bobodu
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2004
- Messages
- 960
- Location
- Whitley County,In.EIEIO
- Tractor
- Farmnought.Gravely Model L,Gravely Model LI,1941 Clinton two wheeler
Maybe this should be in the welding forum...but I DID BUILD it...coin toss said here....
I decided I needed to use up some of these engines sitting around here and I settled on a welder. I had a nice Lincoln SA3,but it was a trip hazard and having to dig up two batteries to start the thing was always a hassle...so I sold it. I wanted something smaller that could be loaded into a truck by myself.
I read all the info I could find and it's really tough to find one at a scrap yard because alternators aren't marked for amps. Pretty much figured out that I either needed one from a big truck or a big car. Big gas trucks don't always have big alternator ( a diesel might though) but a big car surely would. Got a new reman from a Lincoln (I only run Lincoln welders so it seemed appropriate) for $40.
This one used an external regulator so I didn't have to mess with that. Hooked it up and got almost no power!! Opened her up,took out the capacitor and cut the wire going from the rotor ground to the diode pack since I was going to run a jumper straight from the brush to ground. Also found that the brush holder didn't have a terminal going from the spade to the bottom of the brush spring!!! What good is a brush if there is an open connection from the wire to the brush. Can't help but wonder if this is why the car got into the scrap yard in the first place. Car dies and gets towed...never claimed.
I jury rigged around that and will have a talk with the alternator guy this week. Hooked her back up and got some mighty juice!! That 16 horse engine is probably overkill,but she don't bog down when I strike an arc like the SA3 did. I can burn 1/8" 6013 all day long and the slag just lifts off by itself.
I can't seem to get a picture of a weld that shows the weld quality. If you build one of these,you want to get a minimum of 5 inches on the drive pulley. Gotta get that speed up to get full power. This is where a bigger engine helps. I had some old heavy (6 ga.?) jumper cables with pretty bad clamps and split those for my leads. Had a ground clamp and bought a 200 amp stinger from Harbor Freight for $8. Had to buy some switches and throttle controls. Had most everything else laying around here so the cost came in at around $70!!
I decided I needed to use up some of these engines sitting around here and I settled on a welder. I had a nice Lincoln SA3,but it was a trip hazard and having to dig up two batteries to start the thing was always a hassle...so I sold it. I wanted something smaller that could be loaded into a truck by myself.
I read all the info I could find and it's really tough to find one at a scrap yard because alternators aren't marked for amps. Pretty much figured out that I either needed one from a big truck or a big car. Big gas trucks don't always have big alternator ( a diesel might though) but a big car surely would. Got a new reman from a Lincoln (I only run Lincoln welders so it seemed appropriate) for $40.
This one used an external regulator so I didn't have to mess with that. Hooked it up and got almost no power!! Opened her up,took out the capacitor and cut the wire going from the rotor ground to the diode pack since I was going to run a jumper straight from the brush to ground. Also found that the brush holder didn't have a terminal going from the spade to the bottom of the brush spring!!! What good is a brush if there is an open connection from the wire to the brush. Can't help but wonder if this is why the car got into the scrap yard in the first place. Car dies and gets towed...never claimed.
I jury rigged around that and will have a talk with the alternator guy this week. Hooked her back up and got some mighty juice!! That 16 horse engine is probably overkill,but she don't bog down when I strike an arc like the SA3 did. I can burn 1/8" 6013 all day long and the slag just lifts off by itself.
I can't seem to get a picture of a weld that shows the weld quality. If you build one of these,you want to get a minimum of 5 inches on the drive pulley. Gotta get that speed up to get full power. This is where a bigger engine helps. I had some old heavy (6 ga.?) jumper cables with pretty bad clamps and split those for my leads. Had a ground clamp and bought a 200 amp stinger from Harbor Freight for $8. Had to buy some switches and throttle controls. Had most everything else laying around here so the cost came in at around $70!!
