Question...

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I remember a welder telling me (several years ago), about an item I could get to mount atop my Lincoln AC225 buzz-box to 'invert' my output so that I could run DC+/- .Question:  Does anyone know anything about this 'inverter', or was my co-worker yankin' my chain?TIA, Ron"It's never too late, until you're gone...but, by then, it's too late to worry about it."
Reply:Its just a bunch of big diodes (4).  My dad had one.  It worked, but be careful with what touches ground.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:A friend of mine has one of these.  I think the output is 1/2 of the AC output.  Probably pretty rare to find one around.
Reply:I have had one for years and years. Don't know if they are even made anymore. Mine has been an excellent piece of equipment. It does not cut the power in half from the AC output. It is rated for about twice the amps that the crackerbox is capable of so that may have some bearing on the output.It has no moving parts other than the cooling fan. The only maintance it has ever required was lubing the fan shaft once when it began to squeak.
Reply:Who was the manufacturer/brand name?"It's never too late, until you're gone...but, by then, it's too late to worry about it."
Reply:To take AC and make it DC, you use a rectifier circuit.  Which as mentioned is pretty much just four (properly sized) diodes to make a full-wave bridge rectifier.The diodes mount to a heat-sink plate and a fan may be used to help cool things down.One example is http://www.proto-power.com/dc_cheater.html  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...