Spot Welder deal folks might like

May 23, 2005 2 Replies
M

I recently purchased a Hobart 30 amp spot welder (2.5 KVA, plugs into a



30 amp 220V circuit, air cooled) on sears.com for $329. They have a mail in rebate on the shipping. It comes with a 30 day warranty, that may actually be a 90 day warranty if they don't consider this a home electronics item. There is an import clone available from Harbor Freight for about $160 (and I know how many of you feel about them); I am hoping there is a better quality transformer in the Hobart unit. I will try to use this on 12 to 24 gauge stainless steel, and will tell you what I think if you are interested.
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T

MSU,

Sure I'd like to hear how it works for ya'. I'm not going to get a spot welder until Dec. but, I'd like to hear about it.

Jack

Has anyone heard of taking parts from a microwave oven and making a homebrew spot welder?

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M

I checked into that. This Hobart spot welder is very simple. The plug from the wall is connected to the primary coil of a transformer that is composed of many loops of copper cable thick enough to handle 30 amps of 220V AC current. A simple switch in the handle open and closes the circuit directly. The secondary coil is just a single very thick U-shaped bar of copper that can handle the 4700 amps put out by the welder. The only other requirement is that all the rest of the spot welding circuit have a resistance much lower than the steel you are spot welding, which is why the arms are made of copper. A microwave does have a large transformer that could be driven like this in reverse.

Rich

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