Alternator Welder How To Do It In Simple Terms
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- Turning a trucks or cars alternator in to a welder is easy to do. Using the highest amp producing alternator will make the best welder. Allowing you to weld heavier gauge steel. Using low out put ones. Will not allow for heavy thickness welding. It will just fall apart and become unsafe. Thank You for watching. SUBSCRIBE If you would.
I built one 250 amp truck alternator build my own rectifier with industrial forklift charger diodes they were pretty cheap. Did away with the regulator . Use a power mosfet to control magnet strength on the rotor again that's how I control amps. Get around 125 amps max on my 17.5 HP motor it's smooth and doesnt get hot I have very little cost involved . It is however a DC only welder. Got the motor for free and rebuilt the alternator from a truck shop core paid core cost 75$ diodes were 6 industrial diodes got off eBay they were only 80$ by far the most expensive part but you can double up with traditional rectifier blocks from old alternator the original rectifier will burn out fast. My friend who is a professional welder says it is one of the best welders he has ever used lol for only a few hundred bucks and 3 six packs of beer I'm more than happy 😁
I done about the same thing with a much bigger Leece-Neville off a truck. They just need a good stator and field windings to be able to use them Lots of times the diodes or the regulator is burnt out but the rest of it is still good. Just ohm them out and make sure they are still good. I use a 20 amp motor controller off ebay to control the fields. They are much cheaper than a rheostat big enough to handle the current. Then I buy 3 phase diode units off ebay and mount them on good aluminum heat sinks with a 12 volt computer fan on the end of them blowing air through the heat sink. I mount that whole assembly in a 50 cal ammo can with holes drilled in each end to let air flow through it. Correctly set up and burning 1/8 inch welding rods you will need around 20 hp. I belt drove one off the pto pulley of my 20 hp B Farmall and it sounds almost like a Lincoln SA200 pipeliner.
It was a pleasure to watch this.Great video.Thanks.
This is so exiting i cant wait to see it working.
Excellent
Those particular quick disconnects(anderson powerpoles) are probably only rated for 50 or 75 amps. There are larger ones available, rated for 175 amps and 350 amps IIRC. There are also rubber dust covers available to keep mud/water/etc. out of them when not in use. I think they also offer some method of sealing the rear where the cable enters.
What brand/amp was that alternator that had the external brush terminals? It is built a lot like a Leece-Neville. I have one of their larger 24 volt alternators that I redone from a wye to a delta and mounted rectifers externally. I also have a big inductor on the positive lead. And a rheostat on the brushes to control welding temperature. Works great. An 18-20 hp motor has to hump.
Junk Yard That's what it is Leece-Neville. There really good and strong alternators. I have some of them 24 ones to. Nice units for sure. Hard to find any more where I,m at. Not cheap to buy new either. Thanks for watching Junk yard
Your switch idea on the stinger, won't do much. If I put power to the rotor brushes( to turn on the welder), it will not generate heat in the diodes and stator unless you are welding with it. No amperage draw, equals no heat. you can get a little bit of heat build up in the rotor, because it will draw about 10 amps continuously but that is very little. It would be the equivalent of plugging a transformer into a wall outlet, but not having anything to draw on the power at the other end. it will stay cool to the touch, because there is no real load on the transformer, just the small amount of current to power the primary side. Put a load on the output side, and feel the heat rise on the transformer. The best thing to do, is add extra rectifiers in parallel to distribute the load on the diodes. It doesn't take long to cook a rectifier diode when welding. I have added 4 rectifiers together. I used the original internal rectifier and ran three wires out to a group of three other rectifiers with a fan to cool them down. I have also done this trick for high amperage alternators running high wattage multi amplifier stereo systems. I did a write up a while back here. www.m715zone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18282
Good info for folks to read. Thanks for posting.
you are exactly right. you have potential (voltage) but no current (no heat)
seems it would make sense to use an external hi power rectifier
When you break the ark, current stops, and voltage goes up. When you break the ark, current stops, because it has no where to go.
At 1:33 you pointed out the alternator with the three phases. Can these be used and connected to a three-phase rectifier like part number MDS150A1600V? Maybe adding a smoothing capacitor as well?
yes you can. I have used the 200 amp versions. Mount them on a good aluminum heat sink. I then mounted a 12 volt computer fan on the end of the heat sink and mounted the whole assembly in a 50 cal ammo can with holes drilled on both ends for air flow.
Don't you need a cruise control diaphragm system to increase the rpm of engine to adjust the current output of welder? I think it may be better to put second alternator in to use as welder in place of air conditioner or something rather than use for both. but what do i know.....
Horse power means more then RPM. The RPM Needs to be at least 1000 RMP for the output to be there. Horse power is the really needed moment. I would put in a extra one and leave the other one for the job it does. Just incase a burn out comes. Then at least the battery is still be charged to get back home or where ever.
yes i agree. i used an air conditioning pump and threaded in a quick connect for hose on one of my work trucks, the electric clutch engaged with a dashboard switch, so when i was going to or leaving a job i could fill rear tank with compressed air to assist with air tools, the reserve was added later because that under hood pump was not too fast of air pumper. I like your way of using just an alternator but i was thinking to run one with a fairly large chain saw engine to make a suitcase welder. Thanks take care.
Hi, thanx for the video. Can you please clarify what to do with the brush wire? you cut it, and connect it to the positive terminal of an independent 12v supply, with fuses and a switch. the negative pole of the 12v supply goes to the alternator negative pole? Other question: you remove the capaitor. IS that all the brush separation and the capacitor removal, and that is it? best regards.
What Gage of wire did you use for the ground and positive cables for your welder?
I used #4 AVG Lots of heat comes and a cool down time needs to come. Unless there is a way to keep it cool as the welding is going on. Strong fan or blower type thing.
Btw I did use a switch to turn on and off the rotor voltage it really didn't cool any different however it was a cheap easy safety switch 🤣
that's true. the only time it builds heat is when current is actually flowing (when welding). the rest of the time the potential is there (voltage) but no current is flowing so there is really no advantage of switching the field off.
Just wanted to add, why not install a sperate fan, say a few computer case fan, or radio control fan/turbine
Sure could anything to cool it better will work. If it could be kept cold long weld times could be there. Tc
if rectifier is on outside can you do away with plate and drill air holes for cooling?
Do you know how to bypass the voltage regulator on a ford 3g alternator to make it into a welder?
fyi most DC stick welders use - negative electrode, not +...
DC reverse to stick weld (7018) and similar dc straight to heliarc (tig)
almost all welding rods run electrode positive. Try running a 6010 on electrode negative.
I wasn't sure how to energize the stater. Do you energize by connecting to the +post as well as connecting to the welding lead cable?
you don't energize the stator..that is what you get power out of. You energize the rotor through the brushes to produce power out of the stator.
Does most of the heat come from the rectifier?
They get hot cause there are just a few windings that's why there not able to be used for long periods of time with out lots of resting time ( cool down time) . Duty cycle is very low.
@@MrDoingEverything Can you add a heat sink to help with the cooling?
@@benniedonald Would be hard to do but sure if some way one could be attached sure would help. I strong fan blowing on it would be easier. What ever way it could be cooled will give more welding time.
What voltage is going to be at the clamp and rodholder ? Wire diagram please please.
Can you please make a video doing one to simplify it.seeing it done is better.also I see that other people connect a 12 volt battery to the alternator, why do they that?
+Jubee Tobbe Alternators need current to produce current. The battery does that. No I will not be making another video that I know of. Never know though. If I need to make another welder due to mine going bad. I will make a video doing it. Take Care Jubee
So why than the alternator is run by a belt?
+Jubee Tobbe Does not have to be a belt. As long as the RPM are at the right speed its going to work. Belts are smooth and quiet to use.
So can it run just on the battery alone without a belt to produce high power/ high current for welding?
No a alternator needs to be spinning at around 1000 RPM,s To be able to produce current. The battery is there only to feed the alternator the DC voltage.
or just get a tredmill motor......boom, instant dc
When you stop welding, the circuit is open, and no current flows. You don't need a switch. Just stop welding.
yup
Could i atach . Or conect two or more alternator of low ampers to to create a high amperage . To improve the dutycycle and weld more time?? Paralel or serie ?
Just put a better cooling fan on it. One that pulls more air.
Did u made one ? Alternator welder
Yes. You can run the field connections and the outputs in parallel. IIRC, there is a video here on youtube of a machine built with a chrysler V8 and half a dozen or so 60 amp alternators. I would suggest instead that you find either a heavy truck mechanic shop or a scrapyard for the same. Both will be good sources for large cased, heavy duty alternators. Alternators intended for medium and heavy duty truck use are typically designed for use with diesel engines, which means they will usually produce higher current at lower rpm. If you use one of these, you need to be sure that *alternator rotor* rpm does not exceed 6,000 rpm, otherwise the centrifugal force may result in catastrophic, violent, failure of the alternator.
Tienes que hablar casi por media hora para decir nadamas que hay que anular diodos regulador etc etc
Ive donde it , with an alternator with a delta startor and i works, but when i try to do it with a star wire stator, i dont know how to hook it up, because there is a 4th wire (conmon), where i hook it in order to work.???
Not understanding sorry
they are tied together and you insulate them and let it float and just use the three other ends.
or maybe add fan to cool rectifier
Any way to use the in place Alternator on a car to weld?
Not just the way it is no.
how do you power exciter?
Thank you, I watched a ton of videos that was a okay how-to and proof of concept video if you happen to have the same alt. as them but I like how you explain it. I was wondering, do you think a dual rectifier setup would help when welding. (same concept that alternatorparts . com / TH-cam name Alternatorman holds a patent for)
All2skitzd It would take more heat with a dual set up. Thank You All2
Thinking out side box I'm sorry, when you say it would take more heat, are you referring to the unit as a whole would take more heat?
All2skitzd Lets start over. You can never weld a 100% of the time. Welding with these units the duty cycle is low or its going to burn out. Send a link so I know more what you mean. I,m not really sure what your asking.
Thinking out side box His idea is to have dual bridge rectifiers in parallel so they won't be the weak point of the alternator.
alternatorparts.com/extreme-duty-dual-rectifier-cs-144-type.html
Ok understand a little bit better. Well using as a welder the windings are going to get very very hot. So cool down times are going to be needed. I don,t think dual will help out much really. Charging batteries is a different storie. The windings are controlled by receiving lower or higher volts That's what makes for a controlled output so the batteries are not over charged. With welding there is not that control. That's way it gets so hot and cool down time needs to be there. So ya I don,t think dual will help out to much. Unless the alternator is only a low amp one. But I would not use that type for welding anyway its only going to burn out faster. Better of going with a bigger size alternator. Will last much longer in the long run.But will still need cooling down times. Unless a real fast way of coolong can take place for longer weld times. This welding method is really meant for last resort type thing. Nothing full time. Quik welds from breaking down type thing. Most folks use them for off roading. Just in case. They where really never meant to build a trailer or stuff like that. A trailer could be put together it would take major breaking in the actual welding part. You know do a weld give it a break. Do another weld give it another break. If not and just a steady weld is going to happen. Its going to go into melt down. I hope I,m thinking right and giving the right answer here.
The speach delay is horrible!