antique arc welder

[God mode restorations]

evening all..
well what a day!!!! my job for today was doing some arc welding for my par using his monolithic arc welder..after an hour changing the spark plug.cleaning the points up and filling up with juice ..it was then ready to go...ten miniutes pulling the granny out my self and almost being tossed over the top of the thing with its recoil it decides to start....this thing is a godzilla!!! well if there is anyone who can lay a decent few slags down with this on full tilt then he is a lot better than me....what a task....what a machine...

 

[wheresmejumper]

Its called JLO I think, supposed to be a decent welder

 

[God mode restorations]

yes you are correct..its powered by a 12hp kohla petrol engine..and it has got some serious grunt...a brilliant welder that requires some serious technique..

 

[Bill Edwards]

What exactly was it like to weld with - like a small AC (Aldi...) buzzbox or better? What amperage does it go to?

 

[wyn]

I have used one of those but it was driven by a car engine that came out of a tug boat The switch on the welder didn't work so had to change gear on the engine to alter the amps....a bit all or nothing.
It was on a pallet and had to move it around with a forklift.

It then had a nice little honda engine to drive it via a pto shaft.......that was great as the engine revs were a lot more controlable to set the amps. The mounting feet gave way one day on the generator bit and it jumped out of the trailer it was sitting on.

 

[God mode restorations]

What exactly was it like to weld with - like a small AC (Aldi...) buzzbox or better? What amperage does it go to?

to be

What exactly was it like to weld with - like a small AC (Aldi...) buzzbox or better? What amperage does it go to?

hi bill.to be honest its a great machine to weld with...once you get the hang of the engines characteristics you can pull some nice beads with it...on the lower power setting it goes from 0 round to 160 amps....on the hight setting its 145 round to 250..i had a bit of trouble controlling the arc puddle but mainly because i was well out of position on the unit i was welding..but all in all it will weld just like my oerlikon 3.2 inverter but with a lot more power......

 

[God mode restorations]

I have used one of those but it was driven by a car engine that came out of a tug boat The switch on the welder didn't work so had to change gear on the engine to alter the amps....a bit all or nothing.
It was on a pallet and had to move it around with a forklift.

It then had a nice little honda engine to drive it via a pto shaft.......that was great as the engine revs were a lot more controlable to set the amps. The mounting feet gave way one day on the generator bit and it jumped out of the trailer it was sitting on.

hi....yes they are a bit all or nothing...the only slight prob i found is the donky engine has a lot of grunt but controlling a steady engine rpm was difficult because of the nature of those engines..open or shut kind of....it must weight half a ton..not to easy to pull about even thoe its on wheels..wakes up the entire town when running...its a heavy weight for sure...a good experiance....

 

[zzr1200]

Its called JLO I think, supposed to be a decent welder

That's not a JLO engine, your welder is a Mighty Midget powered by a 4 stoke (B&S engine???) doesn't even appear to be an original fitment engine as there's no engine/welding alternator mounting adaptor.

Mighty Midget welders when running correctly are great little welders, even thought the JLO is a tad on the noisy side, being as its a 372cc 2 stoke engine, that has to run at 3000 rpm to weld.

 

[wheresmejumper]

I never knew it was the engine side that was JLO.
Im sure they would have to rebrand the welder to keep in touch with the modern ways,maybe Dangerous Dwarf

 

[zzr1200]

I never knew it was the engine side that was JLO.
Im sure they would have to rebrand the welder to keep in touch with the modern ways,maybe Dangerous Dwarf

The alternator was made by Hayter the lawn mover people (as far as I know), they fitted various engines the JLO, single and twin cylinder Petters and lastly the Honda GX13 petrol which was considered slightly underpowered.

The "Mighty Midget" JLO powered unit was a fairly cheap, reliable compact welder when new, which is probably why it appeared to be the preferred engine option.

I still have mine, if it was quieter l'd still be using it.

 

[God mode restorations]

evening all..
i dont no a great deal about the welder to be honest..but it works for sure..all i no its powered by a 12 horse kohler petrol....

 

[sardine]

If you stuck an exhaust on it might help the noise.

By the way, scrap exhausts from places like Kwik fit are almost always repairable, just cut the rusted parts out, and weld up. Cut the pipes off and weld a BSP fitting or flange.

 

[God mode restorations]

i could well do feela..but to be honest its me old mans bit of kit....but yes i could make it less noisy.....thanks...

 

[Rig Pig]

There is a JLO on eBay now if anyone wants another toy!

 

[Bsmith]

I also used a JLO some time ago, was a decent enough weld result but I used to wonder why the buzz/scream sorta noise when welding? I never thought to ask before.

 

[zzr1200]

I used to know an old welder/business owner who swore by MaxArc Machines they made a similar noise, he reckoned it was because they used a brush-less alternator, but I agree its a distinctive arc noise...

 

[wheresmejumper]

Powcon welders had a noise too.they were the first inverter welders bought out by miller.
2000hz they operate at and results in the arc whistling back at you.
modern inverters work at way higher hz so the noise is not audible