That's awesome man!

My friend and I have been toying with the idea of making a portable welder for our trips to the woods. With air-cooled VW motors, we don't have the luxury of adding big amp alternators without lots of fab work for something in the way, so we're thinking of a different approach.

We're thinking of using a side shaft lawnmower motor to turn an alternator. This could be mounted to a steel frame with handles and strapped into one of the cars. We're also considering adding an old A/C compressor with a swappable belt to be able to inflate tires or maybe even run an air tool (need a tank for that though).

I have an old Ford externally regulated 140 amp alt. In my research, I've found we can bypass the regulator for welding, and use the regulated output as a battery charger/booster if we wanted to. The only question is I'm not sure how much HP it takes to make 140 amps of electricity.

When you strike an arc, does it drag your engine RPM's down?

 

i have seen no less than 6 hp lawn mower motor

 

You can get 2hp side shaft motors, but I'm wondering if 6hp is enough to make 140 amps of current in an alternator.

The thing is you have to get the RPM's up on the alt to get the current, but to do that, you have to play with the gearing, taking the torque away from the motor.

 

(i think) the rshared_pm will mostly regulate the voltage and the amount of power to the rotor will give you the amperage
i know a 6 hp engine is not enough to make 160 amps @ 60 volts
6 hp =4474 watts perfect world
160amps @ 60 volts = 9600watts

not even close to max output of 160

but i weld often and 1/8 1/4 is what i weld most and i use about 75 to 80 amps or so
with 1/8 rods 6011 dc

will my 6 hp work shure you will regulate the total output by your welding style


i think that the alt welder power runs a little hotter due to the high frequency



the arc is related to the voltage the spark or heat is the amperage a good mix is what is needed to weld

 

Never seen this before! They got pre built ones on this site for 800 but thats steep!

ZENA, Incorporated - 150Amp_Welders

 

i think the bill will be around 100 for everything to make it work properly and look good and safe

 

ok so i read some interesting info in the field control of the rotor
and i dont need it
but if i had a smaller engine turning the alt i would put more resistance in the rotor circut to limit the draw of the engine to keep it from stalling but that does lower your power output for welding.

 

O.k. that is freakin cool

 

46 bucks shipped for 2 female 2 male quick connects