How to / DIY > Everything else
Welder
mikenash:
I wonder if anyone has built a welder powered by a CS or similar using a Lincoln Tractapak or Hummel or PTO-drive welder unit?
I dunno if 6HP would cut it - but these old girls have a surprising amount of torque and might manage, say, 150A?
I'd be interested in any thoughts. Cheers
ajaffa1:
Hi Mikenash, No I have not tried this, however, many years ago I used to use a very old trailer mounted Lincoln welder it had a single cylinder diesel and belched smoke under load but it did weld well. It could also be used as a 240 volt generator. I think the important thing to consider is that my old Lincoln welder was close coupled to the old generating/welding equipment. I wonder if a belt driven unit off a CS might have too much belt slip and voltage variation make welding an exciting/difficult activity.
Bob
oldgoat:
I think you might need a bit more hp than a CS has got because the welding generators seem to run about 1800 rpm. You might get enough output to tun a 12 gauge rod but that is about all. My Lincoln has a perkins 3-152 but it is 400 amps max. The perkins is about 40 hp I think.
BruceM:
I concur with oldgoat.
For my battery welder, I recently measured stick welding voltage at between 24 and 28 V at the electrode, for 3/32 to 5/32 rods for up to say 220 amps. The higher end of that is over 6000 watts so the CS isn't going to make it. At the low end, 3/32 rods and say 25V/100A (2500W actual, before wire/cable losses) the CS 6/1 isn't quite going to to make it. Some propane in the intake might help. An 8/1 might do 1/8 rods.
As for a direct driven setup I'm not sure how the 10Hz power pulse frequency/voltage sag will affect arc stability. Given the low cost, small size and efficiency of modern switch mode DC stick welders, I wouldn't bother with a directly driven welder.
My 30V battery welder is working nicely for me.
http://listerengine.com/smf/index.php?topic=8654.msg101247#msg101247
It gives me the needed peak power but lets me charge it at a slower rate off my PV/inverter system. My neighbor did welding on about 26 fence posts a couple days ago with it. That did not deeply discharge it and in an hour of charging at 15A they were nearly full. This was tack welding with zinc removal via air grinder, so low duty cycle. From my own work I know 7 rods doesn't faze it much, so for repairs and small projects I see no issue. I'm thinking of building a carry all for my tractor's 3pt hitch which would let me roll the battery welder up onto the carry all and then strap it securely to the back of the carry all for field work. With three batteries, it's hefty.
mikenash:
Hi guys, sure. I sort of have a handle on that - if the Tractapak runs at maybe 32VDC then, say, 250A is (32 X 250 X 120% for losses) = something like 13HP nominal
I have a 13HP chinese genset & it runs the 220A welder OK. But the welder makes funny noises - because it doesn't like the ugly square-wave power I would guess
And I know when I have hired large single-phase petrol gensets from local hire companies that they say "You're not allowed to use this to run a welder, it'll wreck it". The only reason I ever hire a genset is to run the welder just in case it decides to wreck it - better than wrecking mine . . . They want you to hire the trailer-ised diesel genset or generator-welder; but it'd be cheaper to pay a mobile welding man to come do the job . . .
Anyway . . . it's all very well to talk about 220A, 250A. What are we doing, building bloody bridges with 4mm iron-powder rods? Mostly we're doing shit like repairing the trailer, or making a frame for a 'Roid out of 10mm RSJ & plate. The former is either 3.2mm rods at 90A or, more likely, 2.5mm rods at 70A. The latter maybe 3.2mm rods at 130A
And, anyone who spends a few hours looking through a welding helmet knows that, if you have to, you can repair/build most anything with multiple runs of light rods - AS LONG AS YOUR PREP IS GOOD
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