What does what?

[Polarbar]

Hello to all you wizards and magicians! My old Miller 400 Big Red was vandalized and I'd like to get her going again. Does anybody know of a book or other source of information on how welders that run off alternator power work? I have schematics but reading and understanding them is another matter! Thanks.

 

[Chippie]

One for TCMtech by the sound of it...He's a bit of a wiz on welder thingies

Might be worth dropping him a pm..
I hope I'm not overstepping the mark by suggesting this...

 

[Polarbar]

Not to worry. I'd rather not get an answer than get you in trouble. Thanks for caring.

 

[Mickster]

One for TCMtech by the sound of it...He's a bit of a wiz on welder thingies

Might be worth dropping him a pm..
I hope I'm not overstepping the mark by suggesting this...

I'd say a definite for the first part, but probably not for the PM.

The reason for this, is that nobody else would benefit from a PM between the OP and the person in a position most likely to offer advice, due to the conversation taking place outside of the public forum. Persons searching & finding the forum, due to the keywords contained within the post, (not the title - vague to say the least ) would end up against a brick wall.

I've sent TCM a link to the thread and I'm quite sure he'll likely be asking what year/model the Miller is, what has been damaged, what is not clear on the schematics, etc.

Give as much information as possible and it's likely that an answer, or at least, sufficient tips to arrive at an answer may be provided.

Regards.

 

[tcmtech]

Got PMed any way. I dont mind at all!

So what do you need or need to know?

I have an actual Miller Big 40 gas drive I am parting out. Its the same machine as the 400 amp units. The cam shaft stripped out on the previous owner with only 500 running hours on it! It then sat in a farm storage building for about 25 years until I acquired it for trade on a day of fixing farm equipment. I have no use or intentions for it. If you need parts I probably have them and I have the full service manuals too. But if you cant read the schematics your not going to have much luck with the service books either.

 

[BrownOut]

I acquired it for trade on a day of fixing farm equipment. I have no use or intentions for it

Hope that was the same place you got that $200 pickup

 

[tcmtech]

Actually the big 40 welder came from a friend of they guy that had the $200 pickup. I happily traded the days work. parting out the old f-163 continental engine would cover the days work cost and the massive copper wound alternator is worth a bunch when copper pushes $4 a pound in the summer!
I will happily trade a days work in order to get a weeks wages later! It how I got most of my high end commercial fabrication equipment. I am looking at at way to weasel myself a 100 ton capacity 10 ft press break this summer if the guy still has it!

 

[duffy]

That's one monster of a press brake, sounds like you would need a crane to feed it sheet metal.

 

[Chippie]

That's one monster of a press brake, sounds like you would need a crane to feed it sheet metal.

Yeah...He's only gonna use it for punching holes in pcbs......

 

[tcmtech]

I am trying to expand my business as quickly and cheaply as I can so picking up used equipment and reconditioning it is the only practical way I can do it.

The press break would be great addition to my shop for manufacturing equipment parts and custom boilers I am getting into. I am now planning a 6 by 12 foot CNC plasma torch table for doing fast precise sheet cutting.( under $1500 to build using existing materials I have!)
A new factory built CNC plasma table of this size and capacity would run around $50k to buy!

Since I have an old 140 amp commercial plasma cutter power supply with a 2 inch cutting capacity liquid cooled torch head I would like to automate it and cut down on my hand cutting time while increasing the accuracy and speed. The press break would be a perfect match for bending the smaller sheets after cutting them.

Cutting a 3/8" thick sheet and then re welding it at an angle is slow and time consuming. The press break could take an hours work and do it in a few minutes while having a much cleaner end look too!
But I doubt I will have it done this year so maybe next year.

It still amazes me how resourceful and motivated I can be in order to avoid getting a real job!

 

[BrownOut]

I am now planning a 6 by 12 foot CNC plasma torch table for doing fast precise sheet cutting

I'm doing the same thing. My design is an adaptation of the one is This Book But fabricating a torch holder in place of the router, and basically beefing up the frame. I'm using a 6 foot screw-type garage door actuator for the long axis. Mine will be smaller than yours, about 6'X4'.

 

[duffy]

So what the heck happened to OP?

 

[tcmtech]

He didn't like my prices!

I am not one to sell things for much less than fair market value.
I know what its worth and I stick to it.

 

[Polarbar]

A seller is entitled to set his price. However, when someone says that a buyer "didn't like my price" which was set at "fair market value", it sounds like the buyer doesn't want to be fair. Thats not very nice. Maybe I'm crazy but $800.00 for a 30 year old welder with a dead engine doesn't sound like fair market value to me.

 

[tcmtech]

Fair enough, but a low hours continental F-163 block is worth $800 alone. The copper and radiator is worth around $300 and the misc other stuff crankshaft, connecting rods, head, flywheel, starter, carburetor, and welder end components would bring an easy $1000 on an on line auction.
(I did some on line checking rather recently.)

I worked as a service tech for a welding supply company and part of my business for the past three years has been welder repair and salvage, so I have gotten to know the practical resale value of dead machines very well. My offer still stands $800. Its less than half what the going rate is for the parts.
I have seen these and similar old machines in poor running and hardly working condition bring $1000 - $1500 at farm auctions before. The Lincoln Pipeliners can hit double that for old beat up machines with 30K+ running hours on them!

What I do is the same business as an auto salvage yard. A dead vehicle is useless junk to most people but when you need parts for a car they get fair price for stuff.
I just dont have a real want yet to start stripping this one at the moment. It can sit here another season. I have a 10Kw 3 phase gen set with the exact same engine so I am not in any hurry to part this one out to any great extent yet.

If the parts are not that valuable why did someone run off with yours?
Very few people know the value of old industrial engine parts let alone old welder parts!

 

[duffy]

Polarbar, you say your welder was vandalized, sounds like someone stole some parts off it - what's missing?

 

[MARINE1142]

I agree $800.00 is a good deal for a miller big 40G I repair welding equipment also and its more than fair to a person who needs the parts. The electrical parts alone are worth more than that.

 

[Hero999]

why did someone run off with yours?

He said it was vandalised not stolen.