Patent ID: 8264188

Claim:
A welding system, comprising: a power supply configured to output power via an output bus, the power supply comprising: an internal bus for receiving alternating current (AC) power; a power factor correction, regulation, and control (PRC) circuit coupled in parallel with the internal bus; a boost circuit configured to be driven by the PRC circuit, wherein the boost circuit comprises a first switch and a second switch coupled across the output bus; and a rectifying circuit comprising a pair of diodes coupled to the input bus and to the output bus through the boost circuit; a wire feeder remotely located with respect to the power supply and comprising: a wire drive assembly having a wire feed motor configured to power feeding of wire through the wire drive assembly; and a motor drive circuit configured to receive the power from the output bus of the power supply and to utilize the received power to create a motor voltage to drive the wire feed motor; and wherein the power supply is configured to maintain the power on the output bus at a level that is greater than or equal to an anticipated maximum motor voltage demand during operation of the remotely located wire feeder.