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My power unit welding machine

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Scott
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Postby Scott » Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:10 pm

that looks exactly like my power unit is it from a baler?
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JoeKansas
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The power unit....

Postby JoeKansas » Tue Feb 07, 2006 3:44 am

I got is as a stand alone motor, but I suspicion it was a baler motor. It had the wide, flat belt pulley.
It is a 100% duty cycle welder. You can't overheat these things. Before I built this thing, I had the hots to get a Lincoln Pipeliner ~ for no good reason other than I wanted a portable welder.
My friend/mentor explained me out of wanting one of them, told me how to design this thing, and so I did. He is a 100% Chrysler man, very clever, low key, and can do about anything- and then some.
Anyway, he drew me out this diagram on a piece of paper, and said there you go.....
I was not a electronic schematic reader, so he had to explain it 3 or 4 times, then sent me on my way to fumble through soldering it together. Finally it was done, put on the machine, and worked like he said it would.
He told me that he had designed this circuit and years before had sold copies of it in an ad in Popular Mechanics but kinda quit doing that after a few years.
I just had my hands on that diagram recently, but I will have to do some digging to find it.
Basically, all you are doing is varying the input to the field windings of the alternators, which in turn varies their output current.
I remember that the two transistors of the control module are model 2n3055, but can't remember what the potentiometer or resistor values were. The potentiometer controls the gate circuit in the transistor. A transistor is basically an remote controlled electrical amperage valve. You turn the knob on the potentiometer, which sends a little current to the transistor gate terminal, which in turn allows just so much current to pass through the transistor to what ever it is feeding- which in this case is alternator field windings.
Actually it is very simple, and doens't take up near the room of an old fashioned (and delicate) rheostat.
What he has made is basically a solid state rheostat.

Jackman
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Postby Jackman » Tue Feb 07, 2006 9:15 am

That's a very intresting welder, I never would have thought it possible to make with automotive altenators. What thickness can you're welder handle? Seems to me that those altenators would be limited on there ability to produce the high amps, still a very cool unit 8) wish I had one myself........

JoeKansas
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Tractors Owned: I.H. 300 Utility
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thickness....

Postby JoeKansas » Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:34 am

If you read my previous posts, you read that each single alternator contributes up to it's maximum output. Each alternator is controlled by the same circuit, and they all have a common terminal connection with the output......
In my case, I have 4 sixty amp alternators, thus a theoretical output of 240 amperes. That is about twice what you need to weld most items. The average person will set his machine to weld in the 80- to 120 amp range. I think the way it was designed, you had more than enough welding current capacity, but the excess current was to enable you to jumpstart vehicles or have plenty of pipe thawing capacity.
In this aspect, this machine would be ideal with just two alternators with them producing a total of 120 amps max.
My friends machine has 8 alternators, and I remember he told me that his was a 400 amp machine. That doesn't compute to 8 ~ 60 amp alternators, but that's what he told me he had.
While he was convincing me to make my machine, he related the story of a call he got from the old man who ran an ice plant here in town. There was a 4" water line that ran from the east to west side of the building, starting at the eaves on the west side, going down to the ground, then underground to the east side, coming back out of the ground and on back up into the air on the east side and terminating at some point. This was a total length of about 60' pof 4" line.
Well, it froze one particulary cold night. Deep snow and ice on the ground. The old man knew of my friends welding/thawing capability, and asked if he could give it a shot.
He tells me he parked the truck on the west side of the building, got the stinger lead clamped on the pipe on the west side, ran the ground lead on top of the ice to the end of the building, all the way across the south end, and back up the east side to the pipe, and clamped it to the pipe.
Cranks up the slant 6, turns the amps up to wide open, and let it do it's thing. He says about 20 minutes later, there was water flowing. Thawed it out, no problem.
But, during all this heat making, the ground lead had warmed up and melted the ice it was laying on and had sunk down below the surface and and got froze in when they quit thawing the pipe. :censored: Crap......So, they fired the welder back up, turned up the current til the lead got the ice melted, and drug it back up out of its' icy grave.
I've used mine to thaw and jumpstart cars, both. Don't do much portable welding anymore, and really haven't had to do any of the pipe thawing or jumpstarting in a long time, either. It is basically just a neat conversation starter.

Jack Donovan
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Postby Jack Donovan » Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:30 pm

:shock: WOW, Thats Kool :roll:

JoeKansas
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Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:37 pm
Zip Code: 67357
Tractors Owned: I.H. 300 Utility
Location: UK

Postby JoeKansas » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:36 pm

Still haven't had a chance to look for that darn schematic........ :evil:


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