This is a very old trick, going back to the early 1970's. There have been a raft of "welding alternators' and even prior to that I believe there were generator units set up for welding. I have personally used 3x different ones, but they were all 24v.Originally Posted by dom14
The amperage needs to be higher than a proper welder to help hold the arc, and they spatter a bit more too.
General consensus is not to weld for longer than 20 seconds in every 2 minutes to allow for cooling.
One was a 240 amp unit on an old 4 tonne International truck in the NT (almost as good as a proper welder)
One, on a Case tractor in VIC, and the 3rd was a bush welder cobbled together from 2x 24v alternators and a Briggs 12hp engine
The dedicated alternators have terminals on the back for welding leads and are massive bloody things. The bloke with the Inter would isolate the battery when welding to get a stable current and protect the batteries.
I keep 1.5mm rod in the toolbox (it's a bit hard to get, but not uncommon) which seems to work ok with 12v x 80a, but is much better with 2x batteries in series as 24v. Just use jumper leads for welding leads. Soot/smut up some sunnies with candle smut for welding glasses, or carry a welding mask glass in the toolbox.
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