Any electrical gurus want to chime in please?

[MDCmotorsports]

My plasma cutter went kaboom yesterday. Scared the shit out of me. Made a very loud boom like a fire cracker.

There is a small component that looks like the picture. It is exploded. What is it? Im not sure. Its brick red in color though....

Now. After you ID this part...

A.) Why did it pop?
B.) How can I prevent it from popping?
C.) Where can I get another?

 

[SupraMario]

Got a real picture of it?

 

[Cz.]

Well the little symbol you put in means ohms, so it is a resistor. A pretty standard thing in any electrical board, so finding a replacement should be easy.

As to why it broke? I can only guess that maybe it was getting too much current, overheated, which then caused it to explode. I'd assume that there was something faulty with the wiring for that to happen. Were you doing anything out of the ordinary with it?

 

[MDCmotorsports]

Got a real picture of it?

---------- Post added at 09:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 PM ----------

Well the little symbol you put in means ohms, so it is a resistor. A pretty standard thing in any electrical board, so finding a replacement should be easy.

As to why it broke? I can only guess that maybe it was getting too much current, overheated, which then caused it to explode. I'd assume that there was something faulty with the wiring for that to happen. Were you doing anything out of the ordinary with it?

Im thinking a resistor too, but have never seen one of solid color like this. Would this type of resistor have a specific wattage? I wasn't doing any thing out of the ordinary. The machine was built around 95'. The machine was dirty when I opened it up. Quite a bit of dust and debris flew out when I blew it out with compressed air. The internal fan runs and is clean.

 

[Cz.]

Honestly I don't know that much about electronics, but I'd assume that the number probably corresponds to the resistance or some other standardized value and that the color itself may not have any particular meaning.
If the machine was really dirty inside there may not have been enough airflow to actually cool down the resistor resulting in it exploding.

 

[Supracentral]

It's likely a 100 ohm specialty resistor or a 100 ohm trimmer... You'll want to know the exact wattage, and since it appears to be missing standard markings, you'll probably want to contact the manufacturer, or try to find a schematic for the unit.

What's the brand/model?

 

[MDCmotorsports]

It's likely a 100 ohm specialty resistor or a 100 ohm trimmer... You'll want to know the exact wattage, and since it appears to be missing standard markings, you'll probably want to contact the manufacturer, or try to find a schematic for the unit.

What's the brand/model?

Mike and others. Thank you for the help, but this shuttle mission has been scrapped for the time being.

There is a circuit board inside that this component sits on, and the actual path that the electricity uses on the circuit board is charred and burnt up. There are 3 connections off the board: Power, CHAN 3, CHAN 4.

CHAN 4 and its circuit is completely charred. What does it control, and why did it heat up? No one knows....

So far, I've lost a lot of faith in the welding company that makes this particular plasma cutter.

Im trying to get them to help me out in some way other than telling me my $3,000 plasma cutter is a pile of garbage, and that I'll just have to buy a new one.

Until they either shit the bed, or help me, I'm keeping their name hush hush.