Incorporated
330 Club Springs Road
Elmwood, TN 38560
Phone: (615) 897-2011
Fax: (615) 897-2023
E-Mail:
contact@zena.net

 

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Does the ZENA welder provide power for electrical tools?

A separate accessory is needed to enable the ZENA system to power electrical tools.

Working with our welding power generator, our Power Tool Power Supply is designed to produce up to 20A of 120VAC (2400W) @ 60 Hz. to power larger industrial power tools and other devices which intermittently require a high-current 120V power supply. This IS NOT A DC power supply which can only be used to power brush type tool motors, it IS A TRUE AC POWER SUPPLY and can be used to power any device that will operate on 120V @ 60 Hz. AC.

However, our Power Tool Power Supply is NOT designed to efficiently power appliances such as TV's, radios, etc., NOR is it the most cost effective way to supply power to smaller power tools (1/2" or 3/8" Drills / 4" or 7" Grinders). In our opinion, such low current devices can be operated more efficiently and more cost effectively from high-quality DC inverters made for this specific purpose. Nor is it designed to act as a source of emergency power for a household. This can be accomplished, much more successfully successfully, by using a engine driven generator designed specifically for this purpose and sized to meet the necessary household load requirements.

NOTE: Our power tool power supply now features a very tough (tire damage resistant) die-cast, water resistant, aluminum case (instead of our original ABS plastic case). As well as making the product more compact we have also added a user adjustment for power output so that you can now vary the operating speed of your fixed-speed power tools.

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How would I take 120V off one of these units for my grinder, etc.?

We make an accessory that will provide high current 60Hz 120V AC (over 2000W), but it is relatively expensive and only necessary if you need a lot of current for short periods of time (autos are expensive to operate just to produce a little AC). We recommend, and most of our customers who need a good source of AC power buy, either a 600W or 1200W inverter.

You get all the power that you need to run a 4" grinder or 3/8" drill with the 600W and the 1200W units will drive a 7" grinder or 1/2" drill. Since Y2K these units are VERY cheap and you have power without the need to run the engine. When you do weld (or drive), the energy used by the inverter is replaced "free".

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Does your Power Tool Power Supply provide DC power? I have heard that a "chopped DC" is much easier on switches etc. Is this what you do, and do you have any comments on this?

The term "chopped DC" is another way of describing a DC square wave which varies (switching almost instantly) from O volts to some higher maximum DC voltage. Low cost DC to AC inverters produce such a wave form with an amplitude of approximately 100-110V, typically at 50-60 Hz. This signal may work with some devices with transformers and/or other power supply designs which can use this sort of signal. However, there are no guarantees that this sort of power supply will work properly on devices that are designed to use true AC house current. More expensive converters produce a true sinusoidal wave form that is almost identical in amplitude and frequency to the AC signal that is produced by your power company. It "pays" to use the high quality devices to power your expensive electronic equipment.

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Do you use capacitors in your AC power supply?

We DO NOT use capacitors in our power supply. Specially designed high quality transformers are used. While this makes our costs higher, the use of transformers (which don't wear out or overheat like capacitors) insures that the product will provide you with years of reliable service.

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Do you have pictures available of your control mechanism? Is it a solid state unit? Are large capacitors used? Where is it installed?

The ZENA control system is truly unique (US & foreign patents pending), and whether you know it or not, you have probably already seen our entire control system!

The ZENA system is completely self-contained, and uses no large capacitors in its design. Our controls are completely electronic (solid-state) and are integrated into the design of the product itself rather than appearing as a bulky add on which requires additional wiring and which can greatly complicate an installation. Since the unit is designed for commercial use outdoors, all electronic circuits are encapsulated to provide additional (complete) protection from the elements. The most readily identifiable visible control features are the die cast aluminum case that is mounted to the body of the ZENA system's power generating unit and our combination electrode holder/control handle -- both are pictured here in our web pages.

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Should I install the Power Generator in addition to my existing alternator, or should I replace my alternator with the Power Generator?

Except where space is at a premium, our recommended installation method, particularly for commercial installations, is one in which the Power Generator is used in addition to the vehicle's existing alternator/charging system.

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If we use the ZENA welding power generator as the vehicle's alternator, does welding drain the battery?

If our power generating unit is used to replace the existing alternator it will not charge the vehicle's battery or supply electrical power to the vehicle while being used for welding.

While welding your ZENA welding system will use a small amount of power from the vehicle's battery, ranging from .05 to 6 amps. (approximately the power used by a car stereo), depending on your chosen welding power setting.

(Our Model 150VR and Model 200VR welding systems DO NOT require any external power for operation -- but they still cannot charge the vehicle battery when welding.)

For most vehicles we recommend that 5-10 minutes of charging take place after an hour of continuous welding.

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Are you looking for distributors in our area?

If we do not currently have a dealer or distributor in your area, YES. Please call or send us an e-mail message. We would be very happy to discuss it with you.

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Can more than one ZENA welder be attached to a single engine?

Great question! The answer is YES! In fact, there is no other mobile welder that allows multiple operators to work independently in the way our system does.

Other than available installation space, and the horsepower of the engine selected to drive an array of multiple welders, there is no limit to the number of welders that may be used simultaneously while being derived by a single engine. And, of course, each welder is controlled independently from the others. For example, one welder can be welding thin sheet metal while another is working on thick steel plate, while yet a third might be welding aluminum.

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What is the aluminum case that is attached to your power generator? Is this a voltage regulator or does it control the welder?

Part of our control circuitry is built into the 1"x2"x4" "aluminum box" that is mounted to our power generating unit. The rest is in the welding cable/electrode holder assembly. Along with the power generating unit, these two components make up the entire ZENA mobile welding system. With our patent pending design, no bulky external control box is needed and welding power control is accomplished without any need to vary engine speed. And installing our unit is a simple as mounting the generator unit and hooking up two wires.

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I see that your have controls on your electrode holder/welding handle, are there any other controls, switches or gauges in your system?

All controls are on the welding cable/electrode holder assembly. No other controls or switches are needed! There are some small indicators and fuses which are user accessible that are located inside the control module (the small aluminum box attached to welding power generator), but they are only used for diagnostic purposes -- making it very easy to troubleshoot any problems that might occur over the telephone. Access to these indicators are not necessary for welding or power tool operation.

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How are people using ZENA mobile welders?

Currently, most of our customers use the product in commercial situations. We have welders which are seeing daily use in factories, construction sites, and farms.
We even have special corrosion resistant units hard at work more than 2,000 foot underground, three shifts/per day, in a huge Zinc mine! A site where our customer reports that they were replacing $4,000 engine driven welders after less than a year of use due to the extremely harsh environmental conditions (water, high humidity, corrosive chemicals, etc.) that exist in their workplace. For them, the ZENA welding system is a very, very cost effective solution to their ongoing maintenance requirements. In this particular application, units are mounted on maintenance trucks and tractors which roam the mine -- with plans to place additional units on John Deere Gator utility vehicles and on other yellow equipment.

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Do you have installation kits?

For a few vehicles, and for some of our OEM customer,s we produce bolt-in installation kits. However, for most vehicles, individual variations in underhood configuration exist that make a bolt in kit for all vehicles a difficult goal to attain The good news it that such variations are fairly slight and therefore make it relatively easy to provide general installation instructions and to make generic installation components that make installation easier and which require little on-site modification to be used.

Where a specific or generic kit is not available, installation can still be made easier by means of universal bracketing accessories which can make your installation much easier to accomplish.

In addition to our Installation Manuals, we also publish information that will assist you with specific installations and with the fabrication of installation hardware. For example --> click here to see a set of plans to make a bracket assembly for a small Kubota Tractor.

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Will a ZENA welder function as a MIG power supply?

We do not sell a MIG accessory at this time. However, some of our customers have used the ZENA system with commercially available portable MIG spool guns -- connecting the spool gun to the ZENA system with a jumper accessory that we built for them so that ON/OFF power to the welder was coordinated with the switch on the spool gun.

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The ZENA mobile welding system is manufactured in the USA by ZENA, Incorporated and is sold with a 36 month limited warranty.

You have no risk if you buy on-line, all units are sold with a 60-day money back guarantee of satisfaction.



ZENA is a trademark owned by ZENA, Inc. for its welding systems and related products.

US & Foreign Patents Pending

© Copyright 1998,1999, 2000 by ZENA, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

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