A tale of two welders

[Iplayfarmer]

So, I have a Lincoln AC/DC welder with 12 foot leads. As luck would have it, I found an old lincoln AC welder at a yard sale with 20 foot leads. The price was right, so I bought the AC welder figuring I could switch the long leads for my short ones and sell off the AC welder.

Here's the deal. I can't figure out how to get the leads off of the new welder. I've attached a few pictures. The first three are various shots of the newer AC/DC welder. The last one is of the old AC welder. The old one is easy... Undo a bolt and the wire is free. The new one has the wire crimped into those metal tabs.

I'd appreciate any advice on how to switch out these leads.

 

[bcp]

Cut the new leads inside the cabinet, where the splice will be protected, then use these:

Tweco #4-1/0 copper cable welding lead wire splice

Bruce

 

[gengine]

Cut the leads outside the cabinet and use these. US Forge Welding Red Cable Connectors #4 thru #1/1 00622

 

[bcp]

Quick detach leads would be useful at times. And you could make up easy-to-use extensions when you find a cable bargain.

Bruce

 

[Haywire]

I used crimp type splices on my leads.

Ian

 

[cowski]

use cable connectors on the end and have 32 foot leads.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

If you are intent on replacing the cables at the terminal point, then, it looks like they are "tinned" and soldered as well as crimped. A little heat with a propane torch will likely get it loose, and then a pair of pliers gripping the tab, and a screw driver inserted under the tab and the crimp can be straightened out.

The disadvantage is that it is difficult to add in a larger gauge cable. As other said, putting a quick connector on the outside of the cabinet is the best idea.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Quick detach leads would be useful at times. And you could make up easy-to-use extensions when you find a cable bargain.

Bruce

I've been looking for a while. Cable bargains are hard to come by.

I'll price out splices vs. quick detach and see where I land. I guess for now I'll put the welder back together while I still remember where everything goes. If I splice something, I'll probably do it on the outside of the cabinet.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

So, BCP's suggestion got the better of me. I cut off the wires inside the cabinet and spliced the longer leads onto the short wire stubs. The local hardware store had the metal splices, but not the official tweco splice covers. I covered each splice with a layer of electrical tape, then a layer of friction tape, then another layer of electrical tape. It's probably not as bullet proof as the tweco stuff; but inside the cabinet, I'm pretty comfortable that the system I used will outlast me.

The first picture shows the splice before taping it. The second picture shows the splice after taping. I'm also including a few pictures of the older welder that I poached the longer leads off of. If anyone in Southeast Idaho is looking for a nice AC Stick welder with short leads, let me know.

 

[bcp]

Now go weld something for your tractor.



Bruce