Advice on Heating with a Stick Welder

[Bootheal]

I’m not getting a good picture of the vertical 6x6’s but I’m fairly dense in the thinking department.

On of my ideas was to put a rebar or rod through the open conduit, sticking out both sides. Place a plate drilled for the rods, over the rods and weld a washer to keep it all together.



There’s a few issues with this idea:
The blocks need to be in the water.
There’s going to be movement from waves off and on, so I need to keep a cushion between the blocks.

I have 8’x8’ and 4’x8’ blocks.
Was told, until they are grouped together, the 4’x8’ blocks are top heavy and will flip in the water!

 

[Delmer]

6x6 is just a spacer between the blocks so you have room to connect the chain links with a small turnbuckle or similar connector. The plywood spans the gap, and a couple screws into the end of the 6x6 holds it in place. I was assuming these were assembled by stretching the cable through the whole section, then tightening from one end somehow. putting a plate like you drew would change the load on the blocks from almost all compression, to a side tension.

I could be wrong about how they were set up originally. Also, did they originally have something between them for cushioning?

 

[Bootheal]

As normal, I came late to the game and had to pick over and choose the cleanest dirty shirt.

Heard stories of tractor trailer truckloads of like new blocks leaving long before I got wind of it.

you are correct, the cable held them together. There were rubber cushions on the top mating corners.



The 2x8 is where the boats would come along side.

another project sometime, is to resurface a few of the roughest tops. As unhandy as this seems, I think it needs to be done after they are in the water. Afraid moving them will crack the coating.

Perseverance….there’s other words that come to mind, just not as nice.

 

[Bootheal]

Want to thank everyone for your input. Very interested in how to use a welder to heat something without damaging the transformer.

Now for an apology!
I am very much into using the KISS method when ever possible. I had assumed these cables would be rusted tight.


Pics loaded reverse of the operation but maybe you can tell what was going on!


Today, I was going to test just how tight! Took a handyman jack and it started the cable moving. Back to the shop for a small winch…slid right out.
Now I’m sorry for using up everyone’s brain power. Hopefully, you have a Merry Christmas and can get those damaged brain cells repaired during the down time.

Thanks to all. Merry Christmas

 

[Willie B]

Is it a Case L series, or M amongst the tooling?

 

[Bootheal]

M.

had some help from here along the way with her. Good machine. Would be a lot better if there were an operator around.

 

[Old Doug]

I heated a copper water line at a house it was mayde 12' long under ground every thing but the last 2 feet. It took a a long time maybe a hour with a tombstone i think i had it on the highest setting or close to it. I know i did this 2 times if not 3 times over the years. I buy stick welders and scrap them out they are about a thing of the past but it didnt seem to hurt the welder any. I had never did this before and didnt know how long it would take.

 

[Willie B]

I heated a copper water line at a house it was mayde 12' long under ground every thing but the last 2 feet. It took a a long time maybe a hour with a tombstone i think i had it on the highest setting or close to it. I know i did this 2 times if not 3 times over the years. I buy stick welders and scrap them out they are about a thing of the past but it didnt seem to hurt the welder any. I had never did this before and didnt know how long it would take.

I calculated the cross sectional area of 3/4" K copper pipe. If I'm not remembering wrong it should have similar resistance to 1/0 copper wire.
Where I live, the town water system was galvanized pipe buried 2' deep. Drop lines to each house were drilled into the top of 2" galvanized. They went up with a threaded nipple, an elbow, a curb stop, another elbow. They would drop to 4' or more below grade, then elbow to a house. Might have 100' or more to a house, They would freeze at the curb stop, typically as shallow as 18" below grade.

I would hook house to house to thaw water.

1996 they replaced the galvanized system with plastic main line. The new was on the other side of the road. Some houses were extended about 50 feet, others were shortened. All got a section of K copper & a Chinese sleeve rubber sealed compression coupling.
I got onto a $hit list with the contractor over trees they damaged. My drop ended up under the town road 24" deep. No amount of heating with a welder will thaw it. A fellow with a 400 amp Lincoln welder has burned off a number of the couplers trying to heat the copper & galvanized combination.
Mine froze once when the trickle I was running got accidentally turned off.
I jackhammered down to the curb stop. Dismantled the elbow on the house side of the curb stop. A length of hard PEX 1/4" tubing slides down the 3/4 easily. Siphone warm water as I push. It's surprising how quickly it thaws the water.

Somebody even rigged a compressed air unit for the purpose, I don't see the value.

 

[Welder Dave]

Ridged makes a pipe thawing unit. High amps but low volts. Lincoln used to have a pipe thawing appararis with a meter and system to protect the welder but it was discontinued because it didn't meet safety standards. Too easy to start a fire and melt non metal pipes or worse, burn a house down.

 

[skyking1]

I'd thaw 75 feet of 3/4 galvanized pipe at that 75 amp setting. It was going on 5 decades ago, but the brain cells seem to recall a 5 minutes on duty cycle.
Give it a rest while the heat evens out. Most we ever had to do was two cycles.

 

[Welder Dave]

I think Lincoln rated the 75 amp setting (circled for thawing pipe) for 10 minutes but that was the only setting with the higher duty cycle. Have to look at an owners manual from the 80's to verify.

 

[Willie B]

I think Lincoln rated the 75 amp setting (circled for thawing pipe) for 10 minutes but that was the only setting with the higher duty cycle. Have to look at an owners manual from the 80's to verify.

I don't know. I didn't have a Lincoln tombstone. Mine was 1974 Twentieth Century rated 100% duty cycle at 295 amps. The 100% duty cycle I never bought into. I ran mine at maximum 100 amps thawing water pipes. I didn't want to ruin the welder, but more than that, I didn't want to ruin a water line.
Copper water lines take a lot of amps to warm them even a little. If they include any fittings, those fittings will get dangerously hot before the pipe warms at all. Galvanized pipe warms at low current & if fittings they too get dangerously hot easy.
Mixed water lines containing galvanized pipe & copper will barely affect the copper if that's where it's frozen.
The low bid contractor installed our water system used Chinese rubber compression fittings to join galvanized water pipe to K copper. Near every freeze is in the copper where they buried it shallow.
Only thaw technique is 1/4" PEX siphoning warm water.

 

[Welder Dave]

Heat guns work really good if you have an idea where it's frozen. We had our water line freeze because the heat tape went kaput and they used a heat gun to thaw it so they could repair it. Not a job I'd want when it's -30C plus a wind. What was interesting is the plumbers that fixed it said most people putting heat tape on themselves do it the wrong way. It's not supposed to be wrapped around the pipe. It's supposed to be in a straight line along the pipe on the bottom side I think he said.

 

[skyking1]

that's how I do it, and then wrap with insulation. There is a thermal sensor at the feed end, I make sure it is in good contact with the pipe. When it is all set up right you can just leave it plugged in. It will only turn on when needed.

 

[Willie B]

I don't know. I didn't have a Lincoln tombstone. Mine was 1974 Twentieth Century rated 100% duty cycle at 295 amps. The 100% duty cycle I never bought into. I ran mine at maximum 100 amps thawing water pipes. I didn't want to ruin the welder, but more than that, I didn't want to ruin a water line.
Copper water lines take a lot of amps to warm them even a little. If they include any fittings, those fittings will get dangerously hot before the pipe warms at all. Galvanized pipe warms at low current & if fittings they too get dangerously hot easy.
Mixed water lines containing galvanized pipe & copper will barely affect the copper if that's where it's frozen.
The low bid contractor installed our water system used Chinese rubber compression fittings to join galvanized water pipe to K copper. Near every freeze is in the copper where they buried it shallow.
Only thaw technique is 1/4" PEX siphoning warm water.

Also, if you do use a welder, you need to isolate from the building's grounding system. Separate the water supply at the union & remove the ground cable.