firing up an ancient cheapo arc welder

emzdogz

emzdogz

Aunty Em
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I have this old arc (stick) welder stashed away, that my Dad gave me a long while ago. It plugs into an outlet like the clothes dryer has. So I need to get that type of extension cord first.

It's just been sitting in a fairly dry shed.

I will definitely get new electrodes - won't try using the old ones, but other than that and inspecting the cables, anything you can think of to check out before firing it up?

It's a Montgomery Ward brand, btw. (old, lol)

Trying to think what might go wrong that would zap me into next week.....

thx
 
I just need to use it for a couple of real heavy, deep penetration welds on my frame. the rest my Lincoln 100 with gas is ok for.
 
I'd be tempted to take the cover/hood off it and blow it out good. Dampness, dust and high voltage can lead to some interesting arcing action.

Other'n that, no, plug it in, fire it up and strike an arc!
 
I would think it should work fine. There shouldnt be any need to use it on a frame though. A wirefeed should get enough penetration if you vee your joint. I think stick welders leave to much spatter, Just my two cents tho.
 
I will report back! hope to do it this weekend. Yeah too much spatter for sure. I wouldn't want to use it for much. If it doesn't give me super penetration with some practice, I will look into other options. As long as the spatter can be ground off and the weld itself is strong and looks good - then I'm OK with doing some grinding to remove spatter.
Downeaster thanks for that idea od blowing it out - I will see if I can get the cover off an do just that.
thanks,
Em
 
One thing to watch for on old arc welders, Forney's were famous for this, is a HOT ground clamp. Good rubber shoes and never touch metal while kneeling on a bare floor. Remember the whole frame (what ever the clamp is attached to) would be hot too.
Dryer or range outlet? Most used the range (three straight blades) the dryer has one L shaped blade. Range is 50 amp, dryer is 30 amp.
 
By the time you get a heavy extension cord to handle the 220v to where you are welding, and some new rod compatible with that old AC? DC? rig, you've payed for a shop to mig those couple of spots on the frame twice.
 
excellent point! I need to look at the 2 possible outlets I could use, to see if what gggGary was talking about is going to be a prob. (matching the plugs) I found a cord online for $70 - one end matches the welder's plug. I just need to take a look at the drier plug and the stove plug and see if one of those will work with the other end of the cord. I think the stove uses 3 straight.
I'd like to be able to use the stick welder for other things, too. A gate, for instance.

The other thing is I've got my other welder (now that I added a flowmeter) dialed in REAL nice. Its 110 Lincoln wire feed with gas. When set up just right, it gets decent penetration, to about 1/8". I'm amazed, now, running Argon CO2 mix, with the flowmeter, when set just right, it leaves literally NO spatter, at all. However the wire speed and gas flow have to be JUST RIGHT. What I found in class, is that the bigger welders aren't quite as picky with the settings...they just power their way through. Not so with the little guy - it has to have wire feed just right.

My other option is that there's an old, unused airconditioner in my back yard near my work are, that has 220 running to it, which is unused - there's even a breaker switch box on the wall. I guess I could have an electrician put an outdoor outlet there. But while that sounds simple, my experience has been that just getting an electrician to come out to the house and say 'uh huh, uh huh, uh huh' costs about $300.
So we'll see.

It's a drag being poor. lol! My house also needs a roof, so paying for that will insure that I'll be poor for a couple more years anyway.

But to the original point: I guess curiosity has me wanting to try out the old stick welder.

Also, I got a completion certificate for the welding class (which I've taken twice)!
:) I didn't know I was going to get that (the certificate) - was surprised to receive it in the mail. Doesn't mean much, but it put a smile on my face.
 
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If it was me I'd just go to Lowes or whatever you have close. Get a outlet to match your welders plug, a weatherproof box for it and install it myself to where your air conditioner was.
Then when you use the welder just wheel it close enough to just plug it in, no extension cord.
Or maybe get enough wire to run from the AC hook up out to the car port. Then you can have the welder closer to where you work.
Leo
 
If you can get that unit working well, you could get on the look out for an old high frequency arc starter unit for TIG. A few years ago I was given an old lincoln with a hifreq arc starter unit that didnt work. Until recently it was just taking up space in my shop but I ran across another hifreq unit with a watercooled torch for $200 and have since been welding everything with it
 
Reid said:
If you can get that unit working well, you could get on the look out for an old high frequency arc starter unit for TIG. A few years ago I was given an old lincoln with a hifreq arc starter unit that didnt work. Until recently it was just taking up space in my shop but I ran across another hifreq unit with a watercooled torch for $200 and have since been welding everything with it
Click to expand...

so, you mean you were able to use an old buzz-box type arc stick welder in conjunction with this "arc starter unit" to use a tig torch? Doesn't the TIG gun have to have gas?

I'm pretty ignorant about the equipment used for TIG, although it was great seeing someone actually DO TIG welding, at the class I recently took. (I just did stick and MIG)

thx
 
emzdogz said:
so, you mean you were able to use an old buzz-box type arc stick welder in conjunction with this "arc starter unit" to use a tig torch? Doesn't the TIG gun have to have gas?

I'm pretty ignorant about the equipment used for TIG, although it was great seeing someone actually DO TIG welding, at the class I recently took. (I just did stick and MIG)

thx
Click to expand...

The buzz box provides the power for the welding and the arc starter just manipulates it (I could be wrong I didnt engineer it), my unit came with all of the hoses and a solenoid gas valve. From what I understand you can tig right off of a stick welder with just a torch and gas, but you have to be real good or patient I however am neither.
 
This is what I have...I know it looks like a redneck tv stand
 

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that lincoln looks really big. I mean "deep". (like from front to back)
ps: looks like you are using the same flow meter as I have (for my small MIG)

I just can't believe how much of a difference it makes, being able to meter gas flow exactly. Makes TONS of difference. The weird thing is the orig Lincoln gas kit, as my Dad bought it, just included a gauge that shows how much gas is left in the tank, with nothing to indicate the amount flowing out to the nozzle. That's so useless! Surprises me that the Lincoln gas add-on kit wouldn't have included a flow meter or gauge.

Anyway, for now, with the flowmeter and the Argon/CO2 mix, instead of straight CO2, my little MIG is really shining. Thinking I won't need to worry about using the old arc welder - although it would be nice just to see how it works.
 
Those old arc welders draw a lot of power , I actually blew my main bus fuses when I tried to use one at home cause I only had a 60 amp service . I wouldn't try it unless yo have at least 100 amp and 200 amp ( that is the new code standard here ) would be better. Just make sure you have a couple of spare bus fuses on hand when you try it I guess.
 
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