Emergency Welder

By: Eric DeBord

This is an idea that I have had for a long time but never tried it until about a year ago. How many times have you or your buddies been stranded or missed rides because of needing a quick weld job? Yea, I know..us too. First, it takes 2 vehicles to do this. It will be a 24 volt setup when you hook the 2 batteries in a series as described below. What you need is : (1) 2 pieces of welding cable # 4 gage is plently large enough. The length is up to ever how long you feel like carrying around, but you need at least one around 10ft and the other around 15ft or so. On the shorter piece, which will be your ground, solder or crimp a 3/8 eye on each end. On the longer piece, solder or crimp a 3/8 eye on one end and put a small stinger on the other. What I did was put a 3/8 eye on both ends then welded a 5/16 bolt on a small pair of vise grips and bolted it to them for my stinger. (2) Next you will need a a welding lens. Just the lens is all you need. A plastic one will live a LOT longer in your toolbox. (3) Next go buy a piece of 3/4 PVC pipe (long enough for the rods..about a foot)and 2 caps to store the rods in.  (4) Next you will need some welding rods (no kidding huh?) 6011-1/8 works best.

 
 

How to Hook it up


Lets assume the broke vehicle is "A" and the other vehicle is "B"
Take the (shorter)ground lead and hook it from vehicle "B",s Negative battery cable (it doesnt have to go to the battery directly..the frame works great..just find a bolt somewhere) to vehicle "A",s  Positive. It doesnt have to go directly to the battery (the starter stud is a great place to hook it). Now, hook the cable that you have the stinger on to the Positive of vehicle "B". Now put a rod in the other end and you are ready to weld on vehicle "A" Basically what you are doing is completing a 24 volt circuit. It works great and if both batteries are charged you can weld for 15 minutes or so without draining them. This is not the best way in the world to weld, but it does work great and is not too difficult with a little practice if you already know how to weld. You weld for about 3 seconds at a time. It seems hard to maintain a constant arc, but it does penetrate great. I will try to put a pic of this up if this seems confusing or if you have any questions just go back to my home page and e-mail me. PLEASE NOTE: This is an emergency setup and I cannot assume ANY liability for anything anybody does or whatever happens from using my advice. -From the law offices of Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe.