Welding power supply with regulated background power supply

A welding power supply comprising a background circuit, the welding power supply comprising:

• a power supply capable of outputting a first power output;
• an energy storage device configured to be charged by the first power output to a programmable first voltage level capable of being regulated to one of a variety of voltage levels;
• a fast acting switch coupled to the energy storage device and configured to switch to restrict or allow voltage discharge from the energy storage device to a welding electrodes;
• and
• a control circuit coupled to the power supply and the fast acting switch, configured to selectively activate the power supply to output the first power output when the energy storage device is not charged to the regulated first voltage level, and further configured to actuate the fast acting switch to allow voltage discharge of the energy storage device from the regulated first voltage level to a controlled second voltage level when a transient high voltage event is detected;
• wherein the control circuitry is further configured to disable the fast acting switch when a detected output current is below a threshold to substantially prevent a supply of power from the energy storage device to the welding electrodes
• wherein the control circuitry is further configured to disable the fast acting switch when a detected output current is below a threshold to substantially prevent a supply of power from the energy storage device to the welding electrodes.

A welding power supply comprising a background circuit, the welding power supply comprising:

• a power supply capable of outputting a first power output;
• an energy storage device configured to be charged by the first power output to a programmable first voltage level capable of being regulated to one of a variety of voltage levels;
• a fast acting switch coupled to the energy storage device and configured to switch to restrict or allow voltage discharge from the energy storage device to a welding electrodes;
• and
• a control circuit coupled to the power supply and the fast acting switch, configured to selectively activate the power supply to output the first power output when the energy storage device is not charged to the regulated first voltage level, and further configured to actuate the fast acting switch to allow voltage discharge of the energy storage device from the regulated first voltage level to a controlled second voltage level when a transient high voltage event is detected;
• wherein the background circuit further comprises a bleed off circuit configured to discharge the energy storage device to a controlled voltage level.