gize the out put us ing the gun switch in put
(jumper A-B on the 19 pin re mote).
D) Ver ify the am per age read ing on the
Power-Mas ter is 100 ± 4 amps.

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
E) Ad just the out put am per age con trol of the
Power-Mas ter 500 un til the am per age dis play
reads ex actly 100.
F) Ver ify the ac tual load amps us ing the ex ter nal
shunt. Load amps should be 100 ± 4 amps.
There is no cal i bra tion ad just ment, if the cal i bra -
tion is off then ei ther the cur rent sen sor or the
con trol board is out of cal i bra tion. At 100 amps of
load cur rent the cur rent sen sor out put should be
0.80 Volts dc.
G) De-en er gize the out put by re mov ing the gun
switch sig nal.
H) Set the ma chine to GMAW mode.
I) Pre set the out put to 24.0 Volts.
J) En er gize the out put us ing the gun switch in put.
The contactor switch on the front panel can not
be used or the volt age read ings will be off.
K) Ver ify the volt age read ing on the front panel
dis play is 24.0 ± 0.2 volts.
L) Ad just the out put volt age con trol on the front
panel of the Power-Mas ter un til the volt age dis -
play reads ex actly 24.0 volts.
M) Ver ify the out put ter mi nal volts di rectly on the
cop per bus bar of the out put ter mi nal us ing the
ex ter nal dig i tal me ter read ing av er age volts.
Volt age should be 24.0 ± 0.5 Volts.
N) If the volt age is out of cal i bra tion, it can be ad -
justed with R68 on the main con trol board.
6-16

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
REPAIR PROCEDURES
Output Diode Replacement:
The fol low ing pro ce dure should be used for re -
plac ing a failed out put di ode mod ule.
Step 2
Step 1
Step 3
Step 1: Remove the two nuts securing the
transformer bus bars to the diode bus bars.
Step 2: Loosen the bolts on the other end of the
two transformer bus bars. These bolts do not
need to be removed. Pivot the two transformer
bus bars to the side out of the way.
Step 3: Re move the six bolts hold ing the di ode
bus bars to the di odes. Let the bus bars hang
free on the snub ber wires. It is not nec es sary to
re move the wires.
Step 4: Identify the failed diode module/s.
Step 5: Remove the three mounting screws
holding the diode to the heatsink .
Step 6: Clean the heatsink area where the di ode
mounts.
Fig ure 7-1
Out put Di ode As sem bly
Step 5
See steps 10 & 11
See step 10
Step 7. Ap ply a thin layer of ther mal com pound
to the back of the di ode.
Step 8. Mount di ode on heatsink and hand
tighten mount ing screws. DO NOT TORQUE
YET.
Step 9. At tach bus bars to di odes and hand
tighten.
Step 10. Torque the di ode mount ing screws.
(See Fig ure 7-1). Torque the cen ter mounting
screw first, and then the two outer screws.
Step 11. Torque the six screws hold ing the bus
bars to the di odes (See Fig ure 7-1).
Step 12. Re con nect the trans former bus bars.
7-1

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
IGBT Module Replacement:
The fol low ing pro ce dure can be used to re place
one of the IGBT mod ules. The IGBT can be re -
placed with out re mov ing the ca pac i tor boards, if
the ca pac i tor boards are still ok.
Step 1: Re move the screws hold ing the trans -
former leads to the IGBT mod ules. Re move the
trans former leads from both mod ules so they can
be po si tioned out of the way.
Step 2: Re move the ther mo stat so it can be po si
-
tioned out of the way.
Step 3: Dis con nect the gate drive con nec tor from
the IGBT mod ule be ing re placed.
Step 4: Re move the four mount ing screws hold -
ing the IGBT to the heatsink.
Step 5: Re move the two screws con nect ing the
ca pac i tor boards to the IGBT. Re move the brass
spacer from un der neath the ca pac i tor board
lead.
Step 6: Slide the IGBT up or down to clear the
bus bars on the ca pac i tor boards, and re move
the IGBT.
Step 7: Clean the area of the heatsink where the
IGBT mounts. This area must be free of con tam i -
na tions which would pre vent the IGBT from
mounting flush to the heatsink.
7-2
Step 1
Step 2
Step 1
Step 4
Fig ure 7-2
IGBT Re place ment
Step 5
Step 3
Step 8: Ap ply a thin layer of ther mal com pound to
the back of the new IGBT mod ule.
Step 9: Slide the new IGBT back in place.
Step 10: Re as sem ble in re verse or der of re -
moval. TORQUE MOUNTING SCREWS TO 35
IN-LBS, AND TER MI NAL SCREWS TO 27
IN-LBS.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
PARTS LIST
Equipment Identification
All iden ti fi ca tion num bers as de scribed in the In -
tro duc tion chap ter must be fur nished when or -
der ing parts or mak ing in qui ries. This in for ma tion
is usu ally found on the name plate at tached to the
equip ment. Be sure to in clude any dash num bers
fol low ing the Spec i fi ca tion or As sem bly num -
bers.
How To Use This Parts List
The Parts List is a com bi na tion of an il lus tra tion
and a cor re spond ing list of parts which con tains a
The parts lists cov ers the mod els listed be low.
100054: Power-Mas ter 500P
100060: Power-Mas ter 500
break down of the equip ment into as sem blies,
sub as sem blies, and de tail parts. All parts of the
equip ment are listed ex cept for com mer cially
avail able hard ware, bulk items such as wire, ca -
ble, sleev ing, tub ing, etc., and per ma nently at -
tached items which are sol dered, riv eted, or
welded to other parts. The part de scrip tions may
be in dented to show part re la tion ships.
To de ter mine the part num ber, de scrip tion,
quan tity, or ap pli ca tion of an item, sim ply lo cate
the item in ques tion from the il lus tra tion and re fer
to that item num ber in the cor re spond ing Parts
List.
8-1

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
8-2
Fig ure 8-1
Ap plies to 100054 and 100060 mod els.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Fig ure 8-2
Ap plies to 100054 and 100060 models
8-3

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
8-4
Fig ure 8-3
Ap plies to 100054 and 100060 mod els
See fol low ing page for part num bers.

See Fig ure 8-3
Ap plies to 100054 and 100060 mod els.

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
8-6
Fig ure 8-4
Ap plies to 100054 and 100060 mod els.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Fig ure 8-5
Ap plies to 100054 only.
8-7

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
8-8
Fig ure 8-6
Ap plies to 100054 only.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Fig ure 8-7
Ap plies to 100060 only.
8-9

430581-004 POWER-MASTER 500
8-10
Fig ure 8-8
Ap plies to 100060 only.

POWER-MASTER 500 430581-004
Diagrams
Model Spec i fi ca tion Number Sche matic and Con nec tion Di a -
gram Numbers
Power-Mas ter 500 100060 830920, 830921
Power-Mas ter 500P 100054 830924, 830925
9-1