Can I run it?

[FredH]

From past experience , a Lincoln 255 will NOT run off a generator similar to the above post about the Powermig welder not running off a 50k generator . A Miller 212 will run off a very old miller 225 bobcat though very nicely .
As mentioned by Mark , even though a generator produces " x " amount of power which " Should " be enough to power a given welder , plasma cutter , etc..... , some require " Clean " power to operate .

Another tip : Look for a generator with " OUT " auto voltage regulation . In other words a " Brushless " design . Most if not all auto voltage regulators cannot keep up with a welder , at least they ones we tried with the lincoln 255 we had including a generac 15,000 watt model . Totally weirded out the generator and welder as soon as the welder was turned on . Yet as I mentioned , a miller 212 without all the digital electronic stuff runs flat out on that old miller bobcat .

On another welding board , a wise person explained to me about the auto voltage regulators and how a mig welder operates , something about how the voltage or ???? changes 100's if not 1000's of times per second , pulses is the word I think he used , and voltage regulators cannot keep up thus welder does not work right or maybe not at all .

I am no rocket genius by a long shot , just information that I learned from others when going down a similar path as topic posted .

Fred H.