Miller Thunderbolt AC only stick welder refurb questions

[ROUSTABOUT]

If it Sparks, I weld. Period. I have a lot older machines, never thought about taking apart. I mean older than what you got. Like a 1956 Forney, I can still perform with it.

 

[BukitCase]

RFB, that'll DEF work better than any jumper cable clamp I've seen - also, even that type can benefit from the braided battery strap trick, that was especially noticeable for my MIG machines... Steve

 

[California]

Novice here. That braided battery cable - a part of the braided portion is clamped between the live side of the ground clamp and the work to make a more perfect connection? Or???

 

[BukitCase]

Bingo; what color kewpie doll would you like? Just kidding, I tried finding Jody's original tip, site's changed a lot since I last visited.

My small table has a corner I added angle to, mostly for vise mount - you can see the strap just behind the mig pliers, and the ground clamp just behind that. And yeah, the idea is that the braid conforms to whatever uneveness there might be on the table OR the clamp. Works well on the relatively thin angle OR my 3'x7' x 1" thick bigger table.

I also take the vise off its swivel base and shine things up once in a while, since quite a few jobs I just let the vise be ground - BTW, the piece in the vise is one of a pair of inserts I use on the loader bucket where I have 7 different 2" receiver locations to choose from... Steve

 

[bmg88201]

Been a pipe welder for 30 years, there absolutely no reason to weld with AC unless you are TIG welding aluminum or magnesium. But new TIG welders don’t even need AC for that now. Arcs strike easier with DC too. There is a capacitor that goes bad and the arc is harder to strike On some machines. AC is crap for stick welding. Some folks think it’s easier to weld thin material with AC and that’s bull. You would use DC straight polarity on thin material. Anyway check the large capacitor on the machine.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Oh, I know for sure DC is better, my Century AC/DC hasn't been off of DC in many years, but you see I got this welder at an online auction where the welder was in one lot and the leads were the next lot, I thought for sure no one else would notice but I think I have about $90 or $100 (was sure it would be about $50 but someone decided I needed to pay more) in the welder with leads and I figured being a Miller it would weld decent... 6011 is messier on AC but works fine so whatever, I have a near lifetime supply of 6011 at this point now that I mostly use wirefeed, but heavier metal stick is faster... Dollar for dollar my $20 goodwill find on that Montgomery Wards/Century AC/DC stick welder was the best welder deal I've gotten...

 

[big bubba]

in regard to difficulty in striking an arc, no one has mentioned the condition of the electrode itself. everyone knows when the flux absorbs moisture, etc (esp low hyd) it makes striking an arc difficult. so it's also about how you store your rods in addition to the ac/dc discussion... just to state obvious, but sometimes overlooked, regards

 

[CalG]

I have the same machine, It gets used for most all arc welding that I require.

BUT!.....

I ALWAYS place a scrap piece of angle iron pinched between the the work ground clamp.
The cold electrode is FIRST struck on the scrap piece, then, with the electrode still hot, move over to the work. A/C starts are EASY this way. sometimes it requires imagination to get the position and setup to be comfortable. There is always a way.

Try it, you will agree.

 

[big bubba]

I have the same machine, It gets used for most all arc welding that I require.

BUT!.....

I ALWAYS place a scrap piece of angle iron pinched between the the work ground clamp.
The cold electrode is FIRST struck on the scrap piece, then, with the electrode still hot, move over to the work. A/C starts are EASY this way. sometimes it requires imagination to get the position and setup to be comfortable. There is always a way.

Try it, you will agree.

preheating rod & working surface help in this also?

 

[sandman2234]

I had the same problem after buying a used AC/DC version. It came with 50' leads that were usually coiled up around the handle when I would use it. I cut them back to 10' and that fixed it. Looks like our leads are a bit longer than 10'. I presume that the long wire length had excess inductance, causing the arc problem.

I had hundreds of extra feet of 2-0 welding lead at one time. Been using a lot of it to make some really good jumper cables for when I need to jump off a tractor or my pickup. That 2-0 cable carries a lot of amperage and will jump a battery (or batteries) pretty quick!
Even the smaller cable that your welder has will probably make a good set of jumper cables if you buy good clamps for each end! The biggest problem with my 20 foot jumper cables is they are pretty heavy to tote very far!
David from jax