Welding with jumper cables and a pair of batteries

[Insanity0919]

How strong are the welds that it makes? Will i want to build a brush gaurd on my mud mower. Would that hold up?

[sewerzuk]

@Insanity0919 The strength and appearance of the welds is most affected by the skill of the person holding the welding rod. The welds are just as strong as using a conventional welder, if done properly. It works best on 3/16"-1/4" material thickness; you can go thinner if you do multiple starts and stops to allow your workpiece to cool down. 1/8" is about as thin as I can weld using this method.

[galegregory97comcast]

YES IT IS

[Osmigo1]

Can you do it with ONE battery? I normally don't drive around with a 2nd battery in the trunk....

[sewerzuk]

@Osmigo1 I've tried one battery...just not enough arc to work with. I was kind of targeting this at the off-road crowd; many people have dual batteries in their trail vehicles, and those who don't can always borrow a battery from somebody in their group. If you're by yourself its a different story!

[SeasideBJJ]

I love how you tagged redneck in this one! Sweet video Matt!

[WheeliePete]

Nice video. I'd be curious to see how the penetration with 24 volts is though. I usually use 3 batterys for 36 volts to get the penetration down into the material. I think I'll be doing a new video soon to test various rods sizes and volts. The beads look really nice on your weld though.

[sewerzuk]

@WheeliePete I'd like to see that video! I was planning on doing that exact thing, except comparing welds using various electrodes between my batteries and my Synchrowave 200. I've tried 3 batteries and found that it was too hot for most of the repairs that I was doing...although there are obviously a ton of variables. Battery size, state of charge, condition, age, type of jumper cables, etc. all make a difference.

[WheeliePete]

@sewerzuk I was frankly quite impressed with how stable the arc was in your video, and you said you were using 1/8" 6011? How fresh was it? I'm starting to thing the rod I was using in my video was probably pretty old and had absorbed some moisture because I was having issues with my arc stability. But yeah, If I can find some time this week to pull batteries I might make a video of test welding with different voltages and different rods.

[sewerzuk]

@WheeliePete The rod is about 7-8 years old; it was just stored in a non-gasketed plastic rod holder in my shop. The shop environment is controlled; heated to at least 60 degrees all the time and dehumidified to about 20%. I do that to keep my high-carbon steel (punches, dies, tooling, etc.) from rusting, but it probably helps the welding rod a lot...

[WheeliePete]

@WheeliePete Yeah I bet that helps. My rods were pretty old and had been subjected to hot/cold swings and humidity fluctuations...

[tbndeereman75]

Your thread on TBN brought me here, very well made video, great advice.

[sewerzuk]

@tbndeereman75 thanks!

[ThirtyAcrePrep]

One of the best videos I've seen lately!!! Great job

I'll be teaching my son and grandsons to do this next visit.

[sammy47cj2a]

3/32 E6010 would be my choice, doesn't need a lot of amperage to be happy, and that rod doesn't mind if it has too much rust or oil on the surface.

[1949CD]

Do you have a certain choice of rods when using the batt set up?

[sewerzuk]

@1949CD I used 1/8" 6011 in the video. It is what I carry in my rig during a trip for those "unknown" repairs. 6011 is a good general purpose rod...but there are dozens of choices available! If you know that you will be welding on a certain material (high carbon steel, cast iron, stainless, etc.) then the appropriate rod should be used...

[destro513]

Wow! Nice work man..

[ShelbyMopar]

Awesome vid, nicely done.