IF you use 3/32 6013 at about 40amps, it would weld that expanded metal pretty good.
IMVHO,
~John

 

even m little 110 wire welder that the wire speed has a mind of its own burned through on #3 setting

 

how's it gonna be secured?

 

there two tabs on both sides that will be bolted to the pad fir the condenser

 

im sorry one tab on both sides

 

Nice. I guess there will never be a time when people learn to earn their own way instead of stealing from others...

 

well I was raised you work hard and take care of yourself and if it don't belong to you leave it alone. what ever happened to self pride?

 

Back in the eighties I built some cages for the a/c units for an apartment complex using succor rod and lock boxes. I thought about advertising for business doing it until I looked in the yellow pages (what we used before the internet) and there were guys specializing in that work, never did it again, let those boys have it.

As for the scrappers, it's a mind set that I don't get but it is what it is. They don't see it as stealing I believe, for them it is challenge, thrill thing I suspect. What makes me say that is I used to have a guy that worked for me when I was doing contract telco work, he made great money. But he took all kinds of risks for stealing the copper. He was addicted to it. Fool broke a leg one time when a pole broke along a rail road right of way, he was stealing open wire, pure copper. Healed up and then he was back at it.

We see a sheet of half inch plate and see gussets, welding table, etc. Scrapper sees it and all he can see is how to get it into his truck for the five cents per pound.

Lawd knows they work hard for the money, but it is what it is.......

 

Now the thieves will have more steel to steal, and get a bigger payday at the scrappers. Hate to say it, but that is probably gonna be the outcome.

 

I built a similar thing 2 months ago for an Eye Clinic that put solar on their roof.
Miscreants kept steeling the electronics.

Curious, but why did you not weld the expanded to the inside of the frame?
View attachment 1.jpg View attachment 5.jpg

 

Curious, but why did you not weld the expanded to the inside of the frame?

thought it would be less likely to be kicked in if it was on the outside.

 

Trick with this is to keep the weld bead on the heavy angle and wash the bead over onto the expanded mesh as needed.

Tabs on the outside just beg to be cut or unbolted. Slow them down, maybe. However a well equipped thief won't be slowed much at all. A cordless grinder or a ratchet and you can be done in seconds. Depending on what you used as an anchor, just a couple good shots with a small sledge would take them out. Same goes with a medium sized prybar. I have enough tools on the truck to remove these quietly in a dozen ways. Add the fast and noisy ones and I can add a dozen more to my list without even trying.

I've seen these done where the anchors are installed inside the cage. To access them you need a long extension for a set of sockets. It makes cutting or simply unbolting the anchors more difficult. Same goes for boxing in the anchors so you work thou a small opening where you can only use a standard wrench and make 1/16 of a turn at a time. Slow and a pain to remove when servicing, but that same inconvenience is an advantage when you are trying to slow someone down. One thing with a box type design is it also helps stop guys with a cordless sawzall as there isn't enough room to get past the bolt to get a good stroke.


A much better choice of a project then your last one to make money.

 

Drop a loose piece of round bar inside each square tube and it stops the guys from using sawzalls. The round stock just rotates with the reciprocal saw action.

 

That my friend is a spectacular idea!

 

That little 110 mig should be able to weld those no problem without burning hole. Good idea with the round bar in the tube. I ****ing hate theifs. Set up a bate ac unit with live 220 to the chassis, human bug zapper. If you can weld the nut to the stud or grind the reverse side of the nut so a socket will only grip going forwards.

 

Since there is a large possibility that the problem sustains themselves on a steady diet of beans and rice , I recommend "W" series reinforcement bar and 6010-11. #6 is great !
If that particular locale involves 28 inch wheels, pants 8 sizes too big, and gold teefz, your method will suffice....and is far more aesthetically pleasing.

 

OH. Get some 5/64 to weld the butterfly cage.

 

Looks pretty good

 

It would be more fun to fill the tubes with compressed mace and some kind of indelible dye. Old school safes from the 50's and 60's would have a glass cylinder with the stuff in it for people trying to drill the safe. They stopped at some point though no doubt because some miscreant with asthma had their survivors sue.

I can think of several ways to subvert the loose pipe scenario and I'm sure several others can too, so I'll keep it to myself. Thing is though, 9/10 times, just the appearance of security is enough to make a scumbag move to the next opportunity.

I believe many of the newer instances I hear of are inside jobs where the buildings needed new air conditioners, plumbing or electrical anyway and conveniently got ripped off.

Then my HVAC guy mentioned last time we were talking that there's been some thieving of refrigerant only, since that stuff is super expensive now and some people have gotten into that.

 

Local family owned company wants $55/lb for R22 when I can buy it for $10/lb in a 30 lb bottle.

 

Looks Great! Now electrify it. :blob2:

 

I have no idea if it is true but a local guy here was at a mine stealing copper. Turns out he got a hold of a live one and it blew his leg off. Dirty thief probably ended up suing the company and winning.

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Sorry it's 2020 when they will quit making r22. None the less it will be hard to get

 

You can get 30lb of R22 here for about $250 if you have a license... or a friend.