Beginner welder recs

[Chilly807]

If it were me, I'd simply upgrade the circuit for the welder. 50 amp 250v is pretty much the standard for domestic (non-industrial) welder requirements. I made a point of asking the electrician for this when we built the house, and I got what I asked for.

Surface mount wiring, while not pretty is probably the most effective way to do this, especially on a short run. Once you have the receptacle ready to go, it's a simple matter to build a heavy extension cord to extend the welder's reach. Longer leads for a stick machine are another option, not so easy to do with MIG, if not impossible.

I built a 25 foot extension cord from 10/3 SJTW cable that has handled both my welders easily. The peak demand from the MIG is 21.7 amps @ 250V, the stick is higher, the Miller 225XL Thunderbolt AC/DC requires 47.5 A @ 250V and should be comparable.

I've tried running the MIG from my generator, which is rated for 4500 watts continuous output, at 18-19 amps @ 230 volts. It will trip the generator breaker if you run the welder at full output, so I'd say the numbers are pretty accurate.

Sean

 

[Yooper75]

My opinion is buy what you can afford to buy whether it be a Miller, Hobart, or Everlast. I would really love to have a Millermatic 212 MIG for my garage/shop but I can't justify $2,200 for a welder that's not going to be used all the time or to make money. I am shopping for a welder at the moment and I am leaning heavily towards an Everlast PA200 or I-MIG200 just because I can't justify a more expensive machine especially when I have to buy a couple other tool's I need for my upcoming project.

As far as the wire and outlet for the welder, bigger is better for hi amp draws because over time the exess heat will degrade the wire and insulation eventually causing a failure. It's also very hard on the machine because it works harder to do the same job it would do with sufficient wiring so if you can put in a 50amp plug with the wiring to support it I would do it. Also when doing wiring like that always plan ahead if you even think that you might need a bigger welder at some point or decide to add a big air compressor. I wired my garage that way and used a 6ga wire for the compressor but only have a 30amp breaker on it so I can just change the breaker when I need to support the welder and compressor even though I can't run them both at the same time.

 

[Soundguy]

back before i had power at my shop that is what i did, made a 25' ext cable to run out of the garage and welded on my front driveway. got a roll of 4-wire cable from the supply house.. not sur ethe size, but it's 1.5x the size of my thumb and must weight 50-60# for the coil and the recep and plug end...

i don't even know where it is now that I got power to the shop.. .. hadn't even thought about it till now... hmm....

soundguy

If it were me, I'd simply upgrade the circuit for the welder. 50 amp 250v is pretty much the standard for domestic (non-industrial) welder requirements. I made a point of asking the electrician for this when we built the house, and I got what I asked for.

Surface mount wiring, while not pretty is probably the most effective way to do this, especially on a short run. Once you have the receptacle ready to go, it's a simple matter to build a heavy extension cord to extend the welder's reach. Longer leads for a stick machine are another option, not so easy to do with MIG, if not impossible.

I built a 25 foot extension cord from 10/3 SJTW cable that has handled both my welders easily. The peak demand from the MIG is 21.7 amps @ 250V, the stick is higher, the Miller 225XL Thunderbolt AC/DC requires 47.5 A @ 250V and should be comparable.

I've tried running the MIG from my generator, which is rated for 4500 watts continuous output, at 18-19 amps @ 230 volts. It will trip the generator breaker if you run the welder at full output, so I'd say the numbers are pretty accurate.

Sean