Welding system and method of welding

A power supply system for an electric arc welding process, said power supply system comprising:

• a first power supply module including:
• an input stage having an AC input and a first fixed DC output signal;
• a second stage in the form of an unregulated DC to DC converter,
• unregulated by a feedback signal from the electric arc welding process, having an input connected to said first fixed DC output signal, a network of switches switched at a high frequency with a given duty cycle to convert said input into a first internal high frequency AC signal, an isolation transformer with a primary winding driven by said first internal high frequency AC signal and a secondary winding for creating a second internal high frequency AC signal;
• and
• a smoothing choke and a rectifier to convert said second internal high frequency AC signal into a second fixed DC output signal of said second stage, said second stage having a fixed relationship between input and output voltages of the second stage;
• and
• a second power supply module on a dedicated support structure separate from the first power supply module, wherein the second power supply module comprises:
• a third stage comprising switching circuitry configured to convert said second fixed DC output signal to a welding output for welding in said process, wherein the second power supply module is operatively connected to receive at least one of a voltage feedback signal of the welding output and a current feedback signal of the welding output, and regulate the welding output based on the at least one of a voltage feedback signal of the welding output and a current feedback signal of the welding output.