welding with batteries

G'day Mick,
Great help thanks.
I am a very basic welder but nothing I have welded yet has failed. I use the big hammer test on all welds, bash it hard a few times if it holds its OK.
I am assuming 500 amp jumper leads to link batts and welding cables for the final will suffice.
I had not heard of using the negative to give more thickness before, is this OK to do.

Damien

Damien,

I'm no technical expert myself. The reverse polarity is expained in the article from the LCool website that I've been scouring my hard drive trying to find. I used heavy duty welding cables fittd with battery terminals for the connecting and a standard earth clip and hand piece from the local welding supply place. Jumper leads will get awfully hot and tend to melt pretty quickly if you get a long duty cycle. We also did a lot of experimenting with rods this year. John and Scotty got the best results so I'll encourage him to give a reply as to the best rods for the DC job. The ready welder is a great investment though.

Cheers Mick.



Image Could Not Be Found

Image Could Not Be Found

Image Could Not Be Found

Mick O!!
Have you tried CIG Weldall, they are basically a stailnless rad but will weld any dissimilar metals and springs with fantastic results. Stainless steel of course, handy for tanks etc.. They add material very quickly from the rod without reversing the polarity, not tending to burn away the parent metal as normal rods tend to.. You can buy a handyman pack of about 10 of each 2,5mm and 3.2 mm for about $35, both sizes included.. They are worth every cent and are readily available from most engineeering suppliers... regards Michael

OOPPS ,,, stainless rod... damn typos.... Michael

Mick,

Was it this battery welding article on LCOOL that you are referencing?

Andrew

Thanks Mick and Michael,
I have looked at LCool site and good info there.
I will look into the stainless rods as well.
By reading your blogs and threads a mix of battery types wont matter. I will have two Deep cycles on the tug plus two in the trailer and 1 crank.
All I need now is a lot of practice, then hoping I will not need to use the setup.

Damien

Hi Michael 2nd that CIG weld all very good I also carry a pack in the van for 2x battery welding. Daryl

Just one thing Damien - if you have the choice don't use 500amps leads , 200amp rated is more than enough. (assuming unregulated stick welding here)

The 200 amp leads 2m long will provide some reulation to the peak current and limit battery damage.

These leads will get warmer , but when they do its time to rest them and the batteries for a few minutes.

I can ditto your comments about explosion.
I was also in a workshop where a battery was on a charger and somebody welded near it and "BOOM" in an instant.
Battery acid, plastic schrapnel,,, what a mess......
Be careful with the batteries around sparks as they will go up......

But apart from that,,, from time to time we have needed to use our batteries for welding and it has always been as simple as hooking the two in series with no regulator,,, an hour or so of welding and then back in the car with no starting hassles at all....

Hi Damien,
I was given a 2 mtr length of weling cable and a clamp so I went out and bought a hand piece to hold the rod I put it all together and threw in about 20 x 2 mm rods and a spare welding glass this all curls up neatly in my little compressor box so its with me everytime we go off road or away, I had to use it on our last trip and let me tell you, it really works and when your out in the middle of nowhere it may be all it takes to strand you or get you back on the road even to get you to a town that can weld it profesonally, I also have some home made jumper leads very heavy and old but handy I used 2 batts connected the handpiece to the NEG of 1 batt and then ran the batts in series with the jumpers IE 1 lead to connect the earth to pos of the 2nd batt which then means you have a pos and neg to join between the 2 batts with the 2nd jumper lead, we kept testing the batts with a multy metre and there seemed to be no V loss ,like I said small outlay takes up very little room yet gives you some piece of mind . ( and I agree protect the batts from any sparks)

Cheers John.