[oil pan 4]

I am having another go at power factor correcting my large arc welding machine.
Since I do not have a machine that figures power factor cosine for 240v power I am shooting from the hip with my box of capacitors and fluke325 amp clamp.
First I like to start small. Power factor correcting the blower fan that cools the transformer.
It started out using 0.71 amps of 240v power, which seems like a lot.
Started off by connecting a 8uf capactor to the fan, that reduced power to 0.55 amps, not bad.
Then tried a 10uf which I figured would be to big. Power consumption went up to 0.65 amps, definitely too big. Next try was with a 4uf, power consumption was down to a half amp even.
Figured what the hech might as well try the 5uf cap I have, that reduced amps to 0.48, not bad, thats saving 55 VoltAmps from just the fan alone. Thats enough power to run a fan or some lights.
I run the fan a lot, I cut power to the transformer and just run the fan to cool down the trasnformer in between welds.

Now on to the main arc welding transformer....