Well, I have once again picked up something that I know very little about. I bought a used welder. I hope I did OK, I bought it without seeing it and had a friend pick it up. It is pretty rusty. It looks to have new cables, but the power cord is a dryer cord :o
I was told that everything worked. I'll find out tomorrow after I add the new wiring. I am also adding the correct cord rated for 50 amps and getting rid of the dryer cord. Is there anything I should look for inside the welder while I am in there replacing the wire? I don't want to flip the switch and get a jolt :o
Because it is wired with a dryer cord, I am a bit leary of the welder in general. Should I be overly concerned about this?
If the guy who owned it is any thing like me, a dryer cord was all he had to get by with.Then when it worked, "temporary" is in the eye of the beholder. I'll bet its fine and you snagged a deal .
I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Do what I do, call your brother-in-law over to try it out !
What kind of welder is it, Mike?
Just look around for any signs of damage or deterioration inside. If nothing looks burned, it's probably ok. Just clean it up a bit and try it out. :)
It is an AC 225 amp Licoln. Nothing fancy. I aim to take it apart and rewire it shortly. I'll make sure to blow it out and look for signs of fire!
There was nothing wrong in using a dryer cord to run the welder. Most AC welder require less than 50 amps input and that is what a dryer cord is rated at.
What make and model is the welder?
Hallo brdmkr
Do you know that there are AC electrodes that give almost the same strength as DC electrodes?
I do not know which makers that sell over there but ELGA P51 and ESAB 48-15 are two excamples. They are difficult to weld with. Ordinary AC electrodes are brittle when cold which means almost useless in our climate but they are easy to weld with.
I am a complete amateur that learned to weld last spring but I did some research on electrodes before starting to build the log lift that was discussed on this forum.
D. Fredrick
Thanks for filling me in on the dryer cord. I am going to put it back on the welder, but with the correct outlet. I removed the wire and replaced it with 6 ga. That seems to be just too heavy. So, I'll cut the plug off of the dryer cord and replace it with the welder plug.
The welder is a Lincoln.
I like 7018AC rods for AC just like the DC version but different flux coating. They run great on AC.