Antique welder information

[Woods_Wanderer]

I have found a rather interesting old welder for sale locally and I'm interested in it, but I've been having a lot of trouble finding information on old welders in general and this one in particular.

The ad only states that it's a General Electric rated at 400 amps and can run on 220 volt.
Can anyone ID this machine or point me towards more information? It reminds me a bit of the old Lincoln torpedo machines, could it be DC?

 

[dr_clyde]

Don’t have much specific information, but that should be a DC motor generator. It would use an electric motor to drive a DC generator, like an engine drive would. Much like the Lincoln torpedos


They supposed have an exceptionally nice arc for stick welding due to the pure DC instead of the rectified AC from a transformer.

They’re not valuable, due to weight, age and lack of modern features. Don’t pay more than scrap dirty copper price. That’s all they’re worth in today’s world.

Still would be a neat welder to run as a hobby machine or if you had a mess of stick welding to do.

 

[rustyjames]

I've used one of those type machines once many years ago and can tell you that they make beautiful 7018 welds and easily run. Smooth as silk.

 

[American Locomotive]

Yup, motor-generator welder. I have a Lincoln Torpedo (the red vertically oriented one).

The biggest issue with the Lincoln Torpedo - and that GE - is that they're 3-phase machines. Not small 3-phase motors either, they're big 10- 15HP motors that take a lot of power to start.

 

[Woods_Wanderer]

Well, I ended up buying the GE welder. I had decided against it due to size and lack of 3p power but after I mentioned it to a friend they offered to let me keep it in their shop.
This thing is big, and heavy! at least 600-800lbs. It's not rated very high though for all that weight. I've not had much luck finding more information about it yet, but I'll keep at it.

I do have a tentative mfg date though-the 3 patents on the front panel date to 1937, 1939, and 1943, and the tattered remnants of a paper wiring diagram/Q.C. signoff sheet under the leads cover panel has "J(un)e 15, 1943" handwritten on it. I've very curious if it started it's life working a WWII production line somewhere, it seems likely given the date.

I'll update with more information and pictures eventually as I clean it up and hopefully dig up some more information.


And here is the information on the plate:

ARC WELDER
NEMA RATING

TYPE WD-32-C [1] 60% DUTY CYCLE

VOLTS [ 40 ] AMPS [200] SPEED [1750]

MODEL NO. [6WD32C1]

SERIAL NO. [2332610]


MOTOR

VOLTS [220/440] AMPS [42/21]

PHASES [3] CYCLES [60]



PAT. 2085995 2180983 2307588