Cold weather and welders?

[Eacru]

I was told today that cold temps (below 32F) can damage the wire insulation in the transformer of a welder. I have never heard this before, but maybe if the welder is in a real
damp location, and then the temp drops, I suppose damage could occur. Has anyone out there heard this one? My shop has spent more time frozen than not. I have never had a problem with my Lincoln SP200 MIG, or my buzz box.
Will be interested in anyone's input on this.

Eacru

[bigolguy]

i never heard that one but where would the temp reach that low?....alaska maybe?....i wonder if acetylene smokes alot when the temp is low...because when i turn my acetylene on it smokes alot or is that normal,maybe i should turn it up some more

[Terry Lingle]

It isn't so much the moisture but the different thermal expansion between the varnish and the metal that causes cracking. Heat on the other hand softens the varnish thus limiting cracking when you work near the duty cycle limits

The cracking per say is not too serious, but it lets the moisture get to the steel core. Rust there swells the core and adds stress to the winding pack. As general information most insulating varnishes have a rated active working life of about 20 years. Any decent welder that is not horribly abused will last much longer than that.
I live in south central British Columbia and repair generators for a living. Right now the temperature is about 15 f at night and I expect -40 for a couple of days this winter. These are normal winter conditions here. Almost every welder here sits outside in an unheated shop or on a service truck.
All makes all models the only transformer failures that I see are from cheap units or over loaded units. Terry

[okieusa]

cold in WY

Its been down to 3-4 degree's here past week at night, already got 8 inches of snow, Casper got 12 inches, point being it gets cold here as well, we see -40 once in a while as well, biggest problem I've see and heard is the diaphram in your bottle pressure regs, open them up very slowly!

[Terry Lingle]

I have not seen that problem but it makes sense . Normal practige should be to open the valve slowly anyway so that you limit the danger if any of the external parts have been damaged since the last use , it is also much better for the gauges. Terry

[bigolguy]

sometimes,i jsut pop them open as quick as i can because of in a hurry but then learned to not do that and take my time.it never damaged nothing for me.torch still works fine.you know acetylene still smokes no matter even how much you turn it up but it won't smoke to where ashes fly over the place but when oxy comes in it burns the carbon up.dear dear acetylene i love you!

[ventureline]

I see rig welders on a daily basis, when these guys get time off, some of them go and wash thier rigs off. Washing the engines is fine.

It's when they go and get water inside the generators and take them back out into the cold that the water freezes and blows apart the stator coils. Millers are not so bad, the big Lincolns on the other hand still use card board to separate the coils and are not dipped in varnish for moisture protection

It only gets to about - 25 here in central Alberta, where exactly do you live in BC Terry, that it gets so cold??

[Terry Lingle]

I live just north of Clearwater. I spend a lot of time in Edmonton where it also goes to -40. These are the coldest days, but we normaly get - 25 to -35 for a week in late January. Right now the forcast is for down to -18 C tonite. Pressure Wash Water entering a generator usualy carries some road salt or acid residue from the engine exhaust along with it leading to corrosion and arc overs . It is better to let the generator end dry and blow it off with air rather than presure wash it . Terry

[bigolguy]

i just checked my torch it's not doing that it's just because i didn't turn it up high enough

[Terry Lingle]

I have seen -40 in both Edmonton and here in Clearwater. and yes right now it is about -6 , but tonite it is suposed to go to -18 then warm up to just above freezing.
No I am not a welder. I repair welding generators and line powered welding boxes as part of my diesel generator repair trade. Terry

[ventureline]

I'm an aircraft aero engine engineer/avoinics tech, turned industrial electronics tech, (it pays more)and terry, I can't remember it being -40 here, maybe it happened with a windchill. Then again I can only remember over the last 30 or so years. Thank god for the weather network