Welding using the deuce as a power supply

[1 Patriot-of-many]

That screams alert. I have a chicom 18V drill whoch I'm not going buy another battery for.

 

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Good thread. sorry I kinda hijacked it. I will certainly do that. I anticipate I will be needing a lot of help in the area.

 

[Heath_h49008]

On a somewhat related term, how many folks have old 18-24V cordless tools that it just costs too much to replace batteries? I gutted a battery from a ridgid drill and wired it to a slave plug. Now I have a deuce powered drill and reciprocating saw.

You can save those batteries by hitting the terminals with the welder... no joke!

Take the ground clamp and the contact tip of your favorite welder, and put the welding current through the battery. It will burn out the shorting structures inside the battery and repair it.

Zap Ni-Cd Batteries with a Welder - YouTube

[media]http://youtu.be/PzIlVLOH9XI[/media]

 

[sewerzuk]

The OP I think doesn't expect this to be used very often.

Correct...I use this as a trail repair method, and NOT as my primary welder!

I abused the crap out of a pair of yellow top Optima's in a Suzuki Samurai I used to have for about 5 years; over 10lbs of flux core welding wire through the ready welder on it, probably close to 50 sticks of welding rod, frequent use of a 2000W inverter, and extended winching sessions (I once winched 6 vehicles up a muddy ravine back to back; took almost an hour, and each one was a 50' pull under heavy load). I burned up the stock zuk alternator, and one 90A Delco, but never once had a problem with the batteries.

I also have a friend who used the battery/jumper cable method as his primary welder for about 2 years...he put together quite a bit of equipment with that setup. We all thought he was crazy, but it was amazing the amount of stuff he welded together with is setup. I believe that he had a couple of cheap battery chargers continually hooked up to his batteries. I don't know the brand/model/make of the batteries, but I do know that they were some cheap flooded cell units, and that he never had to change them.

However, as the old saying goes, your results may vary! My experience is limited to what I just described...welding certainly puts a large load on batteries and I do believe that it must shorten their life by some degree. I certainly haven't tested all the different battery models, styles, architectures, etc. My experience with batteries is that they are most often damaged by deep discharges, storage while fully discharged, or overcharging. Most of my rigs have battery tenders on them (including my deuce), and my batteries tend to last for a LONG time. Short bursts of high current are exactly what starting batteries are designed to deliver...as long as you don't try to weld for 10 minutes straight, and you do recharge the batteries between uses, I don't believe that they will damaged by welding.

Welding isn't really a "short" as was previously described. The arc is a high resistance "load" in the circuit, and this voltage drop/current flow is what generates the heat to melt the metal. Most batteries are capable of supplying 600-700amps; but you're not using nearly that much while welding. Probably more along the lines of 100-200 amps (if somebody REALLY wants to know, I'll get my clamp on ammeter to get an exact range). This is likely close to what you draw during starting a cold engine, or winching under a heavy load (or cranking up your stereo, if you're one of THOSE guys). So, you're not really using the batteries too far outside of what they were designed for.

Not to stray away from the original post, but I made another video at the same time I did the Deuce one; its along the same lines (just without the Deuce):

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV5oLPLUzrM[/media]

 

[chevyCUCV]

On a somewhat related term, how many folks have old 18-24V cordless tools that it just costs too much to replace batteries? I gutted a battery from a ridgid drill and wired it to a slave plug. Now I have a deuce powered drill and reciprocating saw.

That sounds awesome, i have bunches of tools with useless batteries.

Have any pictures of this and is it really that easy to do? Just split the case and wire it to the slave cable?

 

[Tlauden]

WOW... i know what i'm adding to my tool bag!!!!

Thanks for the info, I didnt know this was possible, Seems like it would be extremely handy for roadside repair!!!

 

[motomacguyver]

This is GREAT info, I'm not a welder myself, but I could bird Poop it together for an emergency. What welding rod would you recommend for steel, out on the trail?

 

[JasonS]

I was just at the wrong end of that deal, having guaranteed the batteries. After that it became a discretionary thing as to replacing the battery. No telling what they do to those things sometimes! Now they pretty much go to solar projects where this kind of thing isn't a problem, but I do run a couple of AGM's in my deuce.

What brand of AGM do you sell?

 

[sewerzuk]

This is GREAT info, I'm not a welder myself, but I could bird Poop it together for an emergency. What welding rod would you recommend for steel, out on the trail?

I carry a few sticks of 1/8" 6011 rod. Its a good all-purpose rod that works with DC. You do need to protect it from getting wet.

 

[jamesfrom180]

I've started playing with an electric golf cart lately. The reason I bring that up is the main opinion is that batteries under constant charge and discharge will last the longest. Seems the chemistry benefits from cycling. The short explanation is that the sulfide percipitate is not allowed to form and keeps the acid in a more active state.

Sewerzuk, I always thought that you had a much higher amp draw when using this method. Thanks for the good explaination. Makes me reconsider the use of deep cycle for this. I still disconect my batteries so a deep cell is alittle easier to use. Your avatar always makes me laugh because I just recently had to educate some cohorts on the proper reading of a gauge that has precent usage on it.