Should I buy this welder?

[Wotknot]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

yeah, I was saying it was 220 single ph........not 3 ph.

 

[jameskb2]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

Yeah, you're right there. I used incorrect terminology calling 220v "two phase" when it's really split phase.

My bad....:redface:

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

You got it wired right. Newer codes require a neutral on some equipment and or they may run a 110v control circuit. Also mobile homes, rv's, and boats requiring 240 will use a 4 wire lead.

A bit of mis-conception on the terms of single phase and three phase. Single phase consists of two 110/120 volt legs. 3 phase consists of 3 110/120 volt legs. These 3 legs will carry 99% peak power per cycle where as single phase with the 2 legs has 33%. Basically in single phase you will only have one way to make 220/240 volt, 3 phase you get 220/240 volt in 3 different combinations. 3 phase gives 3 signwaves per cycle vs 1 signwave per cycle or 180 cycles per second vs 60. That is why 3 phase equipment can put out more horsepower with lower power consumption.

BTW, heliarc is for using a torch handle that holds carbon electrodes. I never used it, but I remember my dad using heliarc when I was a kid. Your welder almost looks like one my dad had years ago. Good luck,,,,,oh something else. They work good for driving worms out of the ground too!

 

[Wotknot]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

BTW, heliarc is for using a torch handle that holds carbon electrodes.

Actually, what you're describing, SS, is called carbon-arc goughing. Heliarc is a slang name for TIG welding (Tungsten Inert Gas)

And on those old welders they did carbon-arc welding, too......... my bad

 

[qaztwo]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

I've seen this before about 220v being 2 phase- not so. 220 still pulls off 1 wire thats in the same phase. If you look at most telephone poles on top are 3 high tension wires 120deg x 3 = 360 like mentioned before. Three phase will have 3 transforms, each one pulling off one wire. 3 phase is also more effecient use of electricity instead of one big push to get all the way around there are 3 pushes.

The old welders always weigh more then the new ones. These days coppers just to expensive to use like the old days.

 

[itstippy]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

Thanks guys, I am confident now that it's wired safely and properly.

Any ideas on what type of current the "A, B, C, D" settings produce? Something necessary for heliarc welding, obviously, and I'm hoping that "something" is DC current. I'm told there are many more rod options available today if you have DC available. I'm kinda hoping that in the 1960's, when this unit was built, those modern DC rods didn't exist except for heliarc applications. In which case the A, B, C, D settings are DC and very useful for modern rods. Or perhaps I'm just wishing and hoping, and the A, B, C, D, settings actually produce some weirdo current pattern only useful to an archaic form of arc welding that employed helium gas and long-extinct electrodes. In which case I'll just never ever use them and stick to AC rods and AC settings 1 - 5 (five is, I guess, for welding up battleships and Abrams A-1 battle tanks).

 

[jameskb2]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

itstippy,

I'd head on over to the forum at Hobart Welders to find out more details. I'd be willing to bet there are some old timers over there that could give you specs and applications on your machine. I think you'll probably find a manual (scanned) there too.

http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/

Like here, there's probably some great people over there to answer your questions.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

I've seen this before about 220v being 2 phase- not so. 220 still pulls off 1 wire thats in the same phase. If you look at most telephone poles on top are 3 high tension wires 120deg x 3 = 360 like mentioned before. Three phase will have 3 transforms, each one pulling off one wire. 3 phase is also more effecient use of electricity instead of one big push to get all the way around there are 3 pushes.

The old welders always weigh more then the new ones. These days coppers just to expensive to use like the old days.

If you have 3 wires on the pole, that is a 220 single phase transmission, 2 110 legs and a neutral. 3 phase requires 4 conductors with one being a neutral. 3 phase is typically never seen in a residential area and only seen in certain commercial areas.

There are many reasons to use 3 phase with electric motors. The main one is efficiency. Not sure about the explanation of 3 seperate pushes. The way the 3 phases overlap give a very constant power transfer which cause 3 phase motors to be very smooth and more simply designed since the 3 phases causes a rotating magnetic field.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

Thanks guys, I am confident now that it's wired safely and properly.

Any ideas on what type of current the "A, B, C, D" settings produce? Something necessary for heliarc welding, obviously, and I'm hoping that "something" is DC current.

If you want to see if its AC or DC, just get a meter out and measure it at the various settings.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

Lines gong into the transformer will be in the thousands of volts. The transformer then reduces it to the 120 volt legs going into the triplex that puts it into the house.

It is correct that a 3 phase system will have 3 transformers on the poles. Each wire going into the transformer will pack a very high voltage. Don't know what the residential sub feeds are now, but they avereage between 7K & 10K volts. That is why you see an explosion of fur balls when a squirrel gets caught in the high tension wires of a transformer. BTW, those transmission lines way up on those tall towers,,,,,they can carry over 130K volts.

 

[Wotknot]

Re: Should I buy this welder?

I'm 99% sure it's just an AC welder (not 100%). Years ago Hobart made a TRU welder (TR stood for Transformer Rectifier) The ac current was "rectified" to dc current. Since yours says TDU, I'm not sure. The ABCD settings may have something to do with the OCV's (open circuit voltage) regarding the TIG process. Being a 1963 model that'd put me at 7 years old so I wasn't into welding too much at that age....