New to Son Marquette Model 60c welder

[Kent in Wylie]

First, an introduction. You can skip this if you just want to get to the question...
My son and I just completed a welding class together. I had the grand plan of welding up some buildings here (from a workshop to some inside kennels) so thought and intro to welding would be a good start. Josh, my 18 y.o son, thinks he wants to make it a career. Since starting the class I have learned at least two things: There is a bit of a gap between intro welding and putting together a welded barn. #2 I learned here; it seems a fellow citizen Harv has developed an awesome connector system which is my current first choice for the workshop construction. Just need to find out where to buy them...

We found the Marquette stick welder in Borger, TX. I works like a charm with 6011 rods, but I got a serious back ache trying to lift it! Here are some things it says on its only label:
Time rating 1/2 hour [Does this mean max one half hour under load?]
Open circuit Secondary volts 80-50 ?????

Other details say it is a 230v ac welder with 32 primary amps and 160 secondary amps.

So the two questions right off, the time rating meaning and what size breaker do I need to run it? Would 50 do?

My son paid 125 for it. Its clean and has 120' leads. I imagine the leads alone are worth more than 125 so know he did ok with the purchase. This is the kind that you plug into a hole showing a set amp setting and go. If that is too hot or cold, try the one next too it and either run fast or slow with the welding speed. No moving parts so it should (continue) to last forever.

Oh, I do have a tractor, a 70's era Kubota B-7100. Not really large enough to call a tractor, but I don't know the diminutive term.

 

[deereman75]

The primary is the input. It takes 36 amps wide open. A 40 amp breaker would be ideal, but a 30 would do for most use. You could get up to about 120-130 amps with a 30 amp input.
The secondary is the output. 160 amps max. I am 99% sure the time rating is the duty cycle. Meaning for every half hour of welding it needs a half hour to cool. The open secondary voltage (ocv) is the voltage between the two leads without a connection (ie welding) The higher the ocv the easier it is to start an arc. 80 is a good high ocv, so it shouldn't be too bad on arc starts.

Now onto my thoughts. These are not my favourite machines. I found a Lincoln ac-225 to be a pain to run, due to settings. This will likely be even worse. Second, it's AC only. They work fine, but once you try DC you will never want to run one again. DC is 10x smoother and easier. For general home use, they are alright, and you could do a lot worse. If you really get into welding, you really should find a DC machine. Some to look for are the miller thunderbolt AC/DC, Lincoln idealarc 250, and miller dialarc 250. There are lots of other good machines, but these are some of the better, and more known ones. Also, stay away from the Lincoln 225 series. They have a DC version, but it really isn't that good, with its large amperage gaps. (you could almost fit another welder between some of its settings) 3-5 amps can make a huge difference, so as you can see 15 amp steps isn't very useful.

 

[yomax4]

I wouldn't worry about the 1/2 hr thing on the welder. The input pulls 32 amps from the wall on highest setting and delivers 160 amps to the stinger on high. Open circuit volts of about 80 will allow you to run 6011 and 6010 to an extent. You will learn a lot trying to weld with this AC unit. It's not been made for some time now if I remember right. You will be able to find rods. Your next welder will surely be DC and you will not believe the difference. Good luck getting started.

 

[Kent in Wylie]

Yomax and deereMan, many thanks for your input.
I had been taught that AC welding was not so easy. And my son said he did not find it easy to get an arc.
For whatever reason, I found it easier than the nice Millers we were trained on.
Little to be found online about these old welders. From what little I have read, they date back to pre-WW2.
Aside from the price, the other reason for getting this was if he can master welding in AC, he should be really good at any DC welder. He wants a rig so once he proves his mettle with this, we'll be on the lookout for an old Miller Bobcat that can be mounted in the back of my old F-350 PSD.

 

[deereman75]

I learned on an Ac 225 lincoln. I got to be a fairly decient welder with it. When I got DC, it made me look like 10x better a welder. Night and day. As nice as DC is, I really do think it is better to start with AC. If you can get the hang of that, DC will be a piece of cake.

 

[rankrank1]

Ah you did fine on that purchase and with getting those long leads to boot for sure. The nice thing about that welder is that it has no moving parts not even a selector switch to malfunction. It is likely to still be working for you in another 75 years. Make sure you try some 7014 rods - AC buzz boxes love 7014 rods too as well as 6011 (love Hobart 335A 6011). 7014 might be the one rod that burns even better on AC. I would skip the 6010 recommendation as 6010 is DC only. I am not a huge fan of 6013, but it will burn well too and is useful if you do not have wire feeder for thin stuff. And if you feel the need for 7018 then go with the 7018AC version.

Sure DC is better as far as welders go and DC is more versatile, but AC can work fine too in a hobby shop. With AC there is very little to ever break on the welder. Frankly I can tell little difference when welding at the higher amp settings say over 100 amps. I can notice the benefit of DC more on the really low amp settings like at 35-40 amps. In general DC current is 15% to 17% more efficient than AC current in welding. So a rod that might burn at 100 amps on DC might have to go 115 amps on AC. That 15% is not all that noticeable at high amps but much more so at low amps.

My opinion: The biggest thing to remember with any machine that has tapped increments of 15-20 amps is that once you find a rod and brand that burns well on a setting that you actually have available on the welder then it is a keeper. Switching to a different brand rod of the same type simply may not burn as well as you do not have the option of adjusting 3-5 amps or so. Half the fun is finding the rods and brands that you like if you let it be an adventure (which it sounds like its going to be a fun toy for you and your son for a while).

 

[deereman75]

Your exactly right on the thing about rod brands. For example, my tombstone would lay a nice stack of dimes with blueshield 6011, no matter how bad I messed up. It actually ran those just as nice as my dc machine. Lincoln 1/16 6013 wouldnt weld at all on any setting. The chinese 1/8 6013 ran real nice, the 3/32 6013 blueshield were right in between settings. This is one time I think 1# packs are a good idea. Just buy a dozen different rods, and see what it likes.

 

[rankrank1]

Yep the brands will not be universal across the board either. You may like brand A in 6011 Brand B in 7014 and Brand C in 6013. And it may even go as far that you like Brand A in 3/32" diameter in 6013 but Brand B in 1/8" 6013.

I always try a small package first. If I like it then buy it in a more economical package quantity.

FWIW: I hate all 1/16" diameter rods. If I am going to use 1/16" diameter then 7014 it is- ease of 7014 is the only thing that makes the 1/16" diameter noodle tolerable. I do like 5/64" 6013 though. 5/64 are stiff enough to not flex all over the place and they work very well for thin metal in lieu of wire feeder. 5/64" kinda hard to find though and a bit more expensive as there is a not so common price premium but this size is still worth having around for me.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

It sounds a lot like the machine I learned to weld on, it was too hot with 6011 and too cold with 6013, 3/32 rod welding thin wall galvanized fence tube, 16 ga. We used the 6011 and moved real quick.

 

[CNC Dan]

FWIW: I hate all 1/16" diameter rods. If I am going to use 1/16" diameter then 7014 it is- ease of 7014 is the only thing that makes the 1/16" diameter noodle tolerable.

You can cut them in half. I use a bortaband. Rotate the rod to go through the flux first, then cut through the core wire. I then cut through the flux one inch down, so I don't lose too much flux when I clean off the end