welding with car batteries

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today i took two drill bits, touched them to positive negitave terminals on my drill battery and touched them together , sparks flew and they got welded together.can i put like 3 car batteries in a circut, minus to work peice positive to an electrode and weld with it???it will be ugly *** but i wanna see if it works?   anyone try this?M Fed
Reply:it'll work... you can also do the same thing by making a red-neck welder. DC only with a spare alternator hooked into the belt system on your truck. pretty red-neck'ish, but it works.the thing you have to be careful about is keeping the batteries from exploding and/or over-heating. sulfuric acid burns like hell when it leaks out/ explodes out.Later,Andy
Reply:how would i go about not blowing up my garage? just dont use it alot? and what kinda amps do you think ittl put out? and what will the welds look like?M Fed
Reply:no boom = no use... there is no real good way of determining when they will blow. a lot of factors go into it like how old your battery is and/or what condition it's in.welds, IN THEORY, will look okay... similiar to a CV/CC DC welder. in reality, they will look like poo and will probably not be anywhere near the quality of a welding machine.as far as amperage, figure you have 3 batteries, 12 volts each, 600 CCA each. depending on how you hook them up, you can look at either 12 volts and 1800 amps, or 36 volts and 600 amps.Later,Andy
Reply:P.S. take a look on youtube for "homemade welders"... there's gotta be something out there... i've seen transformer welders made from old battery chargers. also, DC voltage supplies for things like printers and what-not work great, but can either blow themselves apart or flip the breaker/fuse.Later,Andy
Reply:thanks andy... i did a search and found an awesome threadhttp://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...tteries&page=2M Fed
Reply:Do a search right here.  There was one that did it in depth.  DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:hey wait.. .is this safe???? not the batteries but this.i took an old power cord, chopped it to expose the black and white wires. then i wrapped the wires around nails . plugged the power cord into 2 power bars, with serge protection and i struck an arc on a big bolt i have. it instentaly melted part of the bolt and the breaker didn't trip....im worried that i might start an internal fire inside my house somewhere... am i in danger???M Fed
Reply:Please don't play with electricity.  Yeah, you could get hurt.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:no no its cool im wearing a pair of winter gloves :P yeah your right.. probally shouldnt be doing thatM Fed
Reply:Oh man, i have too many windows open again. I can't delete the post it was meant for another thread.Last edited by MEWelding.com; 06-30-2008 at 07:03 PM. Maine Welding Company & Wrought Iron Powered by Custom Web Development
Reply:no but i dont think that would change TOO muchM Fed
Reply:okay... i can;t keep my mouth shut any longer... are you completely dumb? i mean i know this sounds kinda bad, but what dim-wit just starts cutting wires, plugging them in, sparking things, THEN asks if it's safe?i won;t say much more unless this shear stupidity continues.Later,Andy
Reply:welding with car batteries has been done before. but yuor method is going to get you a room beside mine in the hospital. food is good and i get share 2 computers among 3 people who are able to still use one. Beside that you can get a welder from a pawn shop for the price of two or three batteries.
Reply:Snap on used to carry a spool gun that runs off of batteries. I used to have one and it worked pretty good. Worked on up to 36 volts. There was no voltage adjustment, just from 24 to 36. You would be surprised by the nice beads that thing would put out. Went through deep cycle batteries pretty quick though.
Reply:Redneck's last words,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hey ya'll watch this,     haha,,,,just had to be said,,,,,,,,,Boo,,,,
Reply:Are you getting some video of this??? This seems to be akin to that guy video taping himself with the bears in Alaska   and I think Darwin had some things to say about things like this...
Reply:Yep, has all the hallmarks of adding chlorine to the gene pool."One of the things we have to be thankful for is that we don't get as much government as we pay for." (Charles Kettering)Mitch 180 (NZ)Lincoln SAM-400-220 + ?-400 Fordson Major + 2 x Tractapac Humber 80 + Procut 40 PlasmaMiller Spectrum 375
Reply:Originally Posted by TractapacYep, has all the hallmarks of adding chlorine to the gene pool.
Reply:looks like you could tack things together if you were fabing things ,,light gauge stuff
Reply:Originally Posted by David RPlease don't play with electricity.  Yeah, you could get hurt.David
Reply:Originally Posted by z0diacThe best advice in this thread.I'm not even sure what you're using as a ground, but I wouldn't even experiment with basically big cases of sulfuric acid beating heated up.   Save up, buy a welder that's built for what you're doing.
Reply:http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums...d.php?t=302823Check that thread out.  I have seen it done on the trail firsthand, it's really cool!Have a Jeep Cherokee?  Click Here!
Reply:Instead of trying to blow up batteries in your face you might want to look at this and be a lot safer...  http://www.readywelder.com/   if you visit their forum you might get better answers to your questions about what 2-3 batteries can weld. The military likes these,but then their stuff is 24 volts. These are popular with the 4x4 guys too.
Reply:When I was a 12 year-old basement scientist/inventor, one of my experiments was building an electromagnet by coiling wire around a nail and running current through the wire.  Pretty simple experiment, however what I didn't know was that batteries (especially when charging, which this one was) produce hydrogen gas (remember what happened to the Hindenburg). I kneeled over the battery on the concrete floor, shorted it out just as described and saw a nice arc too.     However unlike the above contributor(s) above, my barrel in the game of russian-roulette was loaded.  The explosion knocked me backward, covered in suphuric acid and bleeding from the forehead.  The house shuddered and the shrapnel left holes in the ceiling.  Luckily for me, I received no acid (or anything else) in the eyes, no serious burns and no hearing loss (the ringing eventually went away).  I was very lucky.     In short, if you don't REALLY know what you're doing (or even if you DO)- be careful building these contraptions and be even more careful following the how-to-guides of strangers that involve messing with batteries and lots of juice.       "How did you lose your left eye, Dave?"   "Well, some guy on the internet named Hillbilly62 said I could..."Trying to save a couple of bucks might cost you a lot more than you intended in the long run.    Be safe!Lincoln AC225 & MigPak 140, Lincoln Magnum SpoolGun, Miller Spectrum 375-X Plasma, Syncrowave 200 TIG, Millermatic 252 MIG, Miller Digital Elite, General 7x12" horiz/vert bandsaw, 3' box/pan brake, 20 ton press, milling machine, 12x28 lathe, etc.this must be the same guy that was on a a ford forum here awhile back asking if there wasn't some way to install 16.5 inch tires on 16 inch wheels and make them work
Reply:Dude,Use inner tubes, duh.Tim Beeker.
Reply:This is a link to a video 12+ min long Its mostly fabrication, near the end is some welding. Its in french, but that is NOT a problem. They use all special tools. "We dont need no stinking tigs" (you'll see)  First, go and get a cup of coffee and a large slice of humble pie. -corne-
Reply:Whenever we go wheeling we take one of those little HF inverter welders and a power inverter.  It's not very powerful but it's enough to get you out of the woods.  Takes up less space than a battery and is much safer.
Reply:It's been done...........It works too. and this one........Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:Originally Posted by cornemuseThis is a link to a video 12+ min long Its mostly fabrication, near the end is some welding. Its in french, but that is NOT a problem. They use all special tools. "We dont need no stinking tigs" (you'll see)