Engine as a generator/welder?

[gatorman21218]

Im thinking about getting this. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-En...30604921864?pt=BI_Welders&hash=item4cf996c408

Will it hurt the old girl to run this welder? what im asking is will I wear out the truck by installing this or does it matter? I dont want to shorten the lifespan of my truck. If so then Ill just find a craigslist special welder/generator and use that.

Anybody with significant/long term PTO experience?

 

[88beast]

ive seen plenty on tractors and work trucks and they work great for general repairs
but they seem to go bad after a new model has come out so you wind up buying a new one so if it was me id buy one but i do random welding a lot but for youre average person a home mig would be better

 

[gatorman21218]

Yeah Ive got a lincoln 140. 115volt and has a 20% duty cycle at 90 amps. Welds 10ga like a champ. I wouldn't trust it beyond 3/16. Plus the gas setup is expensive and flux core is some raggedy looking stuff.

Any way I'm sold on the welder/generator since I dont have a shop suitable for welding (a basement has a lot of smoke detectors.)

So what I really asking is it a bad idea to use the truck to run a welder? Am I going to hurt it by running it at 1800 rpm to power the welder? I'm mostly concerned about wear and tear and also overheating. My truck climbs up to 230* when idling before the fan locks up. or am I better off finding a used one or possibly mounting that thing to a old lawnmower engine.

 

[Titojeep]

As an IDI guy and jeeper I suggest the following: For the price, you're better off buying a regular welder. A nice lincoln 120V type will run about 500 bucks, but you put it up safely in your garage, basement, or where ever you want. An underhood type set up is heavy duty, but really meant for temporary use when used in an automobile / truck. While our trucks are certainly tough, the thought of running it at highway RPM while sitting still (and no airflow across the radiator until the fan cluch engages) just goes against conventional thought. I've this type of set up in my jeep for trail repairs and it works great. If your completely stuck on getting one, then you might consider doing something like changing the pulley size to make it 1800rpm or close to 1800 rpm with the engine at idle speed or lesser than 1800. I'd also look at the option of adding an electric fan on the radiator that you can manually turn on to keep air flow on it while your running the welder. Just some food for thought. Good luck either way. It is a nice thing to have.

 

[GOOSE]

Jim, I have been looking at putting central hydraulics and a hydraulic driven 120/240v generator on my truck as one of the accessories. Yeah, a pipe dream at this point but pretty cool to have some day. I am relatively certain that our rigs would be among the best available to serve double duty as a mobile gen set so to say. I can not find any reason why we wouldn't be able to turn 1800 rpm's for days on end if necessary. This would allow you to maintain one less engine and not have to worry about the gas engine and its carb gunking up. Fix that radiator though, no need to be melting your idi as it lay unattended because you are melting welding rods.

Here's my eye candy of the week,

http://www.fabcopower.com/generat/hgen/14OOpiston.htm

 

[gatorman21218]

The rad is less than 2 years old. I think its the fan clutch thats worn out or not locking up at the right temp. I should have done a coolant flush before I did the radiator as I see some calcium buildup on the fins. Even with a filter and pure distilled water.


Yeah I know all I need is another small engine with another carb. I was thinking that the unit I'm looking at is pretty universal so what I would really like to do is to have 2 brackets. one on the 7.3 and one on an old lawnmower. So I would keep it on the truck to have it ready to go, but say I want to build a 1/8 scale replica of the eiffle tower in my back yard, then I could put it on the mower and run that engine into the ground.

Does/Did honda make 15+hp engines? My boss has a 5.5 on the air compressor. Man it must have 4,000 hours on it and dont think he has ever changed the oil, just adds more when the thing shuts itsself off. Starts on the first pull every time.

 

[GOOSE]

Honda makes twin cylinder engines up to at least 24hp.

 

[gatorman21218]

hmm. but then again parts are pricey for hondas. I need to find an old L-head Briggs I/C

 

[Brimmstone]

It will work just fine hooked to the engine. My field rig up in Ohio has a zena welder on it and has never complained once. I used it hard for several weeks before moving to Texas building a bridge for friend of mine over a small river on his property. I went through 150+ pounds of 6011 welding rod and it never had a problem. Once I knew what idle it welded best at I would set the hand throttle and go to work. The truck sat there running for 10-12 hours a day running I think at about 1400rpm and it never skipped a beat. I'll probably be buying another Zena unit to install in my 87 and my 91 since I intend to leave the old beast in ohio just in case I need it up there.

 

[ford390gashog]

Do a google search for diy alternator welders! I have had good luck with the ones I made from 3g units even got the parts to make one a tig unit! cost you under 150.00

 

[gatorman21218]

Well I called the folks at zena and heres what the man said.

The 150 amp unit is around 800 bucks. the 200 amp unit is 1500.

They sell a bracket kit to mount a unit to my truck, however its around 700 bucks. I did ask about the A/C compressor location, and he said by putting it where the compressor goes, very little fab is needed.

the automatic idle speed control is 300 bucks. basically the engine idles at low idle and then when you go to strike an arc you just press a button and it kicks up to high idle and stays there for 20 seconds, giving you plenty of time to switch out a new rod if needed. I think I can fab up a manual hand throttle for less than that. I'm either going to be welding something or not, so automatic speed control is not something that I need. Plus I like to keep with the all manual theme of my truck (tran, hubs, t-case, windows, locks, glowplugs, etc)


Does anyone know of a website with a formula for calculating pulley speed?

Also is there a way to manually yet temporary lock up the fan clutch? i'm thinking I may want to do that if i'm welding to make sure of a lower engine temp and to keep the unit cool as well.

 

[reklund]

Look into a company called Premier Power Welder. They specialize in engine-driven welder setups. I've got one on my Toyota Rockcrawler and it works great.

Ryan

 

[gatorman21218]

Now do they(any of them) work great on the trail or do they rival a similar amperage miller or lincoln?

 

[ford390gashog]

FYI those modified engine driven welders only have a 30%duty cycle at 60amps and at 150 its 10% so no need to worry about the an clutch! Besides it should pull plenty of air at idle and if it overheats then theres an issue! I have idled lots of my IDI trucks for hours on end using the PTO to drive a hydraulic powered waste water pump and never an ussue.

 

[reklund]

Now do they(any of them) work great on the trail or do they rival a similar amperage miller or lincoln?

My premier power welder works as good as any other stick welder I've used. It's patched some pretty bad breaks back together and kept us from walking every time. It also doubles as a high output alternator to run lights, electronics, etc. in place of the 40A stock alternator my Toyota had. I won't wheel without one now...

Ryan