[evesdropper]

New welding student here (1 oxy/acet, 1 smaw flat and 1 gmaw-steel class so far). Machine is a "Royal-Arc" Electric Welder from Royal Equipment Corp. Built by Dielectric Laboratories Inc. Unit is roughly 6" high and 10" deep x 13" wide. I would guess it weighs 35-40lbs.


I was given this welder by my grandfather who got it from his father. Best guess is it is from the 1930's based on known ownership. Story was that it was sold by a traveling salesman in Iowa. Salesman said it was 50% duty cycle and no one in the shop believed him being that it was such a small unit. Salesman let one of the shop guys try it out welding on a dozer track all morning. Worked well enough that several were sold that day. I am trying to refurbish the welder for use around the farm. Its getting new cables and power cords as well as a good clean and paint job since its likely value is sentimental only. Grandpa passed several years ago and I have no idea what the controls on this welder do.


The specs that should be stamped into the tag on the welder are blank. The only one like it I have seen came up on an auction site. It's label is stamped and I assume the same specs likely apply. Although 25A @110v is not likely so I will run this on 220v.


So, Is this safe to use if I replace the wiring? Any guess on age or additional sightings? What do these two unlabeled cores do?


Label:
View attachment IMG_6898-resized.jpg
Welder with cores in:
View attachment image0 resized.jpg
Welder with cores extended partially:
View attachment image1 resized.jpg


Auction photo of near identical machine info plate:
View attachment 15811606_lg.jpeg


I will probably only ever need to run 3/32" or 1/8" 6013, 7014 and 7018. I just don't want to die using it.

 

[Oldiron2]

Some of us here can't go to other sites to view pictures; any reason you can't download them here? Do they include shots of the interior, showing all the components reasonably well?

What part of the world are you living in? Might be good to add that to your settings so it shows on the top right of your post.

Since you have an idea of when the unit was purchased, you might ask a Reference Librarian to do a search for the company during or around around that era.

 

[evesdropper]

Some of us here can't go to other sites to view pictures; any reason you can't download them here? Do they include shots of the interior, showing all the components reasonably well?

What part of the world are you living in? Might be good to add that to your settings so it shows on the top right of your post.

Since you have an idea of when the unit was purchased, you might ask a Reference Librarian to do a search for the company during or around around that era.

I couldn't add images in my first post but it appears I can now so I updated it. Location is listed now also. I will get some inside photos in the morning. Thank you!

 

[Oldiron2]

Good you added the pictures quickly; the time allowed to edit here is relatively short.

Seems the maker actually was the Carlyn Corp. at 1275 Riverside Dr., Los Angeles. That's now right next to Hwy 5 and looks to me as if Riverside Dr. maybe got moved over to make room and the old building was removed. With both the name and location, a good Reference Librarian should be able to find some company information. Picture of site is first one below.

Royal Equipment (Small, exclusive distributor) is listed as being at 906 Main St., Burbank. I only found a 906 S. Main St., Burbank where a small (old-looking) building now exists; second picture below.

View attachment Riverside Dr. Google Maps.jpg

View attachment Screenshot 2024-08-11 at 22-50-46 Google Maps.jpg

 

[scsmith42]

That thing looks way cool!

 

[whtbaron]

It is... can't say I've ever seen anything like it. Just a wild guess here, but since the 110 setting only has one amperage, would the 2 top terminals be used when welding on 110? It doesn't look like they have the wear that has occurred on the 2 side terminals. Is the ground/work cable hard wired into the welder?

 

[evesdropper]

I did a ton of reading about transformer welders last night and think I know what parts of this are. The front two things I was calling cores are likely shunts. They move individually and there is no way to tie them together like I see in most other transformer welders. (I found a setup in a miller thunderbolt that has two shunts and both adjust with a single handle on a screw thread). The front knobs are just handles to manually pull or push the shunts. They will pull completely out fairly easily.

The two knobs on top seem to be for anti-vibration. They clamp the shunt blocks down.

I will get better photos today but there is a power cord in the back and the stinger comes out one side, ground clamp on the other.

With 35v OCV, is this even usable with today's rods? My classes use a Miller XMT 350 MPa but this is a "run what you brung" situation as one of those is not in my budget.

Researching online, I found Royal Equipment company in Los Angeles city directories in the 60's. Mine is older than the example label that has a 2 digit zip code address. Those were implemented in 1943 so my poor recollection of Grandpa's story of this being in the 30's may check out. No luck on patent searches yet. The only number stamped on the thing is 479.

 

[Insaneride]

Cool little welder but the ocv seems low. It was originally 110/220volts with 35 volts secondary shown on the Carlyn model. Today's mains supply around 120 volts + or - so the ocv should be around 38 volts and loaded 18 volts should be around 19.5 volts still kinda low. My buzz box used taps and ocv around 70 volts depending on which tap and my mains supply is 122.6 volts.

The Royal company was a distributor and here in northern Nevada we have or used to have a Royal electric distributor. I don't know if it's the same but your machine was made by Dielectric laboratories, I never heard of them but many little manufactures worked out of their home garages in SoCal and probably still do. The Eddy company (Eddie current) made 3 phase power supplies for EB guns in the 80's out of a garage in SoCal and maybe still do. I think Bill Gates started out in his moms garage?

It looks like your machine is capable of using 110 or 220 volts. I thought those shunts were called cores like you said and they slide thru a reactor to vary current. I recommend opening it up to see what's inside and blast the dust and cobwebs out.

 

[evesdropper]

I was able to get the welder torn down and photos taken. The mud daubers have had their way with it for decades. There is no on-off. If its plugged in, its live. Judging by the leads, it got REALLY hot once. That is probably the last time it was used. I dont see how it could be made safe after the insulation on the stinger melted. This is probably best cleaned up, painted and displayed with a note about the history. But, photos here for posterity in case anyone else needs info someday. I am game to restore if anyone thinks this is worthwhile.

View attachment image1.jpeg View attachment image2.jpeg View attachment image3.jpeg View attachment image4.jpeg View attachment image5.jpeg

 

[evesdropper]

second photo batch

 

[Rondo]

Pretty cool. Once you get it all cleaned up and cables fixed you could dare one of your buddies to plug it in.

 

[CAVEMANN]

200 amps with a 50% duty cycle is pretty good for the overall size of it, the OCV does seem low tho.

 

[52 Ford]

200 amps with a 50% duty cycle is pretty good for the overall size of it, the OCV does seem low tho.

Agreed. I'd have to check to be sure, but I think Lincoln tombstones are around double that OCV.

 

[52 Ford]

second photo batch

I'm not saying you shouldn't use the machine if you get it working, but for the safety and reliability's sake, start saving up for a newer machine. Look at PrimeWeld if you want a brand new machine. Otherwise, just keep an eye on Craigslist and Marketplace.

 

[whtbaron]

Yea... if it's showing signs of having been overheated, I would give it a cosmetic restoration and give it a shelf on the wall for "Great grandpa's welder". For what you are doing, a $50 buzz box or one of the new lunch box models will do it all and probably much safer.
That little beast just looks to cool and unusual to be ignored.