Marquette Powr-Twin AC/DC Welder Info???

[Ohiohills]

So, I was actually looking for a cheap set of used welding cables on Facebook Market Place and found a guy selling a Marquette Powr-Twin 235 amp AC/DC welder (Model 12-100) with cables for $40! He had gotten if from an estate sale and had no idea if it worked or not. I figured, what the heck, the cables alone would probably be worth $40, so I bought it basically sight unseen. I'm guessing its vintage is mid-1960s .... maybe???

Haven't plugged it in or done any testing or internal inspection of it yet, but a very cursory external inspection finds the cables in fairly good condition as are the cable plugs and cable sockets. Haven't taken a voltmeter to it yet as that will be part of tomorrow's work. So far, it's just dirty with some rust and tons of spider webs and crud.

I thought I'd start looking for information ... instruction manual, wiring diagram, other user experiences, etc. Anyone out there able to provide any info, comments, experience, or wisdom regarding this particular welder??

 

[Russ from MN]

Looks like a good buy! Blow the dust out of it and try it out. When they closed the high school in 1980 that I graduated from I bought the Airco 180 AC welder for $60. Its a good machine, I still use it regularly.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Doesn't look too difficult to figure out. For AC you plug one lead into the tap that corresponds to the Amps you want to use and the other into the LO-MID-HI corresponding to the Amps you want to use. For DC you plug the leads from the inverter into the bottom part of the welder and plug your ground clamp and stinger leads into the inverter on top.

 

[teddy52food]

I have the same welder as the bottom but not the top. New in the 60's & still works fine. They have copper windings too.

 

[Ohiohills]

I have the same welder as the bottom but not the top. New in the 60's & still works fine. They have copper windings too.

Do you have any documentation of any kind for the welder that you can share?

 

[Ohiohills]

Doesn't look too difficult to figure out. For AC you plug one lead into the tap that corresponds to the Amps you want to use and the other into the LO-MID-HI corresponding to the Amps you want to use. For DC you plug the leads from the inverter into the bottom part of the welder and plug your ground clamp and stinger leads into the inverter on top.

It is pretty much as you describe. The output sockets on the rectifier are marked for DC polarity (+) and (-). However, neither of the input leads from the rectifier to the welder are marked as to which should be ground vs. stinger. So, does it make any difference which of the rectifier leads plugs into a welder ground socket (3 to choose from) vs. a welder amperage plug (7 to choose from)?

 

[teddy52food]

Do you have any documentation of any kind for the welder that you can share?

No, not me?

 

[Blackhole49]

Don't know what year mine is, but it was very old when I got it in 1972. Still works like a charm.

 

[Jim in LA]

I remember those, the Ag shop in high school had two of them, one was regular and the other was either DC or AC and DC. Lo al auto parts store sold them.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

It is pretty much as you describe. The output sockets on the rectifier are marked for DC polarity (+) and (-). However, neither of the input leads from the rectifier to the welder are marked as to which should be ground vs. stinger. So, does it make any difference which of the rectifier leads plugs into a welder ground socket (3 to choose from) vs. a welder amperage plug (7 to choose from)?

Makes no difference because the input is AC.

 

[Dusty MI]

I've got a 225AC amp Lincoln, from the early 60's, that my dad bought for me.
If I remember right, they were about a $1. an amp, back then.
Dusty

 

[Ohiohills]

Don't know what year mine is, but it was very old when I got it in 1972. Still works like a charm.View attachment 80160

Looks like a real classic!

 

[Ohiohills]

I've got a 225AC amp Lincoln, from the early 60's, that my dad bought for me.
If I remember right, they were about a $1. an amp, back then.
Dusty

Similar situation here too! My Dad bought me a Craftsman 180 amp AC welder for my 16th birthday in 1966. Still have it and it works fine!

 

[Ultradog MN]

So, I was actually looking for a cheap set of used welding cables on Facebook Market Place and found a guy selling a Marquette Powr-Twin 235 amp AC/DC welder (Model 12-100) with cables for $40! He had gotten if from an estate sale and had no idea if it worked or not. I figured, what the heck, the cables alone would probably be worth $40, so I bought it basically sight unseen. I'm guessing its vintage is mid-1960s .... maybe???

Haven't plugged it in or done any testing or internal inspection of it yet, but a very cursory external inspection finds the cables in fairly good condition as are the cable plugs and cable sockets. Haven't taken a voltmeter to it yet as that will be part of tomorrow's work. So far, it's just dirty with some rust and tons of spider webs and crud.

I thought I'd start looking for information ... instruction manual, wiring diagram, other user experiences, etc. Anyone out there able to provide any info, comments, experience, or wisdom regarding this particular wView attachment 80086

Great score!!
Not much to go wrong with those old buzz boxes. Maybe a diode on the DC side once in a while.
The DC option makes them Twice as versatile - and valuable than a regular AC tombstone.
I have a similar vintage Twentieth Century brand. Made $850 (minus inputs - oxy/acet, welding rod, carbon arc rods, electricity, grinding discs, etc) with it about a week ago. Welded the busted up grapnels on a brush and log loader for a local tree man.

 

[Ohiohills]

Made a little progress today with welder checkout. Voltmeter tests all came out good so next step was to plug it in and turn it on! No sparks, no smoke, no tripped breakers. Only thing left was to plug in the cables, grab an E6013 rod, a piece of scrap metal, and give it a go! AC arc started easily and ran smooth!

Didn't try all the AC amp circuits because time was short, but hopefully, tomorrow. Also, I didn’t try the DC circuit because one of the DC plugs needs some minor TLC, but maybe I can get to that tomorrow also.