Something ya'll might be interested in Zach. We had a closed room on Grand Coolee Dam. The dam was completed in 1942. In the 90's they opened a door to a room that hadn't been opened since the dam was built. This was in the 90's. An old Hobart welder was in the room still running. Apparently had been running since the dam was done in 42. Left on when left. Maybe set some kind of record, like that bank lightbulb, an old Edison bulb that had been shining since 1909. One of those old bulbous bulbs no longer made. We used those old Hobart welders when I was an apprentice in the 70's.
That antique looks like if you grabbed the wrong part it could turn you into a french fry in a heartbeat. Quite impressive, and your explanation was even better.
@@TheZachLife That welder looks to me like it's capacity is under played. Have you figured out just how thick a couple of chunks of steel it can effectively weld together? Great videos Zach. Keep them coming, please!
Take your grinder and burn a nice shiny clean spot on the top of the welding table. Clean a spot for the ground clamp too. Will make a huge difference with your sporadic arc issue.
I sent Lincoln an email about your welder. I think they should know that this machine is still working at 100 years. Talk about great advertisement! “Our machine is so durable that it is still working at 100 years” who knows maybe they will pay you something for the opportunity to use this for advertising.
I've done a lot of welding and have never seen a welder that had a rotor in it like a generator...Wow! That is really neat!.... In HS I worked as hand on a cattle ranch here in East Tx. Because I was a decent welder already, and they had just started taking on welding pipe fences and pipe working pens for other cattle ranches. So I went from working cows and building wire fences to welding pipe fences and building working pens out of pipe. Way more fun! It was awesome to learn metal fab at that young. Some of those working pens were fairly complex. It was awesome. Oh and we always used old drilling stem and sucker rods....some were magnetized and an awful to weld. Anyways, story time over. Thanks for sharing this!
Your channel is fantastic, I’ll watch every video. I know you’re busy, but your videos are excellent and I wish you had time to post more often. 100 years later, still works. Nothing made today will ever achieve that.
Interesting video Sir. You may need to undercut the mica insulation between the commutator segments. The brushes are smearing the insulating material onto the copper segments causing poor contact between the brushes and the commutator. Your welder predates the ever popular Lincoln "tractor pack" PTO driven welders still in use today.🇦🇺👍
In the late 30s welding machines became 40 volt ocv machines. They welded much better with the new coated welding rods. In the 1920s most all arc welding was done with bare rods.
In the 1960's while in high school I took an ag welding class. At that time we were taught gas welding/brazing and arc welding with buzz boxes and one old welder that looked like your old beast. It was painted grey and had a brass plate attached to it which read "Property of US Navy". When you stated it, it sounded like you fired up a science fiction time machine, it was not for welding thin stock that's for sure. I learned one important lesson that semester, don't wear nylon socks when arc welding. Keep up the work, can't wait for the next posting.
Yeah, slate was used back from I guess the 1880's until about 1930 or so in elevators (of all places). From what I understand it is cheap, plentiful, easily worked and the only downsides were it's relative fragility and weight. I think it was only surpassed when resin-impregnated fiberglass was developed.
That welder is very rare i would love to see that restored and working, i think you bring original stuff on here great work love it, well explained too.
2:45 I saw a lot of electric panels made of stone in abandoned mines... every time i see this old machinery work like a charm even 100 yeard after they bulding, i think we have something to change in modern technology
I have heard many old hand say an old generator welder makes the smoothest DC arc. I have a Hobart Simplified from the 1940s, originally powered by a 20 hp 3 phase motor. I rigged up a 27hp Kohler vtwin to spin the armature at 1800 rpm, and this thing welds GREAT! You might try using an undercutting tool on the commutator so the mica between the copper bars is not holding up the brushes.
It does, my sa200 doesn't spatter at all, super efficient since all that iron is being deposited into the weld and not flung all over the place. My a/c Lincoln 225 spatters a bunch way crappier weld.
Man, I love those ancient paddle switches on that old welder. My dad had porcelain handled paddle switches in his shop and whenever you wanted to turn something on, the blue flash when you engaged the switch was always spectacular. And it always scared the 💩out of me😂
zaxh youve got more balls than me turning that stuff on after so many years. fascinating to learn about welding and the old machines in your shop. stuff aint built like that anymore
I find it amazing that old equipment still works. There is a guy that gets old cars and trucks running that you would never ever think they would ever start. I'm pretty sure my deep freezer in nearly 50 years old and still works perfect.
1. you are describing arc blow, ( dances around) that is a arc reacting to magnetic field from DC arc welding electric flow. 2. the rod that machine was made for ( and tuned) was AWS e6010, DC cellulose rod, not any fancy drag rod, and E6010 will give you penetration, ( it’s all position !) but,you might have to practice with it a bit, and to counter arc blow, check a lincoln handbook on DC arc welding ( it’s all the same) over the years, and another source is the AWS welding handbook ( free pdf downloads) hint 3 keep your ground path clean and free from resistance, ( smooth dc arc results) and have fun, ( welding is fun, and skilled welding is more fun) and 6010 for dc and 6011 for ac will build skills.
reverse polarity is simply done by reversing leads on the big knife switch on the main control panel, also the original operation was two man, the welder and his safety man ( we would often call him the fire man, because he would pull the main leads switch when the welder set himself on fire (and throw a bucket of water on him or the work area) surprisingly, that was a real thing.
wow, would love to give that Lincoln a spin, we have a very old 1930's Miller and a Smith's at the shop....' Miller has said they do not even have one in their collection....cheers from Florida, Paul
I would give that thing a full deep clean on the inside. To maintain constant current it needs to be nearly spotless and probably be rebalanced due to decay, modern welders use electronics to make up the difference in resistance as they age. Otherwise I'd buy this off you in a heartbeat, it's truly an incredible piece of history. Thanks for sharing and caring for it.
That was very interesting Zach. Imagine meeting the people that created things like that welder and rotary drilling bits. Thanks for spending the time and efforts to share all of this. Best Wishes to You and Your Family.
I kind of expected that old welding machine to toss you across the shop, but you have survived! That machine is super cool! Neat that it’s got all that rotating gear on the back. BTW Lincoln Electric is still based in Cleveland, Ohio where I live.
My very first welder was a Lincoln DC generator powered by a ford side valve engine og mid 1940's vintage mounted on a trailer. I have used one of those electric motor driven units to tig weld 2 inch stainless steel scratch start this was for a company that had four of these units and made pressure vessels for the chemical industry and that was all they used, ran all day and night without any trouble, had to be done that way as the welding had to be continuously kept going until done. The machine is what is known as additive/subtractive wound.
Really commonly wound DC Generator Welder. Differentially compounded. Your explanation was pretty much bang on. Produces lots of voltage to penetrate and then limit voltage and thereby current. Really nice old machine!
This Lincoln "Stable Arc" Welder, a 200 Amp Motor Generator Stick Welder, was sold on September 1, 1923, to Vern Holt, the owner of Great Lakes Welding and Boiler Company in Cleveland Ohio. #WeldRed
Zack, I would somehow shine up the copper armature. I would not sand it. But many types of low abrasion pad out there. I would then clean the crud out of it. As the brushes make and break contact it causes the magnetic field in the generator to fluctuate wildly. That caused the fluctuation of your weld..
Sand paper (not emery cloth) in suitably fine grit is safe for commutators and was the standard when that machine was built (long before Cratex sticks or Scotchbrite existed). I studied the old Audel guides from the early 1900s when they were the standard industry reference. (They're wonderful books and cheap used since nobody reads much these days.) 200 grit or finer will do and the way to avoid breaking it I use is applying a piece of nylon shipping tape (duct tape is nasty and sticky) to the back of the sand paper. Blow out any dust with compressed air and preclean with electronic cleaner or MAF sensor cleaner to remove any oil residue to prevent it glazing.
Your channel is wonderful. You explain everything so well, just a week ago I didn't know how oil fields worked, you explained it better than any encyclopedia. The structured content on your channel is great. I am a mechanic myself and I like restoring old machines. May you do as well as you have so far. Sorry for my English and greetings from Poland.
We use to have com cleaning stones , just rubbed then on the com while motor or generator was running they did pretty good job cleaning com and bedding brushes , this was on diesel electric locomotives (main gen , compressor and blower motors ) . Com on your welder looks like it could do with clean and it will probably improve arc stability
Good stuff. Funny the other day I look up Howard Hughes Sr. on how his company patent the rotary bits and lease them to drillers. His son Howard Hughes Jr inherited the company after his dads death at the age of 19. Jr had to be emancipated because the age of majority was still 21 to legally inherite the company.
Good old time electrical machines.Combining output into the field coils are those shunt coils. Also used to eliminate eddycurrents inthe coils. Great video Zack
Fascinating video. I love seeing relics of the past still in operation or being brought back to life. In that respect museum's are a sad place for me. Things were intended to be used, not displayed as a show piece. I'll be looking forward to the next video you post of anything.
We had a couple old rotary welders in the last shop we leased, they scared me so I never messed with them. I have in my dealings acquired an old lincwelder 225, the onan engine needs rebuilt, that I can do, the generator seems to work but I’ve heard good things about these welders. One thing Lincoln did well was built a welder that could survive the apocalypse.
As an Englishman I enjoy and appreciate your videos of these old machines. I honestly have never seen a welder like this, looks heavy indeed! Had I not known that welding was done on that machine I would never have guessed. God bless you Zack! Love from the uk 🇬🇧
The Vienna Museum of Technology has an arc welder from the late 30s. It's probably around the same size as this one but on giant spoke wheels so you could lug it around a shop or factory. There's not much info on it but the mains plug says 380 V 60 A and the lead is easily thicker than my thumb.
@@Ragnar8504 Did they use these kind of welders on the construction of the Empire State Building in America? Being so bulky and heavy it must have been quite a challenge to work with these things I imagine.
@@JesusThineBeTheGlory Weren't those buildings riveted rather than welded? I think on-site welding was more likely done using oxy-acetylene torches, not exactly lightweight but a lot less bulky than arc welders, especially DC ones. AC welding transformers are a thing and probably have been for a while but I don't know enough about welding to be able to say what they're used for.
I’m pretty certain the small field coils that the output from the main DC generator runs through are called interpole windings. I work on diesel electric locomotives and the DC traction motors have something very similar.
Good video. It is amazing how well this welder was built 100 years ago. Especially the wire insulation. I did notice that your shop may need a bit of minor roof repair-the roof tin flapping in the background at one point in the video.
Slate electrical panels were really common but I bet most of them ended their lifes as rubble. I never was able to find what that black coating was, because it seems to be the same product on all of them.
I’m looking for the information on this welder Lincoln list of serial numbers on line only goes back to 1932. That is A15970, the first two digits indicate the year. This would allow us to extrapolate that your machine is 9 years older or a 1923 model.
This channel especially the machine shop videos are indeed very interesting. I cannot get enough of the history and the information. I wish there were more channels that were like this.
A 1920s motor/generator that still works. Pretty amazing. Parts availability will probably be a problem. I guarantee you will never find a modern welding machine that will last anywhere close to 100 years.
Gotta say that good inverters would last another 100 years easily. Only the caps might fail, and bushings in the fan. But I don't call their fault as fault of whole welder, since they're really easy to replace.
Random is better. I used to weld with a slightly newer Lincoln motor generator. The one I used did not have those cool Frankenstein knife switches. I love it! Cheers
Ten thousand thumbs up! I like the history aspect of your content. I have never been around oil fields in my 69 years. Keep going and I’ll keep watching!
It is always a pleasure to see old things brought to life and explained well. Zach, I love your passion and willingness to share. So much enjoyment in such a short little video. Awesome!!
I really like the shop it's come a long ways from that first video hard to believe it's looking so good and man that welder sounds like it could run some rods
There is an old expression, "the life of a welder is 20 years" because during the welding process he inhales the poisonous fumes. You should protect yourself by getting a sealed helmet connected to a 'fart sniffer' hose that takes it's air intake from behind your back-- far away from the fumes.
Need to buy a commutator cleaning stone to clean the carbon buildup off the commutator bars. Taking a soft pointed tool like a plastic toothpick and clean out the brush material and other foreign material out of the grooves between each commutator where the Mica insulation separates each bar. Be careful and take your time not to damage the Mica as the oder the machine the more brittle the Mica is likely to be. This will solve unstable arc problems. Lastly try reversing your polarity as some rods can be picky as to which way current flows.
