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Electric golf carts Harley Davidson, Melex, Pargo, Taylor-Dunn and other Misc. Carts. |
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09-02-2008, 07:50 PM | #1 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 25
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Golf Cart Welder
Hey guys, I have a one man welding/machine shop serving local Amish farmers and other small businesses. I bought a junked Cushman golf cart with only a solenoid, 36V motor, and throttle (no computerized nothing). It runs on 3 car batteries wired in series just fine. (for testing purposes). Question? I have a Miller Bluestar 140 with 9 HP Honda engine I am not currently using. Can I skip the batteries and run the cart off of the welding current alone? I would then have a welder to use when I got there saving mucho gasoline for small jobs nearby. Thanks
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09-04-2008, 09:53 AM | #2 |
Getting Wild
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: northern calif
Posts: 97
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
Interesting thought, what is the voltage uptput of the welder?? If it a regulated 36 or so volts, it may be worth a try. You may be onto something wacker. Randy
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09-04-2008, 10:20 AM | #3 |
Golf Cart Photographer
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Wichita Falls Texas - My Ride 2010 Club Car
Posts: 6,236
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
Welcome to the forum kuntrywelder...............
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09-04-2008, 06:33 PM | #4 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 25
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
Thanks for the welcome. Regarding voltage, all my Miller welders say they have 25 volts. I just had to know so I hooked my shop stick/tig welder to it and it ran till the 50' leads ran out. I bypassed the solenoid thinking it was the most fryable component. Next I hooked it up to my service truck welder and it ran good even though the weld current is not as stable as the shop welder. The next step will be to hook up the Bluestar 140 and have it mounted on the cart so I can go a couple miles. The 140 is an uncurried wolf pup with manual controls and when I had to use it recently in a bind I readjusted it to get it to burn larger rods and after speeding it up it started long arcing indicating a higher than optimal voltage. Probably still only about 30 volts at the most but I think it might just work. Thanks
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09-05-2008, 09:16 AM | #5 |
Getting Wild
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: northern calif
Posts: 97
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
Kuntry, as long as the current can maintain the performance the voltage difference can be compensated forbut, if the voltage starts to drop off the current will skyrocket and "burny, burny, melt, melt.". Let us know how it runs after about five minutes of continual use. If the motor is too hot to touch it is probably not going to work for too long. Great idea though, it could start a whole new forum.
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09-05-2008, 05:53 PM | #6 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 25
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
Thanks for info, ogre'sdad. I will keep it posted but this is my busy season (farm harvest) and it might take me a while to get any further. These machines are constant current so I don't think it will go up unexpectedly. We'll see.
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09-05-2008, 07:20 PM | #7 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 281
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
That sounds like it would be a slick setup. Please update as you dig into the project.
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09-05-2008, 08:45 PM | #8 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 25
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
Bulky, yes the little 140 is a stick machine. I do primarily repair and rebuild work and prefer stick for that. I do have a MIG in the shop but mainly use the spoolgun on stainless and aluminum. By the way since the 140 is constant current and will produce only as much as I set it on does anyone know about what current setting I should use. I don't want to make a current adjustment on the fly because welder rheostats and current adjustments under load don't coexist very long. I will hook up a throttle adjustment for RPMS but that is all I will have for the engine without stopping. Thanks
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09-05-2008, 09:44 PM | #9 |
nimda
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 13,022
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
The max Voltage your welder will put out will coincide with how fast your going to go. If your welder puts out 25 volts at full power your top speed will be about 2/3 of what a 36 volt cart will do. It does not matter how many amps your welder puts out....the motor will only use what it needs. You cannot force amps into the motor to make it go faster.
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09-05-2008, 10:34 PM | #10 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 25
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Re: Golf Cart Welder
OK, Roady, that may impose a limitation I am unwilling to live with. I am a machinist and welder not an electrician. I was thinking along the lines of 3HP motor on the cart. 3 HP equals 2235 watts divided by 25 volts requiring about 90 amps- well within the welder's capability. It may be time to say what I always said working on mine eqipment in industry. I have talked enough and now it's time to do something even if it's wrong. Thanks, we'll see.
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