DC welder welding itself - is it ok ?

[CRS51]

Just a question for everyone.
Is it ok for a engine driven dc welder to carry out welding on itself ?
Putting a drawbar on my quasi arc set and was going to use the welder itself it to weld it on but thought it best to ask here first.
Advice appreciated, Chris.

 

[wheresmejumper]

if it gets past the moral dilemma ,then its fine

 

[PTvor]

The welder should produce two floating outputs, either AC, or DC if it goes through a rectifier.

Is the bit you are welding connected to either of the welding outputs? If so you are likely to burn out whatever the connection is unless you have a good earth return connection.

The problem with welding earthed things is where you have the return lead connected to say a machine which you are welding and which is connected to electrical earth. There is a connection runs through the earth wiring from the machine to the earthed body of the mains powered welder. If you touch the electrode onto the earthed body of the welder, you're likely to damage the welder and burn out the earth wiring, because the welding current is flowing through the earth wiring. If you had the return lead properly connected to the body of the welder, as you would if you were deliberately welding it, the current would flow mainly through the return lead rather than the earth system, although it would be safer to use another welder and have the one you are working on disconnected.

But you are not welding the earthed body of a mains powered welder, so unless there's a connection between the case of the welder and one of the outputs, I don't think you'll have any problems.