Stick Welding Tips, Certification tests, machines, projects
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mtnmike
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    Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:33 pm
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Does anybody know how to make a lead reel? I would like to make a reel for my leads, electric cord and oxy/acet . Apparently it is the cool thing to do on a rig. I kinda like my set up but what are the thoughts?
cj737
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    Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:59 am

I've been helping m best buddy outfit his new pipeline rig. He bought some very deluxe reels in anodized aluminum. Looking at how they are constructed, engineered, and delivered, it would be hard to build them DIY for their price.

I've seen less expensive models that would not be too hard to make, but the subtle different things about his make them very nice, and they work really well. We built some stainless tubes to stand them on so that when you crank the handle to roll them up, you aren't smacking your hand into the bed of the truck. If you have access to a CNC plasma or water jet, you could probably make the end caps and plates pretty easily and have them look sharp.
mtnmike
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Thank you for the input. I do have access to a CNC, but I am having a hard time figuring out how to make it without the entire reel being live. I did have a thought of making the tube large enough that the reel sits on so I can stuff a foot or so of the tail connection . It would obviously have to be mounted pretty close to the machine.
cj737
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I should be over to his place this weekend. If so, I'll take numerous pictures and try to post them up so you can see how to DIY it if that's helpful-
cj737
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The gas reel:
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Here's the Stick reel:
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rahtreelimbs
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    Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:39 pm

On something like this is the entire reel "live?"
Poland308
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If you look close you can see what looks like a teflon spacer around the center pin of the reel. I'm guessing that only the wire connections and the center pin are live. Otherwise you would have to insulate the whole base plate from the truck bed.
I have more questions than answers

Josh
cj737
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    Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:59 am

Poland308 wrote:If you look close you can see what looks like a teflon spacer around the center pin of the reel. I'm guessing that only the wire connections and the center pin are live. Otherwise you would have to insulate the whole base plate from the truck bed.
Correct. The reels are made in such a way that they are insulated from sparking and grounding out/shorting to each other. Sorry the pictures are a bit crappy. I remembered to snap them amid a day's worth of backhoe bucket repair and honestly, I was pretty darn beat by then. :oops:

Here's the website he ordered them through for more info:
http://www.tidweld.com
Lightning
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    Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:55 pm

What happens if you try to weld with all that cable still on the reel? I bet you get some wicked arc blow...those coils of cable are basically big electromagnets when current goes through them...
cj737
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Lightning wrote:What happens if you try to weld with all that cable still on the reel? I bet you get some wicked arc blow...those coils of cable are basically big electromagnets when current goes through them...
Not at all. In fact, my pal normally screws on his work leads and may only unwind 5'-10' (as we did Saturday) if it's a simple, nearby task. Pipelines use this setup almost entirely and you're the first person I've heard mention it?
Poland308
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Coiling up lead can actually help fight arc blow.
I have more questions than answers

Josh
Lightning
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Poland308 wrote:Coiling up lead can actually help fight arc blow.
Yes. By creating an electromagnet.

If the electromagnet adds to the flux, rather than counteracts it, it can make the arc blow worse. It just depends on which way it's coiled, and on the field that it's adding to (or counteracting).

Main reason I ask about it is, once when I was having weird gremlins with a Sync 250, the Miller tech asked whether the torch lead was coiled on the machine handles, and he said I should always be sure to uncoil any coiled lead, lest the magnetic field do possibly weird things with the circuitry inside... on my engine drive welder, I flake the leads (bunch them up into sine waves, in effect) rather than coil them, to avoid causing arc blow...if the leads are in sine waves rather than coils, the magnetic fields should cancel each other out...
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