Welding using batteries and jumper cables

[filtered]

Well sewer you stated it would cost $1000
I have shown it won't If you have the skills to PROPERLY build a offroad 4x4 from the ground up
this is childs play

this way...you don't need to borrow anything from anyone...aka battery you are self contained


most gearheads that i know already have the parts needed to make one
diticated $x$ what the hell do you need ac for its not like most have tops ...doors...or windows anyway

People around here wheel more than just jeeps. Some people like myself wheel a street legal vehicle. I wheel a Samurai, there is no place to even put a second alt with a 12si GM alt and power steering stuff in there already, nor would I want to run a second alt. The 1.3L is already losing power to the first alt and power steering, it can't afford to lose more to a second alt.

It's much more common to see a dual battery set up in a rig to run a winch. In which case you wouldn't need to borrow a second battery. I don't know the kind of people you wheel with, but if someone in my group breaks everyone pitches in to get it going again. Borrowing a battery isn't a big deal. If you're out wheeling alone and break something, you're just stupid. Wheeling alone is far more dangerous than welding with batteries.

Also you'd be surprised at how many people go wheeling and don't know the first thing about fixing their junk. They pay others to lift it for them with bolt on parts.

Unless you're going to do a video write up on your own about the weldernator, maybe you should just say thanks for the info to the OP and quit acting like such a child.

 

[willymakeit]

Thanks for the info on welding with 2 batteries. That is something you use no matter where you are in the field. I remember reading about it but have never seen it done. Great tip.

 

[sewerzuk]

Well sewer you stated it would cost $1000
I have shown it won't If you have the skills to PROPERLY build a offroad 4x4 from the ground up
this is childs play

this way...you don't need to borrow anything from anyone...aka battery you are self contained


most gearheads that i know already have the parts needed to make one
diticated $x$ what the hell do you need ac for its not like most have tops ...doors...or windows anyway

You obviously either didn't read, or didn't comprehend my last post. This forum isn't pirate4x4, zuwharrie, naxja, or any of the other wheeling specific forums. It's the fabrication techniques section of the Garage Journal. I was demonstrating a technique for welding; a topic that I considered pretty valid. I would guess that a significant number of readers are not building a 4x4 "from the ground up" and don't have the tools to make a project like this "child's play." I did NOT intend to start a ******* match about which method of trail/roadside welding was the best. If you want to continue to debate this topic, I would suggest that you start another thread on it.

My Suzuki Samurai, Suzuki Vitara, Dodge truck, Deuce and a Half, and my XJ all have dual batteries. All of them also carry jumper cables and a few sticks of welding rod. If I need to weld something, I don't need to borrow a second battery. I'd say I'm plenty self-contained.

In fact, I have used the deuce as a standalone welding power supply on multiple occasions...as it already has a 24v electrical system:

 

[jhn9840]

Thanks for the You Tube link. Not an off roader just a welder who has never seen this done before. Learn something new everyday.

jhn9840
John

 

[GarageEnvy]

To the OP: How dare you come on here with your fancy informative video trying to teach us things that might help us get out of a serious jam some day. Don't you know we're all experts in everything and can't be taught anything new. If you're doing it different than we'd do it, you're clearly wrong and we're here to set you straight. Don't even bother telling us about your experience with other methods. We've got our minds made up. New idea, bad. My way, good.

People, take a deep breath. He's not saying toss the welder in the shop. It's a trail fix to get you by IN A PINCH.

 

[filtered]

sewerzuk even though you own an XJ you're alright in my book. The Sami and Vitara make up for it. The deuce and a half is very cool too. I don't normally carry jumper cables in the sami, but I will have to start now.

I know this is off topic, but where did you mount the second battery in the Sami? On the drivers side fender? I've been toying with the dual battery idea myself since adding the winch and GM alt, this just gives me another reason to do it.

 

[Brad54]

Hey Sewerzuk--i'm a HUGE fan of your posts on this topic and the video.

Someone else obviously feels the need to jump up on a table and try to prove his **** is bigger.

-Brad

 

[steel 35]

Thanks for sharing! I shared it as well at work today and can guarantee we will be testing it soon. Oh I was selective and didn't share it with the JHBFs

 

[sewerzuk]

I know this is off topic, but where did you mount the second battery in the Sami? On the drivers side fender? I've been toying with the dual battery idea myself since adding the winch and GM alt, this just gives me another reason to do it.

Driver's side fender, with the battery's long dimension parallel to the engine. Its kinda tight, but a 34/78 optima fits.

Thanks for sharing! I shared it as well at work today and can guarantee we will be testing it soon. Oh I was selective and didn't share it with the JHBFs

Glad to hear it! Post your experience up here...would like to see some feedback from somebody trying it for the first time.

 

[Garage5.9]

just in case you have to fix a broken con rod hahaha , nah seriously tho cool write up man. Do what ever you gotta do to get home

 

[OccupantRJ]

Excellent video tutorial. Thank you for taking the time to produce and share that with us. See my sig.

 

[Frank The Plumber]

And next week we show you how to cut your hair with your lawnmower.

And trim your side burns with a weed whacker.

 

[joeswamp]

Thanks for posting, it's pretty cool that this seems to work as well as it does. Great McGyver knowledge to have when you're in a desperate situation.

 

[FastKat]

Very cool video!!

 

[bmxr4life87]

This is great information to have as my service truck has 5 or 6 batts on it at all times plus jumper cables I just need some 6011s and I can maybe keep fcrom having to call a towtruck

 

[ElasDray]

I love learning new things, that is why I visit this site!! Thank you!

 

[cyamaha2007]

Great video. Im sure it will help a few out in a jam one day. Ive used this to weld a motor mount back on the frame in a very bad snow storm tens of miles from help and no cell service. I didnt see a car durring the entire repair. It saved my ****. Also nice m35 i saw it in the new warn commercial on spike. I love my deuce its been a great tool.

 

[e-tek]

Great video - even better response!!
Typical GJ naysaysers are still around - just under different usernames.

 

[sewerzuk]

Also nice m35 i saw it in the new warn commercial on spike. I love my deuce its been a great tool.

Thanks! Warn shot a bunch of video during an event last year...managed to get some free stuff and a few seconds of fame by doing a 6 wheel drift
It was pretty cool; we got free reign over the course for the entire day and there were a couple of pretty unique rigs there. I got to pull a few of them out after they got buried in the mud. I have a few good videos of the deuce on youtube...
No welding though

 

[smoky]

And next week we show you how to cut your hair with your lawnmower.

And trim your side burns with a weed whacker.

lol, I'm patiently waiting for the "trim your side burns with a weed whacker" thread. they are getting a bit long, and my clippers are broken.....

 

[sewerzuk]

Thought I might bring this thread back to life...in case there are any new(er) members who might like the info!

 

[Atbrook]

good demo video

 

[kbs2244]

Somewhere on the World Wide Wait the is a post about a 30 year power plant maintained mischance’s tool box when he retired.
(A true “gray beard”)

It was a Cushman battery powered truck with the back end full of SO boxes.
It was painted like a fire truck because he was always “putting out fires.”

But on one side was some screw on terminals for welding cables going back to the batteries.

Some of you may have electric power because of the kind of welding.

 

[fxgmech]

Hey Sewerzuk, good vids. Just to add some info, on the RH rear cab corner of your deuce in the vid is the slave receptacle they were equipped with. It's a 2-prong jumper connection to the batteries. All 24 volt tactical and combat vehicles I ever saw had it. The slave cable they had I recall was 20' long. That was for plug and play jump starts. They also had an adapter cable that plugged onto the slave cable and terminated with hefty jumper clamps. The adapter was not common like the slave cable. When we tried welding with it we just used a borrowed receptacle from another truck and visegrips. It worked but I never got the opportunity to it use for any field repairs.

 

[sewerzuk]

Hey Sewerzuk, good vids. Just to add some info, on the RH rear cab corner of your deuce in the vid is the slave receptacle they were equipped with. It's a 2-prong jumper connection to the batteries. All 24 volt tactical and combat vehicles I ever saw had it. The slave cable they had I recall was 20' long. That was for plug and play jump starts. They also had an adapter cable that plugged onto the slave cable and terminated with hefty jumper clamps. The adapter was not common like the slave cable. When we tried welding with it we just used a borrowed receptacle from another truck and visegrips. It worked but I never got the opportunity to it use for any field repairs.

I found one of these slave plugs at a surplus dealer. I have a few military surplus generator sets that also have the same slave receptacle, so I considered purchasing one of these cables but the price was more than I was willing to pay! It is a cool feature, but I hope to never be in a tactical situation that requires the few extra seconds that a conventional jumpstart does.
The slave cable with clamps sounds cool...would like to have one of those too.

 

[NHBandit]

Very cool story for a field repair in an emergency situation. Ignore the negativity. This place is full of folks who get off on either telling other folks that their way ***** & my way is the only way, or who want to be your mom and run from thread to thread telling the OP "be careful, you'll put an eye out". They are simply incapable of admitting that someone else had a good idea. The rest of us appreciate the tip.

 

[sewerzuk]

Very cool story for a field repair in an emergency situation. Ignore the negativity. This place is full of folks who get off on either telling other folks that their way ***** & my way is the only way, or who want to be your mom and run from thread to thread telling the OP "be careful, you'll put an eye out". They are simply incapable of admitting that someone else had a good idea. The rest of us appreciate the tip.

Thanks!

I do seem to attract a fair number of "safety sallies" with my videos...
I'm all for safety, but I also know that I might trip and fall on my way out the front door in the morning. That doesn't mean that I should stay in bed all day! My normal occupations have me hanging off the edge of roofs, using power tools, welding, and working inside of burning buildings. A bit of battery welding seems like the "safe" part of my days...

 

[CNGsaves]

Great informative video Sewerzuk. Excellent "save your ****" knowledge that lots of GJer's might need in a pinch.

Others may not know that Sewerzuk is guru on military generators as well !!! I've watched a ton of his YouTubes on fixing MEP-002A gensets (and larger) as someday I'd like to have a standby generator. Sewerzuk is guru on SteelSoldiers forum on gensets.

Thanks again for sharing your expertise !

 

[fxgmech]

I found one of these slave plugs at a surplus dealer. I have a few military surplus generator sets that also have the same slave receptacle, so I considered purchasing one of these cables but the price was more than I was willing to pay! It is a cool feature, but I hope to never be in a tactical situation that requires the few extra seconds that a conventional jumpstart does.
The slave cable with clamps sounds cool...would like to have one of those too.

I guess the copper in those cables must make the demand high. The setup is meant to "soldier-proof" the jump start ops. Polarity always correct and any sparks away from outgassing batteries, for example. Thanks for bringing it back to life. Got me thinking on it now. Our service truck at work has no welder but does have a battery pack for jump starts. This won't take up any room, just need to keep the rods on the truck and the correct shade filter lens to pop into goggles or tie on somehow (and to remember to clamp pos to the work). Short term U/V shielding can be dense cloth with eyeholes, soaked and wrung out. I've done that for torching under equipment and it works great.

 

[Jd34]

This thread is worth resurrecting. I wished I had the knowledge of it last week when a buddy of mine broke a tie rod on his side x side and was left stranded out in the woods.

It was terrible trying to get that RZR out of the deep woods with a broken tie rod.

The OP is probably long gone by now but much thanks to him for posting that informative vid. I'm never again going to let a broken tie rod out on the trail ruin a day of trail blazing.

 

[sewerzuk]

The OP is probably long gone by now but much thanks to him for posting that informative vid. I'm never again going to let a broken tie rod out on the trail ruin a day of trail blazing.

I'm still active! Don't post much here, but still lurk around
Still busy out on the trails! In fact, I used this jumper cable welding technique in the middle of nowhere a few months back to weld a broken shock mount during an overland trip. Survived the rest of the trip, and still running on it now.

 

[sberry]

I have some remote lugs on a couple of work trucks. It makes it easy to use common jumpers and is the last connection away from the battery and keeps the hood down on the jump truck.

 

[AJ.]

Last year I came across a guy in the Simpson Desert in central Australia who had snapped the draw bar on his camper trailer. I used the battery welding technique to patch him up good enough to get him out of the desert which saved him around $4000 which would have been the cost to get his trailer recovered from that spot.

The welds aren't going to win any awards, but given i was welding overhead and vertical with no amperage control and hadn't burnt a full rod in over 4 years I was happy enough that the ugly welds were good enough to get the job done





Cheers Andrew

 

[Jd34]

Now that's what I'm talking about- awesome AJ!

I can't imagine how happy you made them.

Glad sewerzuk is still around and thanks again to him for providing the info In this thread.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Food for thought to go with this topic. Instead of the ski mask, a nomex hood (firefighter style) can be had for less than $20 online at the Fire Store. It can be used in the shop when you have to stick your head in tight spots (not your ***) to get a weld or out on the trail during repairs or to keep your grape warm.

http://www.thefirestore.com/store/search.aspx?keywords=nomex hood&sort_by_field=Price:ASC

 

[AJ.]

Now that's what I'm talking about- awesome AJ!

I can't imagine how happy you made them.

Glad sewerzuk is still around and thanks again to him for providing the info In this thread.

Yeah they were over the moon when we parted company just outside the first town out of the Desert, Birdsville if anyone cares to look at a map.

Cheers Andrew

 

[C_F]

What a cool thread! Sewerzuk, thank you so much for posting this! Like many of the earlier comments, I didn't know this was possible to do without blowing up a battery. This is very valuable knowledge to have, I'm going to have to give it a test try one day soon.