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Twayne

wrote:
On Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:35:46 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:24:29 -0600, wrote:

I just bought a used welder which is larger than my old one. The
seller only sold the welder, not his cables. The cables on my old
welder are fine, and are supposedly made for all welders. At least
that is what I thought. For some reason the plug on the Ground
Cable on this new welder is thicker than the Hot one, so the
standard cable plugs fall right out. Yesterday I stopped at our
local farm supply store. They carry a good selection of welding
items, and they did have the thicker plug. I was just going to
change it, when I discovered that I can not figure out how to
remove the old plug. I dont want to break it, because I may want
to use my old welder in the future again.

The cable end has a molded kind of material that is shaped like a
piece of plastic pipe about 3/4" thick and 3" long. There is no set
screw in it, no hole in the side of it, and it does not seem to be
screwed on. Tapping on it does not seem to slide it back. How the
heck do these things come off? I'm guessing there's a set screw
under that molded "pipe" insulator, to take the wire out of the
brass plug, but first I need to get that insulator off and I have
no clue how.

Anyone have any idea????

Thanks

Post a couple pictures in the Dropbox

Gunner

Thanks for all the help.
It's too late for pictures. I pried and pounded and beat on the thing
for close to two hours, until it was so far destroyed that I just took
my angle grinder and cut the insulator shell off. I had figured I
could use a piece of auto heater hose. But when I got this insulator
off, I found the brass part was soldered on to the cable. At this
point I just cut it off and threw it in the trash. I'd never be able
to switch it on the cable to use the other welder. I'll just buy
another screw on one to fit that welder, or maybe just make another
cable entirely. If I had known it would be such a hassle, I might
have just made another cable completely and not ruined that plug. I
could use a longer cable anyhow, so I will likely buy more wire and
make the longer one for the new welder and put the smaller end on for
the older one. I tend to think someone glued the insulator onto the
knurled brass piece because I just would not come off no matter how
much I beat on it.

I like the new screw on one much better. One large 1/4" hex screw
against the wire, and a small screw to hold on the insulator. One
minute to install, and it was done...... For a $7 plug, that was just
too much trouble, not to mention jabbing my hand with a screwdriver,
and bleeding all over the place. Live and learn, and I learned this
one the hard way....

Thanks again

But, your experience may help others for years to come nowg.