Need help with a part number

[Jerry]

Got an old Hughes VTW-29C discharge spot welder from a friend today. It is missing a few tube, yes TUBES. It is kind of old...

So, most parts are pretty easy to find, a OC3 voltage reg, a 115no60 time delay relay, and a 12au7 triode.

The part that has me stuck has it socket labeled GHE-2C-10K. I have no clue what this is. That part number comes up with a big fat zero. Playing with the part number it looks like there was a relay made by Hart-Advance that has a GHE prefix and I did find a GHE-2C-10000 but I don't know if that is the same as a -10K.

Anyone have any info?

[Jerry]

I went down to R5-D3 Electronic Surplus here in Portland and managed to find all the missing parts as well as NOS replacements for the two little thyratrons and a brand new OC3. Even found a 10k ohm coil relay. All for $10.

Brought it all home and popped them in and it seems to work!

From the dates on the main caps the welder was made in or around 1962. It charges three electrolytic caps to a maximum of 450v dc and then dumps that through a transformer via a mercury contactor.

[Doug Coulter]

Sooo cool. I built a cap-dump welder too, and they are the thing for delicate wire types of stuff like fusor grids...I find a lot of uses for mine, though I did mine with a lower voltage and SCR, because - it was all laying around in the shop. The one fat pulse with nice fine control over energy is very helpful to getting super good results every time.