Selenium Rectifier

Picked up a Selenium Rectifier from the late '50's to early '60's from a house demo job I did back in June. Can't post pics because the computer I'm using doesn't have them so I'll post my CL ads which have pics.

Antique Selenium Rectifier

Selenium Rectifier

Wish I knew the amperage rating of this recitifier this could possibly make a nice AC to DC welder converstion.

Can you PM me all the visible numbers, thanks

1.21 gigawatts

Didn't realize I could make a welder with it. Don't know much about it except it was produced for maybe a handful of years. Wonder if it could power my 24 volt Century portable MIG that runs off two 12 volt batteries in a series(1000 cca truck batteries). Welds great but the duty cycle sucks, gotta recharge the batteries after 20 seconds, and the batteries are now toast. The rectifier is rather large, the fins (plates?) are 6"x6".

Originally Posted by Soobthang

Didn't realize I could make a welder with it. Don't know much about it except it was produced for maybe a handful of years. Wonder if it could power my 24 volt Century portable MIG that runs off two 12 volt batteries in a series(1000 cca truck batteries). Welds great but the duty cycle sucks, gotta recharge the batteries after 20 seconds, and the batteries are now toast. The rectifier is rather large, the fins (plates?) are 6"x6".

Selenium rectifiers are old school, the new rage is IGBT.

The rectifier changes AC current to DC, diodes later technology do the same job with less space, IGBT even less space as these have a very small footprint.

I have opted for the diodes below to cenvert my welder from AC to DC.

The tungar bulb is another way to convert AC to DC these bulbs were commonly used in battery charges.