what 12 volt battery welders exist on the open market, pls.

I am looking for something that will run off an auto battery (so voltage will be 13.8 volts), but keep on performing at welding, brazing, etc. in a outdoor field environment.

Suggestions, thoughts, feedback, welcomed.

(UK of GB supplier info, ONLY, pls).

John Locke

Reply to
john.locke
Loading thread data ...

Belive me, the voltage won't be 13.8 when welding - more like 11.5 if you're lucky

To maintain an arc at such low voltages you need either an inverter to up the volts or one of those 'buzzer' style ones where the welding current flows through the coil of a solenoid, withdrawing the electrode and breaking the arc, which results in the electrode again approaching the work and arcing. They work but in my experience don't allow you to do 'pretty' welds.

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

Check some of the Off-Road 4X4 web sites. It should be easy to find plans there for the welder those guys build for emergency repairs when they break down out in the wilderness. They can either be build in to the vehicle or portable and they run off the batteries or the battery and alternators of their Jeeps etc.

Reply to
Diamond Jim

"Andrew Mawson" wrote: (clip) To maintain an arc at such low voltages you need either an inverter to up the volts or one of those 'buzzer' style ones where the welding current flows through the coil of a solenoid, withdrawing the electrode and breaking the arc, which results in the electrode again approaching the work and arcing. They work but in my experience don't allow you to do 'pretty' welds. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I have one of those, and i could never get it to do me any good. The instructions say you can run it off of car batteries, but they suggest using two in series, to get 24 volts. (I haven't tried that.) Also, since the power is so limited, you have to run very small rod. With limited power and small rod, you will be able to do sheet metal...period.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

I wonder what McGiver used. Wasn't there a program where he welded up a Cat D11 with a weak car battery, and then used the D11 to bulldoze the bad guys?

If McGiver did it, it must be true. They can't put it on TV if it isn't true.

Right?

STeve

Reply to
SteveB

All of the regular welding processes (stick, 3 modes of MIG, TIG) run with arc voltages in the 19 volt to 28 volt range, constant currant or constant voltage depending on which process. In order to run on 12 volts you will need to either find a 12 volt DC input to an inverter welder circuit or attempt to run stick directly on 12 volts.

There are several MIG units that run off of a pair of 12 volt batteries (constant voltage) using a suitcase wire feed. People who do that use a pair of batteries with a suitable isolation block (RV dealers) to charge both batteries, then switch from parallel to serial when it's time to weld.

Keep in mind that any inverter will need to draw at least double the weld current (12 volts bumped up to 24 volts). You will want some reasonable weld capability (100 amps +/- at 24 volts) so the current draw would be 200+ amps on your battery. Make that a BIG battery.

You can also look at the ZENA units that can be mounted underhood of your vehicle. Spendy but work nice.

formatting link
are also some home brew units similar to the ZENA, use google to find them.

john.locke wrote:

Reply to
RoyJ

I missed that one but I saw him weld an aluminum connecting rod using a set of jumper cables and a penny for a welding rod.

In another show I saw him convert a concrete mixer to an ultralight airplane using only a Swiss Army knife. I ran right out and bought one of those knives but I haven't gotten my concrete mixer off the ground yet.

It must be the knife...

As a kid I was convinced it was the cape that made Superman fly. After all, you never saw him fly without it. I tied a feed sack around my neck and jumped off the well house. Landed on my bare belly in a gravel road.

I only did it once.

-- Jack

Reply to
Jack Hunt

I often wondered how many foulups SuperMan had before he got the hang of that cape.

There is some very fertile ground there for a comedy. I think I will get ahold of Mel Brooks and pitch the idea.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Or the lads from Monty Python...

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Reply to
Gunner Asch

Just don't mention me when you do. I had an encounter with Mr. Brooks in Monterey, CA in 1979. He may have forgotten it but I haven't.

-- Jack

Reply to
Jack Hunt

And thereby has gotta hang a tale!

Reply to
John Husvar

What happens between consenting adults in California does not concern me.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

"SteveB" wrote: What happens between consenting adults in California does not concern me. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sounds like Jack may not have been a consenting adult. Come on, Jack, tell us the story.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

I haven't been in Monterey since 1980, but when I was there, there was a tunnel downtown with a stop light at one end of it. I was 22 years old and my only transportation was a Honda CB360. It had seen better days.

Monterey is the retirement mecca for over the hill movie stars and some who haven't quite gotten over the hill yet. It was no big deal to see a half dozen world-famous Hollywood types just being normal (as normal as they could) people on any given weekend.

I was there as a student in the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center, studying Arabic. Sixty four people started the class. Forty nine weeks later there were 13 of us still standing.

It was a Saturday night, either late 79 or early 80. I had stopped at the stop light at the entrance of the tunnel. The old Honda was sitting there idling, waiting for the light to change. I looked beside me and there was a silver Rolls Royce with none other than Mel Brooks at the wheel. It was immaculate. Blue smoke was curling out of my rusty mufflers and wafting in the front of my full face K-mart helmet. I looked over at him and said "Hi there, Mel!" He took one look at me...and rolled the window up.

Just in front of him was a brand new Mazda RX-?, I don't remember the number but it was that little rotary engine sports car. They're up to #8 now, I don't know what it was then. Anyway, they were some of the fastest things on the road at that time. I eased away from Mr. Brooks and pulled up beside the Mazda. I revved my engine to clear out the oil smoke and he gunned his. There was going to be a drag race when the light changed. We were going to do a hole shot into the mouth of the tunnel. A lot of races were run there. First one out the other end was the winner.

I had a passenger, a long tall lanky kid from Bristol, TN. I said "Hang on, Tim. We're gonna launch." He said "Wait a minute, let me get my shirt tail fixed." I said "You better hurry." He put his flip-flop clad feet on the ground and stood up to tuck his shirt tail in. The light changed and we launched. The Mazda and I left the line about the same time but he pulled me in first gear. He got a couple of car lengths ahead before I grabbed second. By the time I hit third he was wound out but I was gaining. I went around him and shifted into 4th. I was amazed that the old Honda was running so well and I remarked so to Tim. "This old girl is running pretty good to be two up, ain't it Tim?....uhh...Tim?" He wasn't there. No wonder the old Honda was doing so well. It was 150 pounds lighter than it should have been. The guys in the Mazda were laughing their asses off.

I finished the run and came out the other end of the tunnel. I did a U-turn as soon as I could and went back to look for Tim. He was still standing where I left him, blocking traffic at the entrance of the tunnel. Mr. Brooks was laying on the horn. I stopped beside Tim and he got back on. We were half way through the tunnel before he spoke. In a Marshall Dillon voice he said "If you're gonna race, go to Daytona you damn fool."

My only personal brush with greatness didn't go quite as I had envisioned it.

-- Jack

Reply to
Jack Hunt

Really did LOL at that one! Poor Tim, the impromptu traffic guard!

Reply to
John Husvar

Thank you for giving me this advice & not leading me on some wild goose chase about various comedy movies of the 70s.

John Locke

Reply to
john.locke

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.