Welder/Generator Questions

[aculous]

Anyone have experience with generators and welders and whether or not I can run a modest 140-180amp welder off of a modest generator? I live in an apartment and rent a garage and they keep turning off the power to our outlets...I am getting a refund since I can't use the garage in which is was promised to me so I need something to run my tools (tablesaw and such) and the welder.

I am looking at TWECO, Hobart and Lincoln. Max amperage is 180A usually less. I want to weld at max 1/4" mild steel and stainless. (I want to eventually do tube as well, .120 wall mostly but some .250 DOM)

Looking for recommendations on welder and generators? (the engine driven ones I was looking at are all stick and way too expensive)

Budget for me right now is around $1500. (I am hoping to get a used weldpak 180 or something off craigslist but I want to get an idea of what it would cost new and go from there)

**also would it be better to get a generator that runs 240 and get a bigger welder?

[79 cutty]

Have never heard of trying to run one off a generator, might be best to contact the manufacturer of your welder to confirm if it would function properly, my initial comcer would be the demand on the generator when in use may be far greater than the generator is actually able to keep up with.

[Airborne]

A welder friggin gulps amps and needs a reliable robust power source. The big welder/generator combinations are built to run together and run a few other tools. I have seen a coffee maker smoke a generator because of the initial amperage pull.

I wouldn't weld that kind of tubing with a 110v welder. You are going to run into duty cycle head aches in a hurry. What I mean is, you will need to run the welder on a high setting in order to effectively weld anything like that and it will put a serious strain on any generator that was not built for such a huge instant amp draw. Most low buck 110v welders have a shit duty cycle. That means the amount of work they can do before they shut down due to heat issues and amperage drops. Most 110 outlets in a garage won't handle a Harbor freight welder with a 30% rated duty cycle and that electricity comes from a "mostly" reliable and predictable power source. Now couple that shit duty cycle with an unreliable and unstable current being put out by most smaller generators and you'll see why I don't think it would work without a significant investment.

I'm sure if you had a capacitor bank big enough to help stabilize the peaks and drops then you could get a power conditioner (like the ones the solar and wind folks use) to smooth out the Hertz to an even 60 then you should be able to use a portable generator to run a welder that can do the things you want it to do.

This is real world experience. You don't always have reliable power so you need to get smart quick. We tried all kinds of different things and the reserve (zero electrical engineers were available at the time so excuse my made up lingo) bank with a sine generator/power conditioner thingy (the whole name eludes me) made it so we were able to use a Lincoln gas weld pack way out in the middle of shit head land.

[aculous]

gotcha about duty cycle, I wasn't expecting anything amazing from a entry level welder.

frustrating about the generator thing though...I feel like the cap bank would put me way over my budget and really at that point I would be in the same money territory as the truck mounted welders taht are like 2500$-3600$.

I guess I'll keep looking.

[STEvil]

What is a "modest" generator? There are 3500w units that would run a welder for 3/32 7018 rod just fine and then there are 5000w units that would be a crap-shoot...

If you get a decent name brand one near 5000w with a 220v outlet on it you should be ok but I dont think i'd go lower than that if you're intending to weld more than an hour a time.