New Member To The Forum

[dwall174]

Hello From Southeast Michigan

Well it looks as though I've added yet another Forum to my list of others, Mostly with the same screen-name "dwall174"

I don't really do a lot of welding, But I do like rebuilding old metalworking/woodworking machines & I seem to run across links on other forums that send me here.

I'm just a home hobbyist working out of a regular 2 car garage, But I do have about 25 years of experience working in machine shops & manufacturing shops.

My welding experience while working at various shops was basically with maintenance welding of jigs & fixtures mostly with a Miller 250 mig-welder.

For my home use I just have an old Marquette Arc-Welder that I picked up from Craigslist!
It needed a power switch & a ground connector plus a good cleaning, But after cleaning it up & a new coat of paint it turned out to be a nice welder!

Doug

[dwall174]

Welcome to the forum and I really like the appearance of your welder!

Thanks!

I would like to get a good mig-welder someday, But for now this old welder works great!
I'm not sure what the duty cycle is? But I've never had it cut-out on me even when running a 3/16" 6011 rod at 180 amps.

Doug

[CAVEMANN]

Welcome! Those old welders are often awesome machines. I have an old MIDSTATES welder that was commissioned during the 2nd war, 300 amp tapped machine and rated 100% duty cycle at 300 amps, all copper transformer, & asbestos insulation. I found the asbestos when it lost one leg of the 240 volt power, it turned out to be a dirty switch, so I thought what the heck, I'll blow it out while I have it open, I new what I had as soon as the air hit it. I shut that down real quick!

[dwall174]

Welcome!

Thanks for the welcome

Those old welders are often awesome machines.
all copper transformer, & asbestos insulation.

I didn't think to take any before pictures when I first got this welder & during the cleaning stages
But this one has a really big transformer & it's all copper! The amperage connections are soldered to individual leads that are directly wired to the transformer, So the only moving part is the power switch.

I don't think the insulation on the wire leads was asbestos? It looked like the old style woven cloth insulation!
I wrapped all the leads in self fusing silicone rubber electrical tape just to give it a little added protection.

The welder probably weighs over 150lbs.

Doug

[CAVEMANN]

Mine was so dusty that I was afraid to disturb it too much, I had already spent a fair amount of my work career around asbestos before the dangers were well known. The silicone tape was a good idea.