Its come to the point in my Subaru conversion that I need to finish up a lot of welding on the roller. I've got to finish fixing up the hell hole area, and put together an engine support bar, and weld on a front and partial rear fender. Its probalby a full weekend of work, maybe more. The problem is that I live in an apartment and my garage is not wired well.

I've tried using a 110 mig welder, but its pretty clear that the power is just not there. The spark will start and then the voltage on the line drops and the motor slows down. The arc goes away and the motor speeds up. So welding ends up being a series of dots of weld and I cannot seem to get decent penetration. I'm using a very beefy power cord and I even replaced the outlet on the wall. It doesn't help the situation much.

Seems like I need to take this car somewhere and do the welding where I have access to the right amount of power at the very least. I don't have the budget to take the car to a shop and have the welding done, and I'd rather do it myself and learn from it.

So does anyone want to help? Or anyone have any good ideas on other options?

-Tony

How about renting a gas-powered generator? They have 220 versions, and you could rent a 220 MIG while you're at it. A medium-sized generator should make plenty of power for even a 110 MIG.

Back in the early days of welding they used battery banks.

QUOTE (bondo @ Aug 4 2005, 02:51 PM)

Back in the early days of welding they used battery banks.

Yeah, check and see if there is a battery bank somewhere in the complex.

QUOTE (bondo @ Aug 4 2005, 05:51 PM)

Back in the early days of welding they used battery banks.

that must have been the *really* early days, before they invented gas welding...

There's an idea. Gas weld everything.



More ideas:

1. trailer car to bondo's
2. run a cord to the 220 dryer outlet somewhere in your complex, pull off one leg for 110 (you can do that right?)
3. find the breaker panel, run your own power
4. pay a shop to do the welding

Thats a thought.. Rent a generator... The other problem though is that I have a neighbor who shares a wall with my garage. I doubt he woulid appreciate a generator going for a weekend. But then we do have a laundry room with 220. A 50 foot extension cord might make it, I wonder what kind of power loss I'd experience..

-Tony

If you found a 220V welder, not much.

Your neighbor probably isn't going to like the angle grinder either. Consider moving.

QUOTE (jkeyzer @ Aug 4 2005, 02:59 PM)

There's an idea. Gas weld everything. More ideas: 1. trailer car to bondo's 2. run a cord to the 220 dryer outlet somewhere in your complex, pull off one leg for 110 (you can do that right?) 3. find the breaker panel, run your own power 4. pay a shop to do the welding

You forgot:

5. Climb a power pole and clamp an extension cord into the grid!

You DO have a substation nearby...

QUOTE

Consider moving.

NOW THERE'S A SOLUTION!!!!


I'll just go buy myself a house right now. Oh wait. I'll need about $800,000 to do that. That makes for a rather expensive 914.


The grinding I can do in the mornings when he's usually gone. I can spread that out over a few weekends if need be. But because I don't own a welder I figure I need to do it in a relatively short period of time.

-Tony

QUOTE (TonyAKAVW @ Aug 4 2005, 03:08 PM)

But because I don't own a welder I figure I need to do it in a relatively short period of time. -Tony

But time itself is relative! How fast are you going?

Maybe when Pedro is out pulling some sweet jumps you could use his garage?

..

okay there are several ways to do a cord from the dryer. i would recommend for cost and amperage reasons, just go get a piece of # 8 SEC AL. it will have 2 insulated conductors and a third one wrapped around the other 2. if you go to home depot you can get a square D 2 circuit sub panel to hook to your end. then put in 2 breakers to feed 2 out lets, if you size them at 20 or 25 amps you will trip your breaker before the one in the building panel goes ( dryer are normally on 30 amps ). now you have your own little power station you can wrap up and put away. as for the plug on the wall for the dryer you need to see what is there.

His complex has gas dryers.

Dude,

Just pick up two car batteries. Then follow the instructions HERE

Some of the guys I 4 wheel with use these in the middle of no where and they do the job.

No noise, no generators, no wire feel motors. Just DC stick at it's finest.

=-))))