Weldnator

[CrealCritter]

Anyone here built a weldnator? Basicly it's a regular old automotive alternator (with a little modification) and standard 12 volt automotive battery to cause the altwrnator to operate at its maxiumn voltage that you can then use to arch weld.

I'm putting 4 alternators on the veggie hauler (my 03 Silverado 4 wheel drive pickup truck). For one of the 4 alternators, I'm going to wire it up so I can switch it to become a weldnator, then switch it back to be a regular alternator. Once I have that working I may play around with it and see if I can't get it to run regular old AC power tools like skillsaw / drill / sawsall / lights / ...

But I'm also be adding a inverter to generate enough AC power to power some stuff in the house in the event of a power outage.

If you've built an weldnotor please chime in and share it with us.

Thanks

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Uh no...have not - but think it sounds pretty awesome!!

 

[NH Homesteader]

No but my husband's a mechanic and welder so I'm gonna ask him about it when he gets home. I've never heard of such a thing!

 

[CrealCritter]

No but my husband's a mechanic and welder so I'm gonna ask him about it when he gets home. I've never heard of such a thing!

Thank you for asking him! Not a new idea by anymeans ... There are lots of YouTube videos and atricles on the net about "Weldnator".

Mention to your husband that I plan on using a GM large case AD244 / 250 amp alternator for the weldnator.

 

[CrealCritter]

I'm finally happy with the wooden quad alternator bracket templates. I hope to be able to test fit them on my truck this weekend. If all goes well I'll cut them out of 1/4" aluminum. It's taken a long time because... well its summer and I've got lots of irons in the fire right now. So I can only work on the templates in short bursts at a time

Front template

Rear Template

 

[CrealCritter]

Finally got the quad alternator backet in 1/4" 6055-T6 aluminum (made in USA) and mounted on the veggie hauler. I used my woodworking router and a carbide straight bit to trace out the hardboard template and cut the aluminum. I had to trim about 1/4" off the end of the hardboard template in order to clear the fuse box. But other than that it was a great fit, after moving the computer forward about 6" and moving some ground wires around.

Here is what it looks like off the motor.

The last alternator I ordered came in with a 150 rectifier (50 amp diodes) I ordered a 250 amp alternator. So I sent it back for refund. I guess most people don't know much about electronics and can't tell the difference. But I'm not going to be one that you can pull a fast one on.

Mounted to the engine but short one alternator


Not much room left under the hood once all the pastic is back on the engine.

Still more to do... Install the last alternator, determine belt length, wire up an ignition run relay and more runs of 1/0 welding wire to the auxiliary battery. But at least the backet is cut and on the engine so that's a major milestone

 

[Chic Rustler]

Sounds fun

 

[CrealCritter]

Sounds fun

Well yeah... Anytime fire is involved it's fun for us guys. I can be pretty certain though that the duty cycle is very very low on a weldnator. I mean running a alternator at it's full potential it won't take long for it to get hot and have to be shutdown to cool off. But for the little bit of arch welding I do it should be fine for me.

 

[NH Homesteader]

He knows what it is, I just don't! He said they work alright for short periods of time but will burn out. He said that's the perfect alternator to use though. He knows people who have done it in case they break something wheeling in the woods, then they go home and fix it with their regular welder.

Do you not have a generator? He said you'll use a heck of a lot more gas running things in your house that way. But we lose power a lot so we are used to needing a generator. So I guess if you don't, no use in buying am expensive generator!

 

[CrealCritter]

He knows what it is, I just don't! He said they work alright for short periods of time but will burn out. He said that's the perfect alternator to use though. He knows people who have done it in case they break something wheeling in the woods, then they go home and fix it with their regular welder.

Do you not have a generator? He said you'll use a heck of a lot more gas running things in your house that way. But we lose power a lot so we are used to needing a generator. So I guess if you don't, no use in buying am expensive generator!

Thank you for having the conversation with your husband. He seems like a really smart guy. Power outages are very few around here. I would say in the last 5 years we've had less than an hour of power loss. It's not near enough to justify a generator. I think I might be at an advantage though because the president of the co-op lives on my road, so when there is an outage it's repaired quickly... I've even seen the co-op president in a bucket doing lineman's work to get our road up and running again. He most definitely is not afraid of getting his hands dirty - that I can say without a doubt. Being a member of an electrical co-op is way different than buying electric from a company. When there is a power outage itsi all hands on deck. Yes even the members help where they can. I've ran a chainsaw a couple of times myself.