Welding With Battries

[o2bgpn]

I was surfing instead of working on my junk (as usual) and came across something that was actually useful. I figured it might be an interesting read for the folks on our first unofficial AZ Chapter run. It seems we had everything right, I still don’t know why it didn’t work.

http://www.lcool.org/technical/80_series/bat_weld/battery_welding.html

Anyway, I think I’m going to put together a special welding kit like in the article. It shouldn’t take up too much room.

[azdesertrhino]

Excellent Mike, I already mentioned to my wife that it would be a good idea to have such a kit. I have some #2 welding cable around etc.

Thanks for posting that up! Good information. I'm going to post it in the tech section in the national forum.:patriot:

[xjnco]

We had to use this method about 4 years ago ( in N CO ) after I sheared motor mount bolts. I'm not a seasoned welder but a friend and one of the other XJ's was, and was able to weld the motor mount to the block ! He used a different #'d rod than is usually used for tubing because of the higher current draw , battery vs welder. You might consider a dry run, test several grades of rod, etc...
:scared:

[pb_beaker]

just wanted to bump this, great info...

[bcmaxx]

does this harm the battery in any way?

[bigazxj]

i only do this with sealed batteries like an optmia or odyssey
ive welded for 45mins to an hour and put the batteries back in the jeep and they had enough left to start it.

proper prep is cruital as there is no capisator(sp?) to help start the arc

and a good quality rod that has been stored corectley
i only use UTP brand rod http://www.utpsales.com.au/ for any arc welding i do it needs to be cool and dry if it gets damp you might be able to have a welding shop heat it up in there oven to pull the moisture out of it,arc welding rod is very hydroscopic it needs to be dry this is a point i cant stress enough
(steps down from soapbox)

look for a low hydrogen rod for battery welding
612 or 613kb are great rods for welding with batteries 614kb is a nice smooth rod id have to look at the package to see if it is sutiable for D.C.,im out of this rod right now was making some stuff that needed to look real good on a job site and used all of it i had.
airgas sells UTP they also have knowlageable sales guys that will get you all set up.(i have no affliation to airgas or utp)

justin

[Capt. Nemo]

I've used this method several times over the past couple of years (all on the Rubicon). The trick I've found to it is being able to regulate the voltage so as not to burn through what you want to fix. Using two or three batteries is a good way, as well as having different size diameter welding rod. The type of battery cable also factors in.

For our XJ's most fixes involve the steering box area on the trail, which isn't very thick steel at all. It's really easy to screw up that area even worse that what the original damage was by burning through.

My buddy put a kit together for under $50 using welding rod clamps, gloves, welding goggles, and some higher quality cable. It worked really well.

Here's a driveshaft that a guy we were wheeling with tore in half. It's a long story, but redneck engineering was the culprit. There are just some corners you can't cut when it comes to building a reliable rig. He bought a longer driveshaft as soon as he got home.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/muddyjeep1/125_2563.jpg

After the fix using what scrap we had around. The thickness of the driveshaft tubing was the equivalent of exhaust tubing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/muddyjeep1/125_2569.jpg