The Story of Alternating Current Arc Welding - 1944

Short instructional piece about the methods of AC arc welding and the advantages of AC vs.DC arc welding. Arc blow (caused by magnetic disturbances) is minimized with AC. Variables discussed; current setting, speed of travel, length of arc, angle of electrode.

[@NOTAGOVTAGENT]

these old training videos, regardless of the subject at hand are so much better than what are produced these days. They really focus on the basic theory of the operation at hand and make it easier to understand.

[@shanefugere]

I love these style of educational videos.

[@dr.torque-o-maticwithoverh6597]

That's why I buy older textbooks. They may be outdated to some, but the information is still valid and is broken down enough to the point of elementary.

[@austingupton1421]

Me too! Straightforward and easy to understand. Some of the best educational videos are from the 40’s.

[@Lmr6973]

This is how educational videos should still be made.

[@grumblyone3334]

Consise, & detailed, with no baloney. Thank you 1940's America!

[@chriscraft77022]

this is the best welding video on youtube... you need to retitle this video

[@melgross]

Really interesting. GE knew how to make an informative film. I learned more about AC stick welding there than anywhere else. Too bad they’re having problems these days.

[@tayloratnip8103]

I've learn more from this than any other video on youtube. Now I can say I know why we use AC welding.

[@michaelkeymont501]

A grinder and paint makes me the welder I ain’t...

[@frankthespank]

I say that every time I weld 😆

[@notajp]

I've welded with those huge high current AC machines using those 3/8" electrodes. I was doing production work building machines used in the canning industry. You can get some serious penetration in very thick steel, and the fillet welds are beautiful and smooth. Slag would peel right off and very little chip hammer use was required. I loved running those welders! Nothing like it these days.

[@Agui007]

I used to do arc welding at college. So, the machines back then were basically much better?

[@dheujsnrhfydhehehshshhdggsd]

not a yes or no answer. they were simpler and took a brute force approach that made application outside a factory impossible

[@melgross]

No, they weren’t better. They were worse. But they did what they had to do. Any AC machine today will produce the same results at the same machine output level.

[@michaelszczys8316]

Everybody seems to think that welding DC is far superior but it is not. Maybe that’s why I almost never use it stick welding

[@SirMo]

@@Agui007 Today's welding machines are much more capable. Even when it comes to Arc welding. For instance on more advanced arc welders you have features like hot start, which allows you to do low amperage welding (on thinner metal) but where it would normally be very difficult to strike an arc (due to low amperage), the hot start features gives you higher voltage at the start of the weld to help you strike that arc. The other advantage is that you can do DCEP, DCEN and AC welding which all have their advantages. Inverter welders capable of AC usually produce a higher frequency AC current (as opposed to being limited to 60Hz on the old buzz boxes). Which can produce smoother welds as well. Arc welders really shine out in a field. Because they are more compact (no need to carry spools of wire, or Argon tanks). And inverter based Arc welders can be made to be very compact and easy to carry. With that said. The old AC welding machines were very simple devices.. there was very little to screw up on them and they lasted forever. Which is why people have fond memory of them. They were basically a known quantity and they just worked. With inverter based welders today, there is a lot of variety and cheap chineasium offerings you have to weed through to find a decent welding machine.

[@BrucesShop]

Great video. I stick-weld most of the time as I don't have to fiddle around with gas, wire, and wind. I have extend length leads and can move around the shop with ease, even outside. Yes all forms of welding have their place. I love them all.

[@lewisdrake5765]

My nephew wants to learn how to use my everlast welder. I want to teach him all of the forms of welding.

[@BrucesShop]

In teaching him You will learn a lot too.

[@SirMo]

@@lewisdrake5765 Arc welding is a great way to learn welding. Once he knows arc it's relatively easy to migrate to other methods.

[@Rattletrap2]

Ahhhh....the good old days!

[@AvocaSingleTrack]

Wish all instructional video's were "straight up" like these . K.I.S.S. , like Jody's video's

[@elijahjohnson1184]

+AvocaSingleTrack Jody is the man. I learned just about everything about welding watching his videos when I first got my everlast welder. He is the best.

[@manga12]

you must mean welding tips and tricks channel, yea but he goes in to really niche techniques of doing things, I will never need to use an argon box, and I dont do tig welding yet, I do mig and just starting out at that, but yea he was the head of metalergy at a major airline or something like that on would do well to pay attention to what he has to say.

[@GavinFreedomLover]

Thanks I love these old videos, great times

[@billbright1755]

Electrode 7024 sometimes called jet rod or jet weld was a perfect rod for flat welding of thicker plates. In one quarter inch diameter core size and with approximately 250 amps alternating current it would lay beautifully done beads with self peeling slag. Part of the flux iron powder would add to deposits thus the term jet for increased speed. I ran mountains of it on 1” plates for clamshell buckets. Supplanted now days with metal core type wires with gas shielding continuously fed semi automatic welding.

[@AWDJRforYouTube]

AC arc welding with large electrodes, were the norm in industry for production welding..."It is very interesting how the welding manufacturers have taken the large AC welders off the market to promote more complex and expensive wire feed welding and consumables."

[@obfuscated3090]

Wire has much less waste in production welding vs. generating rod stubs, but those old high OCV stick machines have their uses. I have a Hobart T-400 AC-only transformer machine and it welds very well. I may add a rectifier and inductor for DC if I fall into a three phase donor cheap..

[@james10739]

That looks like a water heater with a hand crank

[@oc_villain3833]

+Andrew Moody Very True !! as long as they don't blow themselves up ,. !!! happy welding Andrew.. .

[@TheVoice010]

Wow!...Now I understand why we switch between DCEN and DCEP!....This is a Gold Mine Video!

[@LOUDFARTNOISES]

If every one wanting to weld watched this once every three days when they begin...

[@obfuscated3090]

Large AC-only industrial transformer welders are very durable and many were designed to run on single phase. If you don't max them out many can run off a 50A breaker (not to code of course). I've love to restore one of those classics in the video.

[@bigdave6447]

Sorry they've already been scrapped and recycled into DC power supplies!!

[@justtestingonce]

@@bigdave6447 just bought one, running it in 40 amp breaker too, no issues so far.

[@Montanho09]

I also just bought mine, old classic running on 50Amps, it's a beast.. I just have to run it with my generator @@justtestingonce

[@aaronfaucett6442]

You can lessen arc blow by clamping the ground as far from the work area as possible

[@tjlovesrachel]

Lmaoo

[@mattfogarty8144]

Sometimes

[@livefreeordiee]

Concise, simple and straight to the point. Videos like these that are made in the present day contain too much spiel and uselessness.

[@CraftinmineralMc]

I have an old dayton AC stick welder and it is fantastic

[@leonvdm]

CraftinmineralMc high amp old AC machines are great indeed, i use an old phillips welder weekly for the big jobs. just love it!

[@sephangelo4603]

+CraftinmineralMc With 7018 AC rods, you'll be happy. I wish those electrodes were available in a more global scale. My nearby welding supplies stores don't have those amazing rods.

[@somethinburnin]

I have a 60's Montgomery Wards PowrKraft 230 AC welder, built by Century! Your Dayton might be a Century also, great machines.

[@1978garfield]

Some of the Daytons were rebadged MIllers. Same for some Aircos.

[@randomschittz9461]

I have one of those machines in my laundry room. We call it a water heater though. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@sephangelo4603]

AC is good for preventing arc blow, but where I'm from 6011s/7014s are not a viable option and 6013s suck at penetrating deeply.

[@jpguidry9062]

Your right

[@mattfogarty8144]

Truth

[@phantomtech287]

Super old is always gold

[@douglasalan7786]

From the days when merica had it's A and was truly #1.Untouchable. Gotta run. Miley is twerkin' with Kuntashinan on murkin idolatry ! Wheeeee !

[@james10739]

Make America Great Again

[@100texan2]

Yep, gotta run to harbor freight (Corona Freight) because the politicians sold us out to China and other third world shitholes. Who’s your daddy? CHINA IS BABY!

[@mikecubes1642]

@@100texan2 that was the deal to make the dollar the world currency, we have to remove almost all factories from the USA. now you need a 4 year degree to make the same money your grandpa made after dropping out of high school

[@Bassude]

Repel women's privilege to vote, fund some actual / virtual fences and import indigenous Europeans. That's how it is done and how it was initially done.

[@liamobrien9451]

@@Bassude stfu

[@PBS-nm1uu]

great video best of the best !!!!

[@manbearpig2164]

Cool arc blow graphics

[@luciusirving5926]

I'm proud of my homemade welder which makes quality AC MMA welds.

[@jozafax]

Superb video, thank you!

[@UWfalcin]

I, LOVE this!

[@pratikgade9689]

Really Helpful!

[@barbaro267]

The things I have to research in order to write a simple story LOL.

[@ardennielsen3761]

i have a DC inverter welder... i have only got problems with arc blow when welding inside of tanks... welding outside of them it works perfect. the engineers could add a revers pulse into the circuit of the DC inverters making them 80% DC with a 20% reverse pulse and that would probably fix that problem, " lets say over a given time the welder runs current at 100amps in one direction for 80% of time and runs that same 100 amps in the other direction for 20% all at 200 or more times a second" so with high end inverter, high frequency switching technology an DC arc that acts partly like an AC arc can be made. like squirting glue out of a plastic glue bottle.

[@ronblack7870]

that sounds like AC just non symetrical AC

[@Frann1girl]

What is the material at 12:42 that he is dipping the electrode in prior to clamping it in the electrode holder?

[@Frann1girl]

oh, I guess he is cleaning the slag.

[@genebuttler5563]

From all the current you tube videos on stick welding, the consensus is that DC arc welding is more forgiving. What changed?

[@Techno0908]

With good inverter machines these days, and controllable arc force and such

[@kdanagger6894]

+AKweldshop You are right about the quality. The thing that makes a machine weld crappy is its inability to deliver a consistent amount of current and a consistent arc. AC or DC makes very little difference in terms of arc stability if all other things are equal. Shitty little welders with undersized transformers are going to weld poorly - period. DC welders are more expensive to start with and therefore are more likely to have bigger transformers. But, an equally beefy AC welder can weld just as nice as a DC one in most situations. AC *is* still better for suppressing Arc blow. It is just as true today as it was 70 years ago.

[@juarezvivo-sc2qi]

Hi, I'm an ignorant about this welding issues, but I recently bought a cheap Harbor Freight 90 amps Harbor Freight flux core wire welder machine. This machine works with AC and I have seen some you tube vids were people install a rectifier bridge to retrofit it to DC operation. The people says the performance of the welding is improved. I have some doubts regarding if the modifications provides advantages or if finally the welding quality result better with AC. Any contribution to solve my doubts will be welcome

[@Gavreeli]

+juarez. vivo Flux Core welding operation is more complicated than Stick welding, so isn't as simple as saying I like AC more than DC. In Stick you like AC and can just use AC compatible electrodes, end of discussion. Flux Core wires are mostly designed for DC- polarity, with a few using DC+. I am not aware of any flux core wire specifically made for AC and I wouldn't use AC for anything hoping to bear any kind of weight because you will be screwing with the melting of the flux(which provides gas shielding, slag shielding, and de-oxidizing elements, and alloying elements), transfer method of wire to weld puddle, and penetration characteristics. So you may be able to stick two pieces of steel together but most likely will be a very weak weld.

[@walterforsiethe2567]

Excellent answer. The rectified DC would probably also result in a smoother arc. If you can, just buy a small inverter welder like maybe an everlast to get you started. small inverters have a nice smooth arc and won't do AC unless you set it to for tig welding aluminum.

[@2809561]

THANK YOU FOR.

[@Evilslayer73]

Nice review in informative video very good :) im a welder

[@tomt9543]

Looked like they were welding with 24” long electrodes! Wonder if that red welder was GE’s attempt to go from producing water heaters to making welders? Ha! Looked like R2D2’s grandfather!

[@wlcful]

very nice!!!!!

[@bigdave6447]

When using ac don't coil cables ,that causes impedence

[@bigdave6447]

To minimize arc length. Also don't use high current!

[@princefernandes5789]

Old is gold 😻👏👌👏👏🛠🛠🛠🛠🛠🛠🛠🛠

[@welderdude1]

Wrap your ground around pipe is it is magnetized.

[@leonvdm]

the x ray at the end :O 13:33 (nothing like todays sircumstances)

[@XX-pn4sm]

Leon van der Maas circumstances* headass

[@Frann1girl]

3/8 inch electrode? wow!!

[@yo64yo]

damn, I don't even think that they still make 3/8" electrodes anymore

[@JonDingle]

Jet rods (7024) is what I think he was referring too and they are available today. They have a very heavy flux on them, run brilliant and give a beautiful finish to the bead.

[@randacnam7321]

They exist still, but are specialist and hard to get by normal people.

[@steelstock9931]

They make them up to a quarter inch check out Lincoln electric

[@yo64yo]

@@steelstock9931 yee, I was wondering if larger are still in use today though. Later I found out that there's 3/4" electrodes. here's a vid of it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGeUlq14jZJ4r6M

[@steelstock9931]

@@yo64yo yeah there are 3/4 inch electrodes for things like heavy die repair but basically 1/4 inch is the biggest you'll ever need for anything because on thicker materials you'll be preheating them anyway. Plus 1/4 inch is the biggest you can humanly handle out of position like vertical or overhead

[@survivalguyfyi5718]

I've always heard DC welding is the most preferred unless welding aluminum or magnetized steel. Never touched an AC welder. I do love my DC Miller Trailblazer EFI 325. Running 7018 almost welds itself.

[@patrickfarley8036]

If you ever get the chance, run 7018 on AC. You may never want to run 'em on DC again!

[@survivalguyfyi5718]

patrick farley ; I will be sure and try that if I ever have me an AC welder near by. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@patrickfarley8036]

Oh, and you don't need your 7018 rods to say AC on them. They're all ac/dc.

[@travisfeltwater5664]

I thought 7018 came in ac and dc

[@survivalguyfyi5718]

Travis Feltwater: Pretty sure any 7018 rod can run on AC or DC. They just run a little differently. I’ve never welded on AC with anything. Always DC. Only because all my welders are DC only. I have on a rare occasion wished I had a cheap little AC buz box when welding magnetized steel. You’ll run into that sometimes when welding on plows and stuff that has been run through the ground. Oil Field pipe can sometimes magnetize too. I’ve always just taken my ground lead and wrapped it around the piece of steel. It will take that magnetic field right out. At least while you are welding. If not, that DC arc will be dancing all over the place.

[@csae4694]

12:41 wtf??? thats a pipe...not an electrode...

[@jpguidry9062]

Your right

[@ThunderPelocho]

Two people only have DC inverters.

[@shaftwood]

Man, that welder looks like a water heater.

[@bigdave6447]

Stringer beads are stronger than gorilla beads. All our submarines were welded with DC!!

[@balagadoo9849]

I dont get it

[@tjlovesrachel]

Burnin baseball bats with that deep fillet

[@bigdave6447]

Funny at one time Edison hated ac current. He lost his DC bid to Westinghouse and Tesla with using ac!

[@pauldow1648]

DC was not highly regarded back then......

[@bigdave6447]

Glad t0o see a c welding is where it belongs ...in a museum!! Come over I'll be happy to show you how to do it with DC! Plus ac is only as efficient as DC!! A.C. R.M.S is 70.7% of d.c.

[@oc_villain3833]

Stick Welding where it all begins,. Regardless what Welders use today ,. Now before Stick Welding I supposed it was Mud,. ? .

[@andrewmoody6330]

+OC_VILLAIN Oxy acetylene torches

[@Gavreeli]

+OC_VILLAIN Oxy-Acetylene and Carbon Arc welding.

[@manga12]

and forge welding in a blacksmith shop

[@antilogism]

Anyone else think the narrator sounds like Jack Benny?

[@paulcastanho3435]

Im a welder specialising in tig. This info is irrelevant today as stick welding is done in DC- these days. Not AC. Only process I know that uses AC is tig welding aluminium in the first place

[@garagekeys]

Plenty of ac stick welder still being sold

[@hiddokramer]

Uuh, AC welding is still done alot, they still use it to prefent arc blow on construction sites and alot of welders use Light AC stick welders when they have to climb something, they got the welder on the back and the hanging down to the generator, AC stick welding is something that will mostlikely will never go away because its the most portable form of welding.

[@Void-tw6sx]

does not matter if ac or dc as long as your good at it..

[@RuralTowner]

@@Void-tw6sx E X A C T L Y

[@AlphaFlight]

all I do is tig welding. stick welding looks so dirty and messy compared to it. if you wanna be a real welder do tig welding. it involves 80 % more skill. and pays a lot better.

[@gunnarfreyrhilmarsson5905]

Both Tig and stick are needed , otherwise they wouldn´t be manufactured. Stick welding is still the most preferred method outside and thank God for people who know how to stick weld :)

[@AlphaFlight]

Gunnar Freyr Hilmarsson your right there's times I wish I stick welded we don't do stick where I'm at

[@gunnarfreyrhilmarsson5905]

You could buy a cable and electrodes and practice after hours at work. Most Tig machines can be used for stick welding too. Good luck Adrian and God bless you

[@leonvdm]

Adrian Nava hahaha, just laughin at you. clearly not that educated a welder. I pay myself quite a lot for stickwelding on the spot :D. its just all just to what you compare it to. maybe in your situation tig pays better. not in mine.

[@braddeplazes2082]

tig welding is much easier than most processes

[@oc_villain3833]

+Andrew Moody Very True !! as long as they don't blow themselves up ,. !!! happy welding Andrew.. .