Re: Re Re Re Re: Arc Welders as Rheostats?? Variac Mods...PLEASE!

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Original poster: "David Speck by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <dspeck-at-relex-dot-com>

Chris,
I believe that it is not necessary to modify the welder in any way.  You
just get a matching
heavy duty outlet that it will plug in to, and wire it in series with your
pig.  However, if
you are running the pig off 220, you will need two matched welders, one for
each leg of the
110.  The welder you need is an old fashioned high current stick welder,
not one of those fancy
new miniature portable MIG units that  makes a high frequency output.

In use, I have seen the welders used with their output high current
conductors shorted.  I am
puzzled by the necessity for this, as it would seem that this just produces
an inductively
coupled resistive load into the primary power circuit.

My understanding of this issue is not complete, so perhaps one of the
others on the list could
explain it.  "Someday", I'll get around to experimenting with the
characteristics of series
connected inductors, both with and without shorted secondaries.

You will still need a variac in your power circuit.  The welder just acts
as a ballast to
prevent excess current draw at full power operation.

HTH,
Dave

>
> Is there someone out there that can either tell me how to
> limit this beast so I can run it off the power I have
> available, or come out and answer my question on how to
> hook up the welder WITHOUT CUTTING THE THING APART?
>
> Thanks
> Chris