Welding, powered by a generator.. good ? bad ?

I did an Aluminum MIG job on a 30' dock ramp a couple of years ago and the leads were a little short. So my helper used a 20' piece of 3" X 3" al tubing to extend the ground. When I pulled the trigger, I got a hell of a shock and when I flipped my helmet up smoke was pouring out of shop and flames out of the welder. The tubing was laying in a puddle which was boiling. A helper is a helper and he is not responsible for getting the little +'s and -'s the right way around. He is a plumber and hot and cold does not matter. It will only burn you, not kill you. :shock: :shock:
 
bigmoose said:
AC tingles, DC kills!
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Yep!

Really no need to remove the meter. (unless you want to bypass it and get free electricity :mrgreen: )

Just be sure to flip off the main breaker. It's the one on top with the biggest amp rating. Then the only part that will be hot is from the meter to the main breaker and you won't be close to that if you are just going to add a breaker.

In the US the black wire goes to the breaker, white goes to the neutral bar and green to the ground bar. It's easy, when you take the cover off you'll see what I mean.

BUT... like said above, If you're not comfortable, don't do it.
 
marty said:
AC is fun. Wear shoes with rubber soles. Work with one hand when possible. Best to turn the power off. Can you pull the meter off? Bad things happen when electricity goes in one hand and out the other one. You don't want electricity to travel through your heart.
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My heart is still working fine;
Fred was a guy who came to college early, worked through breaks and left late. He was always way ahead of everyone in labs, and spent his time showing everyone how to do them. We took exception to this, but he would not listen. I finally got pissed at Fred, took an extension cord and bared 6" of both hot and ground. I got a buddy to plug it in just as I grabbed the jerk by the ears with both hands, while holding the bare wires. He came off his stool and did a kangaroo on his ass and heels, across the classroom floor, until the cord came out of the wall. :shock: :shock: :shock: This got my buddy and I a little Q&A with the department head, for the afternoon. We had to promise not to kill Fred on college property. A couple of months later, Fred was found unconscious in the lunchroom, and we were suspected of being the cause. :roll: :mrgreen: Fred did survive and even graduated, but he left for his Fatherland soon after, to work for Honeywell.
 
Gordo said:
My heart is still working fine;
Fred was a guy who came to college early, worked through breaks and left late. He was always way ahead of everyone in labs, and spent his time showing everyone how to do them. We took exception to this, but he would not listen. I finally got pissed at Fred, took an extension cord and bared 6" of both hot and ground. I got a buddy to plug it in just as I grabbed the jerk by the ears with both hands, while holding the bare wires. He came off his stool and did a kangaroo on his ass and heels, across the classroom floor, until the cord came out of the wall. :shock: :shock: :shock: This got my buddy and I a little Q&A with the department head, for the afternoon. We had to promise not to kill Fred on college property. A couple of months later, Fred was found unconscious in the lunchroom, and we were suspected of being the cause. :roll: :mrgreen: Fred did survive and even graduated, but he left for his Fatherland soon after, to work for Honeywell.
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Wow, that is a nasty, terrible tale, and I've tried to see humor in it, but no matter how I try I just read junior-high-jock-mean from that. :? :(
I guess that taught everyone in the class not to help you with labs, or strive to excel. :roll:
The good news is that Fred was able to leave the townies behind and progressed to a career with a great company. :p

-JD
 
:oops: :oops: :oops: It was not meant to be humorous, just to demonstrate that a human can take 120V from hand to hand or from ear to ear. In High School shop class, we all stood in a circle, with the instructor, holding hands with 120V going through the circle. Then we dropped out one by one. Several of us idiots, just had to hold the two carbon rods by ourselves. I remember it violently twisted my arms. I don't worry too much about cell phone emissions. :shock:

Fred was a big, vicious, older than most students, bully who often disrupted the class and bothered everyone in labs, not just me. He was a PIA to all students and teachers. After immigrating as a young adult, he continually voiced his dislike for everything non-German and always compared everything he experienced, to the far superior product from "home." This was one of his more endearing skills. I had not thought of the "mean" aspect of my response. It was just a juvenile, low-tech attempt at a tune-up, which could have ended in a disaster. I do remember the section heads comment that he had never encountered two people more dedicated to making life miserable for another individual, in his career. In retrospect, that is a pretty good definition of mean, so I owned it. :oops: :oops: :oops:

One of my workmates, Rudy, took street car 700V DC, from head to feet. He swung the bucket into the wires, knocking his hardhat off. The ground-man had leaned a ground rod against the truck, while looking for hardware. Rudy lost mobility for weeks and speech for longer. Too bad the ground-man was not holding onto the truck. I had the same ground-man earlier and after much badgering, let him drive our truck. We got hit on my side, by a truck loaded with cement blocks, while pulling out of the coffee shop, on his first day and totaled the truck. The super was not amused. I lost my bucket truck and went back to spurs.

Hey YPEDAL; Hows the welding go??? :mrgreen:
 
no AC voltage for you Ypedal? im surprised your having an electrician doing your house wiring seeing your knowledge of DC
 
Ypedal said:
With any luck, tomorrow is the day, electrical guys were here today getting my kitchen and part of the basement re-wired, tomorrow is living room and GARAGE !!!

Getting a 100 amp line run to the garage with a sub-panel ! :twisted: . if i canot weld with a 100 amp feed.. i give up ! :|
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Great choice, you will not be disappointed. Use the largest wire you can afford from the sub-panel to the welder. It is not about needing huge current for welding thin material, it's about having steady voltage and amperage which makes consistent welds very easy. Large wire provides this.
 
It is done !!!

I had to decide on Copper vs Aluminum for the run between the main panel and the sub panel for a 90 ft run, they used 3 gauge, copper was 25$ a meter, aluminum was 5.xx $ a meter .. big cost difference...... i went with the copper :shock:

Tested the welder before the guys left and walla... we are welding !!! :D :p :) :mrgreen: :D :p :) 8)

Now, time to clean up... pictures later..

Digging trenches sucks...... :evil:
 
The trench royally sucked !!!! .. i'm an office worker and my bicycle has a motor.. i am not in shape .. digging an 18" deep 15 foot ditch took every bit of energy i could muster, it rained like mad the night before and the ground was like wet cement... but i got'r done !
 

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The electrical guys re-did my kitchen, it was a royal mess with partial not-grouned circuits, dishwasher was using a plug ( supposed to be own circuit straight to panel ) one of my outlets was non-funcitonal etc etc etc.... found wires terminted with duct-tape behind walls... yeah.. real nice..

Got rid of this antique piece of crap fluorescent fixture..
 

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A little miracle gro and you will be harvesting county fair winning tomatoes from those plants Y!
 
Proper watering, pruning and sunlight are key, ( and nutrients of course )

We both got 4 seedlings from the local nursery at the same time, the 3 bigger one's on the right have been in direct sunlight from day 1 while the runt on the left was partial shade from the house for 3 weeks, huge difference in growth !

I dont' even eat tomatoes lol.. i just need to beat the neighbor ! :twisted:
 
What kind of dishes do you cook? I'd bet a fair amount of things you like to eat could use fresh tomatoes in them. :)
 
Ypedal said:
Check out my Tomatoes !!!

competition with my neighbor's wife, she thinks her upside down hanging as-seen-on-TV thing will do better than mine.. she gonna loose !!
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Can I get in on this competition, with my HHTI (Hydroponic Heirloom Tomato Installation)? :D 8)

My Green Zebra tomato plants are a bit over 7' right now - the large plastic recliner in the background provides scale. We're trying Hydro Red Peppers this year too (lower right), I took too long to acclimate them to outdoors, so they had a slow start, but OMG there are a billion peppers popping up on those things.

-JD

IMG_6312_640.JPG
 
Ypedal said:
Nice !!

Why the long bare stems ? Making clones ? lol..
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Thanks Y!

The bare stems are where the long-since picked tomatoes were. In a couple of spots I got a 2nd or late growth, you can see the toms hanging down from them.

I prune to increase growth and yield, because the lower branches continue to grow, and consume resources I'd rather were used making tomatoes. The initial-growth branches can be pruned (no more than 1 per day) after a few flowering stages develop. The subsequent branches can be pruned after the tomatoes immediately below them have matured. With this breed, I have also had better results pruning lower branches that start looking old and dry even if the Toms have not matured. The cheaters (little branches that pop out of each junction) should be pruned immediately on all tomato plants.

Some of it is also the breed - Green Zebra Heirlooms also have a tendancy to grow long flowering branches... If I let them grow out, I get a whole lot of tomatoes - the size of walnuts. I trim each flowering branch to (5) toms, which works out well.

I also have problems with aphids. Hydroponic grows large leaves, in incredibly dense covering, which stays cool and humid and attracts the critters. I pruning in growth areas to eliminate these spaces - sometimes one branch will pretty much cover another branch, keeping it from getting sun anyhow.

I have a large collection of seeds from tomato varieties I have tried and liked. These zebras are hands down the best tasting tomatoes I have ever tasted; comparing them to supermarket Toms would be a crime. They used to be popular out here with farmer's market growers, but they are much harder to get yield from than conventional varieties, so the supply sortof evaporated.

-JD
 
Great to see the welder is up and running YPedal MaN :) Now ;) I EXPECT to see a scratch built custom e-bike frame designed and fabricated by you before the weekend is over :s hop too it Gaston times a ticking chop chop times a wasting stop thinking abouts it and just do it :p

KiM
 
Just wait until the realization that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is beyond the realm of possibility now. Only your own skills!

I am waiting for a buddy to do a few technical items on my frame. It has been driving me insane waiting. In the mean time I have another steel full suspension frame I have already begun gathering parts for.... that one is next.....


Len
 
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