So my father in law gave me this old (20 years plus) arc welder and it runs on 110 v, 26.6 amps. I don't have a 30 amp 110 circut but I do have a 240/30 amp for my dryer which I could access. Can I just use a transformer to turn this into 110?
Theoretically, yes, but I don't even wanna think about how much a 30A transformer costs.
But you can grab one "leg" of the 220 circuit to get high amp 110. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you have no business mucking about with household wiring.
That "tombstone" is one old tuff welder treat it right that is a dream machine to use.
Beats the heck out of the plug heat selection AC Dayton I learned on back in the 60's.
I just built a 110 volt microwave transformer based arc welder and it works great, about 3/4 of the way completed with a 220 volt arc welder using the same microwave transformers but using 10 guage wire in the secondary and a voltage step controller board for fine output control of the heat.
Next, is a homebuilt 110 volt TIG using a large inverter to produce the wave current needed to do TIG, it has a safety issue, in that if the Tungsten tip is touched when it is own and you are not properly grounded it Will Kill You! I am going to get around this by using a foot pedal and a dedicated booth with a rubber insulation mat and a bolt on clip for ground clamp that fits to the metal welding table/booth!
starsailor; there was a forum I ran across that had "tombstones" fully restored to new condition.
Only things to worry about were the selector switches, brushes and bearing replacements every 50 years.
I would be careful not to add dirt and grit into the commutator, brushes plus forcing dirt into those so called old sealed bearings. Over time they might not seal as good due to normal seal wear no need to pressure force dirt into them when it can be avoided.
Selector switches I can see giving them a short air blast.
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