BROKEN JEEP STILL ON THE MOUNTAIN

[sLcREX]

How long can you weld for before draining the battery and then the rig can't start?

 

[ZUKEYPR]

I dont know it hasnt happened yet

 

[littlyota]

How long can you weld for before draining the battery and then the rig can't start?

I welded with my new "Ready Welder" this weekend. I ran about 25" of bead with two batteries. The voltage dropped .2 volts. I used the batteries from my Superduty and it started right up.

I do not see there would ever be any real concern of killing the batteries enough not to start. I would think most trail fixes would only be a few inches long.

 

[ZUKEYPR]

Plus, at least in my case, more than not I have a third vehicle with me that would make it a mute point.

 

[sLcREX]

Cool, just wasnt sure about it. I think I'm gonna pick up some welding rods to have this as an option when wheeling. That would be a good prep kit to have. Make a wire to hook up the two batteries and then just carry jumper wires.

 

[sLcREX]

Quick question, back when I was welding SMAW we used electrodes that were kept in the oven. Is this true for all rods? Because if I carry them in the rig then they will undoubtedly build moisture which I suppose is a no no. Only thing I can think of besides having some sort of storage that's airtight for them, would be to stick them next to the engine header before using or stick them up the tail pipe for a bit to 'bake' them again.

 

[ZUKEYPR]

Stick them in a rod case, throw some rice in there and you'll be fine

 

[ZUKEYPR]

Here's another option if you don't want to construct a kit yourself. http://www.anzaproducts.com/#!metal-mender/cfs9

 

[blznnp]

another thing you can do if you didn't put them in rice, is to stick the rod to the metal, let it heat up for a second, then break it off and hope no flux breaks off.

 

[Kevin B.]

I don't know much about stick welding. The article recommends 6013 sticks for this, would you guys agree with that?

 

[ZUKEYPR]

Absolutely, lots of practice as well. Stick welding has a far greater learning curve than MIG, especially vertical and overhead welding because rarely will you have a situation where you are flat welding in a field environment.

 

[sLcREX]

Good suggestion about heating it up for a second on the metal. They do like to get pretty hot if you leave it making contact lol.

Kevin, I think they suggested that rod because supposedly it will still arc in crappy prep conditions from what I understood. I suppose that would make it ideal but I'm sure any rod would be fine. A first timer for stick is gonna lay down some real booger welds with stick anyway, regardless of rod, so I would say its a good idea to practice stick in your garage before having to use it on the trail.

 

[Kevin B.]

I figure better to have it and only lay sucky welds than not have it at all, right? I wanna get into stick welding eventually, but this seems like something it'd be silly not to stash in the truck just in case.

I'll grab some sticks and chain some batteries up and see what kinda boogers I can make in the garage, though.

 

[blznnp]

Like Maldito said, its better for crappy times. You can weld with a painted surface or through a surface that isn't clean like GMAW (MIG) likes. Innersheild is a similar wire that can be used in crappy prep conditions, plus it doesn't need gas as a shielding agent and only needs the flux that is inside the wire, which makes it ideal for outside welding, especially for construction.

 

[sLcREX]

GMAW is a breeze to work with for sure. I used alot of that at my old job and occasional stick.

What I was trying to say earlier Kevin, is that don't focus solely on the type of rod to carry, because what's more crucial is the ability to lay down a bead with the rod, then you can make things happen on the trail regardless of the rod that's in your gear. I'll be trying this too. It's been years since I did SMAW.

if you want, we can have a SMAW party lol

 

[Kevin B.]

GMAW is a breeze to work with for sure. I used alot of that at my old job and occasional stick.

What I was trying to say earlier Kevin, is that don't focus solely on the type of rod to carry, because what's more crucial is the ability to lay down a bead with the rod, then you can make things happen on the trail regardless of the rod that's in your gear. I'll be trying this too. It's been years since I did SMAW.

Got it. Bring a battery over one of these nights, we'll make boogers together.

 

[blznnp]

7018 is a easy rod to work with but not ideal for trail fixes due to prep, a 6010 rod is great for trail fixes but not as user friendly as 7018. So like he said, being able to use it is more important than anything.
Anyone know what size CCA battery is prefered for welding or does that not really affect it to much.

 

[sLcREX]

No idea on battery size. I kinda wondered the same. But won't they put out the same amp? I know little to nothing about batteries.

 

[blznnp]

CCA is a power rating, generally bigger engines require more CCA, so the battery with a higher CCA would be able to put out more amps than one with a lower CCA, but not sure how that would affect a make shift welding set up. I wonder if it would have any relation to how many amps you would be welding with. It seems like it wouldn't since that would be an awful lot of amps on most truck batteries for a 1/8" or 5/32" rod but people seem to make it work. I guess its time to hook up some batteries and test that out.

 

[ZUKEYPR]

Deep Cycle preferred.....yes you hook up three batteries and 1/2 steel isn't nothing to weld. Easy to burn holes through things as well if you don't know hat you are doing, unlike a MIG, welding with batteries your only control with amperage is how many batteries you hook up together. That said I wonder if I could weld sheet with only one battery without blowing right through it, I need to try that.