DIY On-board Welder

[WSS]

I should add, be careful when welding overhead or when a splash can hit you. Burns flat suck. Starting fires does too. Have a fire extinguisher on hand and some water and a shovel BEFORE you strike an arc. Watch when welding close to heat sensitive stuff, wrap in a water soaked towel to stop heat chasing. Use your senses, do you smell gas? Do you see any liquids? Any greasy dirt? Automatic trans fluid has a fairly low flash point, well not as low as gasoline. Go slow. think it through.

Paint will burn, can you get rid of it? Maybe a little emory cloth/sandpaper or a wire brush. If you have air, a little die grinder and a flap wheel cleans paint fast. A flap wheel on a cordless drill or driver works too.

 

[diwit]

My experience;
2 good starting batteries in series work fine; 3 good starting batteries in series is enough to blow holes in 3/16" plate.
Use heavy duty jumper cables (should carry these any how) and a decent rod holder/stinger on a separate piece of welding cable (jumper cable clamps do not want to hold the rod well).
The jumper cable clamps can melt their way into the battery terminals.
A cautionary note; lead acid batteries can emit hydrogen gas under high discharge or charge rates (danger of battery explosion; although so far it hasn't happened to me).
I favor a #10 welding lens in a pair of cutting goggles.
Get a chipping hammer. A cheap inverter powered angle grinder would not be out of place.
A section of 1 1/2" or 2" PVC pipe works fine to store the rod (rubber caps are easier to remove).
Most of my battery welding is done with 1/8" 6010 or 6011 rod; but 5/32" 6022 deck rod (recommended for flat horizontal use only but works for me everywhere) works about the best for me (normally available, locally, only in 50 pound boxes).
When the rod catches fire reverse the polarity.
When the rod sticks, check the connections and/or recharge the batteries.

I thought about setting up a spare alternator under the hood for welding and winching (and 110 volt, NOT 60 cycle) power) but since it is rare that I do/need any of the above mobile welding dallas ga, it hasn't been worth the trouble, for me.

Enjoy!

Last weekend on the Fordyce Trail I lost steering to my left front wheel after shearing off two of the three studs holding the steering arm on to the knuckle. Luckily my buddy had a Premier Power Welder under the hood along the skills to use it. It turned out to be a 20 minute fix and we were back on the trail. Had we not had access to a welder, this could have been a catastrophic trip ender not to mention a huge hassle sourcing parts or extracting the jeep off of the trail. Needles to say, I'm in the market for an onboard welder. After doing a lot of research online, it seems that the Premier Power Welder, LLC is the best option. Any of you have any other suggestions

 

[diwit]

Last weekend on the Fordyce Trail I lost steering to my left front wheel after shearing off two of the three studs holding the steering arm on to the knuckle. Luckily my buddy had a Premier Power Welder under the hood along the skills to use it. It turned out to be a 20 minute fix and we were back on the trail. Had we not had access to a welder, this could have been a catastrophic trip ender not to mention a huge hassle sourcing parts or extracting the jeep off of the trail. Needles to say, I'm in the market for an onboard welder. After doing a lot of research online, it seems that the Premier Power Welder, LLC is the best option. Any of you have any other suggestions

no response Tritech paint sprayer Los Angeles

 

[DirtWhiskey]

no response Tritech paint sprayer Los Angeles

Holy zombie thread Batman! Well done! Seeing as you brought it back to life I'm considering having an onboard welding solution too. Maybe the tech has gotten better in the last 7 years?

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Ready welder 2 in the middle of the Simpson Desert.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[diwit]

Ready welder 2 in the middle of the Simpson Desert.
View attachment 762202View attachment 762203View attachment 762204
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome



polished concrete Salt Lake City

thank you for your suggestion

 

[WSS]

I would suggest a readywelder if you know nothing about welding. Stick is an art, fluxcore wire welding is easier to master in a pinch. Either way, my suggestion is that you practice with whatever you end up with BEFORE you need it. Also suggest carrying bits of scrap to gusset and band aid your repairs. A way to cut the pieces is helpful too. My new favorite (since my first post in this thread in 2016) is a cordless grinder with four different types of wheels. Slitting, grinding, flap and carbibe toothed for wood.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Ready welder 2 in the middle of the Simpson Desert.

Note that the Readywelder can not be used with LiFePO4 batteries, according to the advice I received from the company.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[WSS]

Note that the Readywelder can not be used with LiFePO4 batteries, according to the advice I received from the company.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

I would agree, I cannot even jump another car with a full one, the BMS shuts it down. AGM's work great though.

Cool repair you did to the spring/shock plate!!

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

I would agree, I cannot even jump another car with a full one, the BMS shuts it down. AGM's work great though.
Cool repair you did to the spring/shock plate!!

I understood it is the high discharge rate that Li provides that is the problem, but the particular BMS may also be an issue.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[WSS]

I understood it is the high discharge rate that Li provides that is the problem, but the particular BMS may also be an issue.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Regarding the high discharge, With the premier power (stick) it might be a problem. With the readywelder (wire) it should not be. The stick works on constant current (CC) and the wire works on constant voltage (CV). I have not tried stick yet, so I cannot say for sure this is true using batteries. Our shop runs both CC and CV, we do mig and tig. Mostly mig.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Be good to hear from someone using a Readywelder 2 via lithium because that is what I will be fitting to our new build. Otherwise I will probably need to buy a small inverter stick welder and run it from the inverter.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome