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Tool Talk Discussion Forum

Thawing water pipe with welder???

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cmbb

02-04-2004 19:23:55




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Gentlemen; I have a 18 hp miller welder and would like to use it to thaw an underground water pipe. what would you suggest for amperage? Pipe is about 1 1/2" diameter and 50 ft. long.




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Fred OH

02-06-2004 09:10:55




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 Re: Thawing water pipe with welder??? in reply to cmbb, 02-04-2004 19:23:55  
The little Tombstone Lincoln welders (225 amp)have a circle around the 75 amp position on the face of the welder that is used for pipe thawing. It is 100% duty cycle at that position. Just make sure that everything is clean, bright and tight and the welder is clean inside...not loaded with crud. It will run all day at that setting with the proper voltage going to it. What to do if your welder is different...my guess would be to set it to less than 1/4 or 1/3 of it's full amperage...use AC only, don't go through the rectifiers unless thats all you have. While in the thawing operation, get down there and smell the air coming out of the welder...is it warm or hot? Do you smell windings heating? It's a judgement call if you don't have a manual for the machine but can be done. A word of caution though...know the pipe you're going to thaw...make sure that no gas lines are bonded to it for ground...it is possible...electric circuits too. Use common sense and be safe! Fred OH

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Bill 52 8n

02-05-2004 22:41:36




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 Re: Thawing water pipe with welder??? in reply to cmbb, 02-04-2004 19:23:55  
Make sure you hook up the cables to the pipe before you turn it on, otherwise you'll be doin some plumbing work.

Bill



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Craig

02-05-2004 09:25:43




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 Re: Thawing water pipe with welder??? in reply to cmbb, 02-04-2004 19:23:55  
too many amps will not damage the pipe. It will however damage your welder. you must not set the amperage higher than your welders 100% duty cycle rating. for example, a welder could be rated 200 amps at 40% duty cycle and 110 amps at 100% duty cycle. in this case any setting above 110 amps could damage your welder.



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Neal

02-04-2004 19:52:02




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 Re: Thawing water pipe with welder??? in reply to cmbb, 02-04-2004 19:23:55  
I use a 220 welder to thaw 3/4 inch copper tubeing at a distance of about 50 feet set on the higher range at 75 amps. It generally takes about one hour and ten minutes to thaw out the pipes. You need a good clean connection at both ends where you hook the welder up. Hope this helps.



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cmbb

02-05-2004 02:18:38




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 Re: Re: Thawing water pipe with welder??? in reply to Neal, 02-04-2004 19:52:02  
Neal; Thanks!



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