Cable connectors

[Evan Whytsell]

Hi, I've been reading the forums for a few months and have got alot of information about welding. I'm into 4x4 trucks and trail riding and do all the work myself. I decided to build an onboard welder into my truck and it has worked very well, but I want to upgrade the control box. I have a 70 amp GM alternator that I modified to use as the welder. What I need now is some good connectors to attach the welding cables to a control box. I'd actually like to connect the main input lines to the box with some connectors as well. Any ideas of what I should use and where to get it? I'll be building the box from scratch so I'm open to anything along that path. I don't like buying overly beautified electronics when I can make something that works to get the job done.

Evan

[slamdvw]

The jacks like on the front of a welder ( im assuming this is what you're looking for ) can be purchased at a welding supply house. In my town, I can get them at Ace Hardware. If you use actual Miller parts, about $15 a piece for the jacks, ... and I don't remember for the plugs. They come in Red, Black, or Yellow. On a side note, if you have a welder at home... see if you can get the same style of jacks... that way, one set of leads, works on both welding outfits.

Robert

[Evan Whytsell]

Nice, never thought about ACE hardware. I live in columbus ohio and there isn't much at all in the way of good stores to find things. I still have to mail order stuff from a supplier in my old small town of Marietta, OH to get special bolts and other necessary things for my hobbies. I don't have a welder at home yet. I'd get one, but I figured I should at least learn how to stick to pieces of metal together with my trail welder first. I now know enough about welding that I could probably spend money more wisely on a good first welder instead of something worse. The alternator puts out a nice 70amps DC with a very high frequency and voltage. So far I've been able to weld some large D-rings to my truck, and do some small projects for my trailer. I also did the spring perches on my buddies suzuki samurai with it. Now if I could only learn to weld a little prettier.

Evan

[slamdvw]

Practice Practice practice... then when you think you're done... practice some more. I did some stick welds the otherday, look like a constipated chicken, but once I got back into it, they turned out pretty good. Might have been a fluke that our ACE has some welding supplies. Sounds like a cool project, maybe something I can incorporate into one of my vehicles... if you can put up a couple of pics. To learn... read the rest of this site... there's a wealth of knowledge floating around on here.

Robert