Re: Will this particular Arc Welder work as a ballast????

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "John Richardson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jprich-at-up-dot-net>

Hello,

I've noticed that lots of guys are concerned about what which welder would
make a good ballast, and for what price.  I personally would recommend going
to an equipment auction  ( they're everywhere, even in unpopulated areas
like mine), and look for welders.  The one's that they do sell are good,
high amp production machines, usually up to 400 plus amps, and sometimes
they go by the pair as opposed to individually.  Prices, by the way, are
generally very reasonable.

Concerning duty-cycle:  I'm not sure how this applies to ballast
applications, but as one who welds daily, I have never had difficulties with
current loss in a lower duty-cycle mid-sized welder, unless I was pushing it
at max amperage with oversize rod or Arc-Airing,  and even then I would have
to be flinging and replacing rod as fast as I was burning it.  For those in
the market for welders, though, some have aluminum primaries, and they have
been known to act up.  Don't know if that would matter in this app., though.

John Richardson

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 7:22 PM
Subject: Re: Will this particular Arc Welder work as a ballast????


> Original poster: "BunnyKiller by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<bigfoo39-at-telocity-dot-com>
>
> Tesla list wrote:
>
> >Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
> <dhmccauley-at-spacecatlighting-dot-com>
> >
> >I'm looking to buy an arc welder to use as a current limiting ballast for
my
> >3kVA pole transformer which will run off of 240VAC.
> >
> >Would this particular welder be okay to do this???
> >
> >http://cgi.ebay-dot-com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1768611412
> >
> >
> >Thanks much!!!
> >
> >Dan
> >
>
> Hi Dan...
>
> being that the welder is that small and supportive of 100+ A   I would
> have reason to believe it is a "solid state" design welder. It wont have
> the healthy sized transformer core needed for ballasting a minipig. and
> besides,  the rating on the upper end of the welder is normally a
> woefully low on to off time ( duty cycle)
>
> best bet is to find a large E-I core and wind your own inductor.
>
> Scot D
>
>
>
>
>