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Messages - 4x4_Welder

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16
Gonna know just how good these are in a few days.  Now I just need to get the rest of the system together and in place.  Probably would be helpful to wire the garage so I can circulate the coolant, too.

17
No stealing my ideas, now-
As long as you're not using a car radiator to discharge this heat into the garage we should be ok.
I actually nearly have everything for my setup, I was going to use a Mother Earth- patterned waste oil burner to heat a coiled tube, but this would be easier.

18
General Discussion / Re: What Kind of Workshop Facilities do we all have??
« on: February 09, 2008, 02:28:54 AM »
Well, I just bought a 28x33' garage a little over a month ago, that happened to come with a nice older doublewide and about a third of an acre of lawn.  Just outside of city limits, so not much in the way of zoning. 
The downside is that it's only a third of an acre, there's other houses within sight, and the garage needs a floor (just gravel now) and power put in.  Once I get that stuff done, it will be my shop and I'll actually be able to get my business moving.

19
How many BTUs do these throw out on diesel (or gallons per hour, I can do the conversion)?   

20
General Discussion / Re: Lister U Tube bonanza
« on: January 20, 2008, 05:47:26 AM »
It's a 2stroke, long unmuffled exhaust tube, and run at high speed with no load against the governor. 

21
Everything else / Re: Turbos from China
« on: January 20, 2008, 02:53:44 AM »
If I'm reading that thing right, they are $130-$150 each shipped.  Not a bad price, I'd have to figure out what to throw it on, though.  Maybe two on my BIL's Metro.........

22
Everything else / Re: Exhaust heat recovery- Exhaust to water exchanger
« on: January 13, 2008, 06:31:36 AM »
All the early electrical standards were fun-  I lived in China, ME for a while in a house that pre-dated electricity there.  It had been re-done when the local generating station was built, with all tube and knob wiring, and DC appliances.  When they converted to AC in the teens, many homeowners simply installed a rectifier to keep all the DC stuff.  This was all still in the house, during the 60's it was remodeled, insulated, drywalled, and equipped with a full AC electrical system, but all the DC stuff was still in the walls, and rectifier just hanging on the wall in the garage.

23
Everything else / Re: Exhaust heat recovery- Exhaust to water exchanger
« on: January 01, 2008, 11:23:52 PM »
As a gas cools, it contracts, and through this becomes more dense.  This increase in density gives more resistance against the walls of the pipe, and slows the whole thing down. 

24
Everything else / Re: Exhaust heat recovery- Exhaust to water exchanger
« on: January 01, 2008, 05:13:41 AM »
For the questions about exhaust temps and flow:
Hot exhaust carries more velocity than cold exhaust.  As the exhaust gases cool, they condense, loose volume and slow down.  This can hurt overall efficiency of the engine, and as mentioned will cause sooting issues.  The same things happen if you use an overly large diameter exhaust, where the exhaust slows and cools before it gets out of the pipe. 
On systems with a long run, or a decently long run before an exchanger, I would insulate the pipe with either a thick spray on ceramic coating, rockwool, or even a heat shield style pipe.  I would use fiberglass after the exchanger to keep as much heat in the pipe as possible. 

25
Everything else / Re: Welding Stainless Exhaust Coupling. Advise Needed
« on: January 01, 2008, 04:27:24 AM »
No need to purge the tube, this isn't a seawater line or high pressure air system.  Around 65-80 amps, tack on four sides, then link the tacks.  309 filler would be fine, and it will discolor.  You can try something like sta-brite, or just wire brush it while hot.  If you want it really shiny, scrub it with a scotch-brite pad after.
I TIG decorative stainless all day at work, used to do heavy structural stuff in stick, MIG, dual-shield, and TIG.

26
Everything else / Re: So what does everybody use for inverters?
« on: December 24, 2007, 11:48:39 PM »
Good idea, except-
Most likely, where I wind up it will cost me several thousand dollars to run power to the house, and at that it will still be unreliable.  If my options are crappy expensive power, or slightly less expensive reliable power, which do you think I will choose?  The engine will be run on WVO anyways, so it's not like it'll be sucking down fuel at $3.50+ a gallon.

27
Everything else / Re: How to test for diesel fuel in the lube oil?
« on: December 23, 2007, 06:02:20 AM »
What about smell?  You will have a slight smell of burnt diesel fuel, and a slight smell of raw fuel in any diesel oil, but if you take the oil fill cap off and get smacked in the face by a fuel smell, then there's a problem.  Also, frequent monitoring and familiarity with your machine will alert you to any problems.  Say your engine consumes a quart of oil over a 100hr operating period, and the level doesn't drop or raises slightly, then you know there's an issue.

28
Everything else / Re: Tig, Stick, Plasma: Combo welder worth buying?
« on: December 19, 2007, 05:31:35 AM »
Yeah, that sucks.  I have done that a few times, usually get my arm or my hand when I go after a falling torch though.

29
Everything else / Re: So what does everybody use for inverters?
« on: December 12, 2007, 06:34:02 AM »
When I do this, it will be off grid, or at the very least far enough out that power will be unreliable. 
My other option is to find property with a stream that I can run a sluice off of and a small hydroelectric setup.  This is my backup plan, I know how to build a system with commonly available parts, and a very large turbo, something off a 12cyl or larger diesel.

30
Everything else / Re: So what does everybody use for inverters?
« on: December 12, 2007, 03:45:58 AM »
Good info there guys-
What about ganging inverters?  I know that some can sync to existing line frequency, but will they interfere with each other, or can one be set to "master"?

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