welding cable reels

[jenkinsph]

For the most part I don't find the reels to be very handy, I use two deep drawers on my service truck to carry the hand coiled leads, this protects them from the weather and criminal elements as well.

I agree with AllToys that you need to uncoil them completely to use them so the reel isn't that much help.




Steve

 

[theonlybull]

in our service truck, we simple have a steel basket just inside the back door, both leads are coiled together, at the same time, and dropped in. to remove, you grab the earth, and the stinger, and go. it coils out nicely, and takes no time at all.

we've even got 20' more on one lead then the other, and it's survived 25 years so far (yes, we weld for a living, just not with the truck everyday)

 

[sandman2234]

I don't uncoil my leads to weld. Guess it is too much trouble, since I have 150/feet of cable on the welder in the shop, and fifty/seventy on the small one. Portable uses 50/25 so I guess I will be buying new welders soon if this is true. Only been using them off balanced since '85 so I guess I am do for a major meltdown.
Reels have always been a pain to me. I prefer a hook and just feed off what I need.
David from jax

 

[user.69169]

My second wife's first cousin Shirley was certified and did a lot of welding. Shirley and his wife Bill used to play a lot of peenockle over there to the Legion Post made it to the championships one year, but they got thrown out on account of them being a gender dismorphic couple. Seems some of the other players in the tournament got a little distracted cause Shirley wore a miniskirt to the second round of the tournament. Shirley and Bill argued it wasn't a miniskirt it was a kilt Shirley wore welding at work but they still got thrown out. There was even talk about banning them from the Legion, but Bill carried her discharge papers in her bib overall pocket all the time so the Legion couldn't ban them.

Bill drove a wrecker and as I recall it had big cables on a reel on wach side. Bill always said you had to wind them reels up all right and proper or the boom could break when the cable slipped and there was an increased shockload. I don't think Bill ever welded with them wrecker cables though, not even on weekends. Bill pretty much always has Shirley do the welding in the family and Bill did the winching.

All things being waht they were, Shirley and Bill did have a child, and boy I gotta tell you it was worth drivin Bill and Shirley to the doctors offices just to watch the receptionist deal with the paperwork. Speaking of paperwork, I had the 3rd wife dig up the first wife's address book and I called Shirley to find out about these reel things. Shirley says they ain't a good idea cause unless the reels are properly made you can't get all the electrons out the stinger and back to the ground, and that can make the wires get so hot the insulation burns off and then the wires short or get shorter or something, and the welder can blow up. I'm pretty sure that's how Shirley explained it, but then Shirley has taken to drink since Bill left him, and sometimes Shirley is a bit hard to understand.

 

[bobodu]

I always uncoil my leads because there is a lot of magnetism and heat generated in a coil.
Wrap up a couple of loops of lead and try sticking your watch in there.
Worked in a fab shop for a spell and time really seemed to fly when I was running a spot welding machine. Didn't take me long to figure out that I needed to wear my wristwatch on the back of my belt if I wanted to know the correct time.

 

[Inkomodius]

Wierd. I have had lincoln's (classics, III, ranger 305g and GXT) And a couple millers (blazer) I have always tried to have 100ft on each but when you work up cranes and your ground is grounded at the base and have 400 ft of extension for my stinger I've never seen a problem, nor have I had a problem with leaving my cables spooled if im working 10ft away. yeah you can see them surge and they get warm. But i dont think that lead to the demise of any of my welders. The Kohlers on the rangers go mostly.

As far as reels go? I hate reels, especially on the back of trucks, they sieze up (especially the nice 1500 dollar alumium ones) and if your looking for a system that is constantly conducting so you dont have to plug and unplug the leads from the machine, that gets tricky. i always come off my cage for my welder with manual wraps, they take longer but they are as reliable as your arms. If you want dimensions on a reel, go to a loacal welding supply store they usually have the fancy ones on display.

 

[bobodu]

OSHA
Regulations (Standards - 29 CFR)
Arc welding and cutting. - 1910.254
..1910.254(d)(2)
" Coiled welding cable shall be spread out before use to avoid serious overheating and damage to insulation."

 

[JoelD]

Interesting that I welded, a hobby welder at best, with wound 50 foot cables and fried my rectifier in short order.

I wonder if it was because my machine is a welder / generator?

But then I'm thinking at least some of you guys who leave coiled are running bobcats and the like.

The miller tech was very clear with me that leaving my cable wound was most definately the cause of my rectifier going south.

Joel

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

Joel, the miller welder I have in my service truck is probably 20 yrs old. The cables have always been different lengths and I only uncoil as much cable as needed. I'm not going to uncoil 100' when I'm 10' away.Maby the older welder were just made better.
Bill

 

[Inkomodius]

Interesting that I welded, a hobby welder at best, with wound 50 foot cables and fried my rectifier in short order.

I wonder if it was because my machine is a welder / generator?

But then I'm thinking at least some of you guys who leave coiled are running bobcats and the like.

The miller tech was very clear with me that leaving my cable wound was most definately the cause of my rectifier going south.

Joel

Ive known many many welders that have gone in for warranty work and have never had any one claim its due to wrapped cables while welding. I think someone was trying to shiv you out of warranty. Well it may shorten the life of the machine, running your tires 5psi low in a vehicle will also shorten the life of your drive train due to increased rolling resitance. But try voiding my warranty on my truck for that.......