I've just finished restoring a Pickhill Bantam 180a oil cooled welder. It was working ok when I bought it but it was looking a bit shabby and I was initially planning just to paint it.
I ended up lifting out the transformer to check the oil condition, which proved worthwhile. There was an layer of rusty water lying in the bottom of the welder. I removed as much oil as I could & put it into a bucket to settle. I washed out the tank and it showed significant rust on the base. I put the whole welder tank into my electrolysis tank & stripped off the rust with the added bonus of stripping the old paint.
I gave the outside of the tank 2 coats of light blue hammerite. I was debating whether or not to paint the inside with an epoxy primer but I decided against it.
I made a trolley for the welder.
The base is made from an old bed frame older than the welder so quite an appropriate use for it.
I put the oil back into the tank filtering it with paint filters. It came out very clean and a million miles from the cloudy muck it was. I put a strip of sticky back foam around the lip and a bead of tek 7 as well before placing the transformer back into the tank and fastening it down with new tek screws.
Then 2 coats of paint on the lid and fitted the mains cable.
Followed by the welding leads.
I found the terminal covers on ebay and the cover on the spare terminal is made from a nut, heat shrink & an old rubber boot of a car ball joint.
The finished article with the leads wound on.
It got used properly for the first time over the weekend and I had forgotten how good these sets are. I was welding shelving brackets made from old pallet racking uprights to heavy steel girders so thin to thick steel. I prepped as best I could but there was still some rust & paint present. It was awkward to get at some of the joints so the rod angle was far from correct at times. But despite all this and the fact I hadn't used a stick welder for a year, the welder produced some really nice welds.
I haven't used an oil cooled welder for years but I had been using an inverter set until I pulled it off the bench last year and broke it. I had planned to replace it but seeing how good this set is I might hold off for a while yet.
I ended up lifting out the transformer to check the oil condition, which proved worthwhile. There was an layer of rusty water lying in the bottom of the welder. I removed as much oil as I could & put it into a bucket to settle. I washed out the tank and it showed significant rust on the base. I put the whole welder tank into my electrolysis tank & stripped off the rust with the added bonus of stripping the old paint.
I gave the outside of the tank 2 coats of light blue hammerite. I was debating whether or not to paint the inside with an epoxy primer but I decided against it.
I made a trolley for the welder.
The base is made from an old bed frame older than the welder so quite an appropriate use for it.
I put the oil back into the tank filtering it with paint filters. It came out very clean and a million miles from the cloudy muck it was. I put a strip of sticky back foam around the lip and a bead of tek 7 as well before placing the transformer back into the tank and fastening it down with new tek screws.
Then 2 coats of paint on the lid and fitted the mains cable.
Followed by the welding leads.
I found the terminal covers on ebay and the cover on the spare terminal is made from a nut, heat shrink & an old rubber boot of a car ball joint.
The finished article with the leads wound on.
It got used properly for the first time over the weekend and I had forgotten how good these sets are. I was welding shelving brackets made from old pallet racking uprights to heavy steel girders so thin to thick steel. I prepped as best I could but there was still some rust & paint present. It was awkward to get at some of the joints so the rod angle was far from correct at times. But despite all this and the fact I hadn't used a stick welder for a year, the welder produced some really nice welds.
I haven't used an oil cooled welder for years but I had been using an inverter set until I pulled it off the bench last year and broke it. I had planned to replace it but seeing how good this set is I might hold off for a while yet.