Alternator welder

[bobwills]

So has anyone made a alternator welder? Because I have a alternator laying around and several lawn mowers I could put it on so It would be cool.

[bobwills]

Also does anyone have any knowledge of anything about what has to be done or really anything about them.

[zoama]

Here ya go... http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...4872#post14872

[bobwills]

I dont think so either. My guess is its about a 50 amp or so. But thats still enough to burn 3/32 6011. Be good just for field quick repairs and suck. So the first step is seeing if it still works though. So i built a stand for it, its hooked to a moter. So which wire powers the field then? And does anyone know what the other one does.

[I_Love_Plasma]

Good question. I'm not sure, because mine is one wire so it obvious. They both may be power wires. Or one may be for 6volt and the other may be for 12. When I was researching it, I found a lot of those trucks had alts that were for both 6v and 12v. IDK how close you are to any town...but you could try a generator alternator repair shop. Or a garage that's been around more than a week. The repair shop should be able to tell you. If not, PM me everything you know about it and I can call my guy up here. or i can PM you their number whatever works sweet for ya.

Sorry Brad simultaneous-post. Very good information.

Brad mentioned: "Then you just need a beefy engine to keep it spinning under load." Remember there's 746 watts per 1 horsepower at 100% efficiency. So if it's 60amps times 13.8 volts = 828 watts assuming the alt is 75% efficient multiply 828 by 1.25 (25% waste) and that would give you 1035 watts. So it will take a bare minimum of a 1.4 HP electric to spin it. For gas rule of thumb is "double the gas to equal electric" Needing a 2.8 HP gas. then you engine ins't 100% efficient either, say 60% (40 waste). 2.8 X 1.40 = 3.92 HP..on and on.....belts eat up power... So 5-8 HP should get you started.

Sorry, as if all of us don't get enough math at school and jobs

[bobwills]

What about making one out of a generator. I have an old one laying around with a bad motor. Would there be a way to convert it or would it not even work

[blasphemy000]

No idea about the generator. But really before you go tearing it apart, take a battery charger and hook the positive and the ground to the 2 terminals inside the plug on the side of the alternator, spin it up with your motor and measure the voltage between the case and the terminal on the back. Report back with that voltage, that should tell us how it's regulated, some internally regulated ones if the fields are fed from an external source like you do when you weld with one then they will still work as there is no feedback current to the regulator.

[redbeard]

That one looks like an internal regulator. If memory serves, the way to tell on the old GMs is to look at the orientation of the plug terminals. If they are parallel with the shaft, it's external, if they are perpendicular, it's internal.

[bobwills]

yeah im definatly gonna hook it up first. See what she will do. If i had to guess from what it was out it will be about a 50 amp. Because it was out of a 70s truck. So it didnt have a whole lot of power consumption. And o i see what you mean. Without it hooked to a battery where the positive goes it might not activate the regulater. And I would really like to do that. Be really nice having that extra power.

[I_Love_Plasma]

What about making one out of a generator. I have an old one laying around with a bad motor. Would there be a way to convert it or would it not even work

Oh a power generator, like 120vAC gas powered genset. I totally thought you were talking a "generator" like wind turbines have or really old tractors (starter/generator). What wattage does your genset have? you could step down the voltage with a transformer..120v is way to high, and i dont think it will draw down as much like the alt would.

[bobwills]

Yeah that might work pretty good. Wonder if it would be easyier to take it apart and unhook it though cause that seems a lot more complicated

[geezer]

Also does anyone have any knowledge of anything about what has to be done or really anything about them.

This is old technology, first ran into it in 1974 in BowIsland Alberta, a fellow there was adding an extra alternator to the local farm trucks. to make it work you need v belt pulleys on the alternators and a throttle control on the truck, a switch that stops the current from charging the battery and a volt meter to set your. voltage. Trying to use a serpintine belt on todays pickups would be a nightmare.

If you are thinking of converting a lawnmower over to this, you better have at least 13 to 15 hp to make it work.

Interesting project but not that easy.

[bobwills]

Ok but how do you get rid of the voltage regulator cause i know that that is like the first step to making one

[Jason]

Wow, I never seen that post until now. That is rather impressive and I never thought about even trying it as a temp solution before getting my TIG. Makes me almost want to try it one day just to do it.

[bobwills]

Well i have been doing a little research. I think that it is a delco remmy 10Si. And the link below shows some sort of wiring way. I read that the delco remmy was introduced in the 70s and it came out of a 70s international and it was also the first internal regulated.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=delco...w=1280&bih=709

[blasphemy000]

If that is only around 60 amps you could probably get away with a 1HP electric provided it was a 220v motor. I'm running my 90Amp from a 1.5HP 220v motor and it barely slows down at full power. With an electric motor it becomes less about the HP it makes and more about the torque it generates. I'm not sure exactly what kind of alternator that is but it looks just like any old style GM 2 wire alternator and they are externally regulated. Just hook 12 volts across the 2 side terminals and spin the thing and see what kind of voltage you get from between the positive post and the case of the alt. Beware if it is externally regulated, the OCV will be WAY higher than 12v. At full power I'm getting close to 100v OCV out of mine.

[zoama]

Ok but how do you get rid of the voltage regulator cause i know that that is like the first step to making one

Probably best to ask the builder in the other thread... he's the man with experience.

[I_Love_Plasma]

Ok but how do you get rid of the voltage regulator cause i know that that is like the first step to making one

Okay If it's a AC Delco "Remmy" like you believe..It's probably wired 3 phase. A couple pics would be great. What you will want to do: take your impact wrench (doesn't take much, you can hold the pulley with a thick glove on, it should pop right up) and get that pulley off. next take permanent marker and make lines parallel with the shaft all the way down the case to match later on when putting it back together, very important because it will go back together 3 different ways. now remove the 3 inverted torx head bolts (I just used a nut driver metric i think). Now gently tap the half of the case that's closest to the output shaft. It may be stiff, It's a press fit bearing on both ends. (Couple weeks ago my 1500 silverado's alt went out and I took it apart.) Very gingerly tap the bearing. You will be tapping it out toward where the pulley was,tap from the opposite end using a big socket (that is basically the same size as the bearing). Drive that bearing out, roughly 3/8ths-1/2". then it should just a matter of jiggling it the rest of the way out. Keep a close eye to the brushes and brush springs. Mine were stuck in by road rash, lol, I had no problems here FYI, I wrecked my bearing driving it out. But I was really beating the dummkopf out of it......be careful.

You've got 'er apart now. To get to the rectifier and voltage regulator you must either un-solder the three coil leads or like most of them, are welded..so I don't have any advice for the welds other than pray. Those leads are short as it is if you cut them off, Hope this gets you started

[blasphemy000]

Actually, you don't need to do any of that. Just start with an alternator that is externally regulated to begin with. Pretty much all Chrysler alts up until late 90s at least. I'm using a 90A from a Dodge Caravan. There are some 130A Ford alternators that most people use but I'm not sure what kinda car or truck they originally came from. Chevy 2 wire alternators are externally regulated, but not enough amps for the application. Almost any alt with 2 field wire connectors are externally regulated. The stock diodes will hold up fine as long as the fan on the front of the alt is kept in tact. The alt I'm using actually has a full-wave(6-diode) 3-phase rectifier although I know a lot of alts only have a half-wave(3 diode) 3-phase rectifier inside which would put more heat into the individual diodes. I've welded with mine on full power for good 5 minute runs back to back to back without problems. The case of the alt got very hot but the arc never got weak nor did any parts fail. I actually had more problems with my homemade torch getting too hot. Any more questions just lemme know. It's just a very simple setup, I built it all in one afternoon.

[bobwills]

I would be running mine off of about a 11 hp gas motor prolly. Or a 18hp but most likely the 11. And ok so your saying to get rid of the volage regulator on the thing just put the 2 together instead of hook the right one to the alternator positive then the left one to the 12 volt charge. And really. 100 v thats a lot. wonder if theres a way to get the volts down some cause thats a lot and prolly wouldnt weld the greatest would it.