Comments by "Comm0ut" (@Comm0ut) on "Questions from the tool box: What are torpedo welders?" video.

  1. They are popular for arc gouging which some businesses buy them for because gouging is hard on modern inverter machines whose replacement boards often cost more than a used motor-generator welder. Manuals are fairly easy to find. Motor-generator welders were a way to get high DC amps before modern solid state rectifiers and (when DC aircraft generators from WWII engines were very common surplus and dirt cheap) a popular homebuilt welder construction method. Since the motor end is normally three-phase they will run off a rotary phase converter of suitable size (which you can also make then enjoy three-phase tools and equipment without paying business rates or where you cannot get three-phase at the pole). Some owners convert them to gas engine drive which makes for a rather long trailer but at the right price why not? Others harvest the generator end and make PTO drive conversions for their tractors etc. Lincoln sold towed PTO driven welder heads similar to their SA series which are interesting in their own right. Look up Lincoln Tractapac.
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