theksmith
Explorer
i thought i would cross post this from Offroad Passport since the trail welder concept has been discussed some over here:
the complete thread is here: http://offroadpassport.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3114
i tested it and tried to learn some stick welding basics today, but found the 6010 rod is very difficult for a beginner! i then picked up some 7014 and 6013, and will try those later this week.
i've been carrying around a set of heavy duty jumper cables as well as a custom battery trail welder setup for quite some time. there's really no need for both. after all, many people have done welding with just a couple sets of jumper cables.
old separate setups:
how about a little background...
to do some emergency trail welding, you just need good sized cable to connect the batteries from 2 or 3 rigs in series to get 24 to 36 Volts. as long as a couple people have heavy duty jumper cables and someone carries some welding rod, tinted goggles, and leather gloves - you're good to go.
a few of us have tried to make things easier to use and more efficient by creating a dedicated setup for trail welding. using large gauge cable with terminal clamps to make solid low-resistance connections and adding a proper rod holder and ground clamp, we have ourselves a "trail welder".
my goal was to merge my jumper cables and trail welder into a single "ultimate" setup.
one issue was that my batteries are hidden away beneath the floor in the rear of the Jeep due to my particular dual battery setup. so i have an Anderson SB175 connector under the hood to connect to for jump-starting instead of normal battery posts. that's why my old jumper cables in the picture above only have one traditional clamp end.
so requirement #1 for the ultimate setup was to work as jumper cables for my rig. here's the custom jumper cable configuration:
requirement #2 was to work as regular jumper cables if i need to loan them out while on a trail. here's that configuration (same as #1 but with additional clamps attached to the Anderson connector):
then requirement #3 was the trail welder setup. for that configuration, i just swap out the main positive clamp with the rod holder clamp via the single Anderson PP180 connector and use the extra 2 short jumpers to connect the multiple batteries together:
a few little tricks round out the kit...
i used rubber coated "parrot" style clamps everywhere since they are compact. these particular ones have dual copper contact areas. however only one of those contacts was designed to connect directly to a lead, and the other was making a poor (high resistance) connection to the clamp due to the rubber coating.
so i took each clamp apart by drilling out their hinge rivets and then i jumpered both of the copper contacts together with a short 6 gauge wire. they were put back together using 1.25" length screw posts for hinges.
i added a voltmeter to the main Anderson connector by making a small bracket out of aluminum. the idea behind this is that i can monitor the total voltage on a 2 or 3 battery set while welding to know when the batteries are getting so low that they might not start a rig anymore. after all, it would really suck if just a couple of us were out and completed a welding repair only to find that neither rig would then crank!
it also allows me to see what a person's "dead" battery is really at so i have an idea whether they just need a this one jump or if it's so far gone that they better drive directly to Autozone afterwards.
i used quick-clamp style terminal connectors on the short jumper leads. they are attached to a crimped ring terminal with a bolt. they don't look particularly robust, but i chose them because they make quick low-resistance connections. i have a couple extra of these connectors in the kit just in case one breaks.
all the cable is 4 gauge, which should be fine for the short use times this will see trailside.
instead of goggles, i butchered up a cheap welding helmet like this one:
i removed the front flip lens, putting the smoked glass directly into the main helmet window area. i also cut out much of the sides so it would be less bulky and the back could fold-in. doing this and storing the head-ring apart from the main shield allows it to all pack into my kit bag and squish in behind my back seat easily.
i bought some welding gloves from Harbor Freight to add to the kit as well. my current rod is 3/32" 6010, but i've yet to test it out personally so that may change.
everything fits in a 15" canvas bag, also from Harbor Freight, which tucks behind my back seat. it does indeed take up less space than the previous separate jumper cables and welder setup.
i should have some time this weekend or next to actually test the setup and see if anything needs to be modified.
the complete thread is here: http://offroadpassport.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3114
i tested it and tried to learn some stick welding basics today, but found the 6010 rod is very difficult for a beginner! i then picked up some 7014 and 6013, and will try those later this week.
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