century 80gl polarity question

[scott9116]

I've had this blasted thing for 4-5 years. This early model has no wire/voltage adjustments other than a HIGH/LOW switch that seems to speed up the feeder some. I have become to truly hate this machine over the years.:angry: It does weld, but poorly and with much difficulty, gotta hold your keys in left pocket, pray, blink twice and set your mouth just right. I just got an L-Tec Presto-Weld 130MIG, great welder! So, I thought I'd convert the little Century into a little stick welder. So I go to check the OCV to see if I'd be able to get a stick lit. I hook up the meter, nothing. I turn the welder on and off I get a spike of 48V for a second then back to zero. Wierd I thought. I can feel juice if I touch the gun and ground. Meter still reads zip. Switch meter to AC mode. I get 28V AC. WTF? Is this little wire feed machine built for AC output? Has it been broken since I bought it? It would explain it's performance. I've been scolding my self for years for buying such a cheap welder. So far nowhere I've looked has it specified the output polarity or if it's AC only. :confused:

[scott9116]

I found the answer. Took the little sucker apart. It is AC output. Not really surprised but disappointed. I was taught that wirefed or MIG welders have to use DC current to transfer the metal properly. I suppose thats not the only thing that's changed since I was in school. It's that new math along with metric system. Conspiracy, if I ever saw one.

[weldgault]

Scott, looks kike you got a machine someone has been playing around with. If you own a boat, I can suggest what you can do with it. John

[scott9116]

I bought the stupid thing new. What was I thinking? I might weld it to the workbench with one of my real welders.