Cordless welder???

[caylor]

Highbeam,

What type of power cord setup did you use to go between the welder and the generator. I have the same equipment and want to do the same thing but could never figure out how to adapt a 3 prong plug (on welder) to the 4 prong outlet (on the generator). Any info you could give me would be great.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Don,

The only type of welding I'm comfortable with is arc welding. I got a great deal on Ebay on mine a few years ago. It happens.

Then one day I saw a 6,500 watt generator in front of Home Depot for half price. It had the Briggs and Stratton engine and a full tank of gas. It was such a bargain I bought it on the spot.

It really works great for working in remote spots. I don't know how long your batteries will last using them to weld on a regular basis, but a generator is something you'll want to have the rest of your life. Same thing with a good welder.

 

[caylor]

Eddie

Do you run the same setup as Highbeam with a generator and a Lincon buzzbox? Can you give me any input on the power cord set up ?

 

[cattoon]

Have to throw my .02 cents in here, I have a Hobart 175 mig and use a 5500 cont,7500 surge generator to run it if I need to weld away from 220, got a 35 ft ext cord that I built, runs like a champ, leave the generator in the back of the P/U set the welder where it needs to be and weld away, plus can run pretty much anything I need to including a portable compressor, skil saw, small table saw, works very well for me. would have loved to had a bobcat or hobart engine driver welder, just couldn't swing the cash at the time, plus the wife was all for the generator, as for wiring the cord, multi meter to find the hot legs then find the ground, no need for neutral with 220,

 

[caylor]

Thanks for the wiring advice on the ext. cord. What gauge wire did you use for the ext. cord?

 

[slowrev]

no need for neutral with 220,
//
Might want to wire it in there anyway, I found that a 50 yr old buzz box welder that I use on the farm, which btw still welds better than a tombstone /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Had a 120V fan in it. I made the Gen to Welder cable ignoring the neutral and found tha fan did not work, so I hooked the neutral in. I used 10 GA stranded SJT cord since it was only a 6 ft cord. I also use the same capactiy generator as you, but have long welding leads instead of a long power cord. I keep the Gen and welder and along with a small air compressor on a small trailer with a couple of pole mounted 300 watt halogen lights on it in the shed. Just pull it to where I need it and go to work. Put my gas welding outfit on there when needed.
I was recently using this trailer to cut up some old scrap on my farm and was calling it my WMD (Wagon of Mass Destruction) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ben
btw your generator should have a schematic showing the connector pinout for the 4 pin twistlock connector, but double check with a Volt meter before hooking anything to it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif The connectors are not cheap, I got mine at Lowes.

 

[Highbeam]

Cripes, I sent a PM to Caylor about my adapter but I can't look at sent items to copy it here. Maybe you can post it up eh Caylor?

Bottom line is to get from the 3 prong 50 amp 220 volt welder plug to the 4 prong twistlok on the generator I made an adapter using a female 3 pronger and a male twistlok. The 6 foot cord between them only has 3 wires. 10 gauge, round, flexible, and rated for 600 volts. I did not utilize the "common/neutral" prong of the twistlok but I did utilize the ground prong.

I have replaced the OEM 6- foot long light gauge cord from the welder with a 30 foot long 10 gauge cord just like what I used in the apapter. It is better to have a long run on the high voltage side since the current is low.

I have found that the welder is heavy. The bugger is hard to move to the work. The actual welding leads use 25 volts and high amperage so shorter is better. They are hard to replace. Even when I opened up the welder it didn't look real easy.

The 3 wire extension cord is about 1$ a foot and the plug-ins are no cheaper than 15$ each. All available at the Home Depot.

I have used the generator to run the air compressor for painting the bulldozer. I have even run a 220 volt plasma cutter and the required air compressor at the same time.

The generator circuit breakers are a slo-blo type. They will not pop the second you exceed the 20 amps or whatever. The schematic or even breaker capacity was not published with my Coleman generator. The 11 HP tecumseh engine is loud.

 

[caylor]

Here a ya go Highbeam....Thanks for your help!

The welder uses a three prong 50 amp plug. 2 hots and 1 ground, not neutral but ground.

The purpose of the 4 prong twistlock connection on the generator is to provide 2 different 110 volt circuits with seperate hots, a common neutral, plus a common ground. Or your appliance can bridge the two hots and make 220 volts. If the 220 volt appliance "needed" a common and a ground, then it would have a 4 prong plug but the welder does not, it uses the 3 pronger.

I opened up my welder to replace the 6 foot long light gauge cord with a 30 footer of thicker gauge. While I was in there I noted that the ground prong simply attaches to the frame work of the welder. Color is green, the universal ground color.

I made up my adapter with a 50 amp three prong female plug and a 4 prong twistlok to fit the generator. I used 6 feet of 10 gauge, 3 wire extension cord rated for 600 volts, black and flexible. I simply did not utilize the "common" prong of the twistlok plug.

All of the parts are available at the Home Depot. The cord is less than 1$ per foot and a long cord is real nice.

I actually spoke with my neighbor electrician about this and he agreed and further added that code does not require the ground wire to be as thick as the hot wires since it will only run current long enough to throw the breaker, it is better to have the thicker wire though. The green color of the ground seemed to be a big deal.

 

[willfick]

I made up a cord much the same way as Highbeam's. I used the four prong "dryer plug" on the generator rather than the twist-lock, but I don't remember why.
I was surprised when I couldn't find a cord with the connections I needed ready made at Lowes. When I asked, they said nobody would make them for consumers because of liability issues. I said,"Like it's safer for me to make my own?"
I got a couple of the electricians at work to show me how to do it. One of them said to attach the third wire to the ground and neutral on the four prong male plug, the other said that's not necessary, just hook it to the (I forget now which.).
I also forget now which way I did it. But it seems to work fine.
I try not to keep too much stuff in my head, it's crowded enough in there as is.
Wm

 

[WhiteRock]

This forth wire you are referring to is usually green and often the screw in the plug is green. I am not a safety nut, but why not use all the safety options you have. As I get older I think I need it. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Every thing will work fine without the forth wire. If you don't have a place to put it, tie it to the neutral. The green wire is usually a chassis and earth ground. It can come into play in a harsh environment where something can vibrate loose inside and cause a hot wire to connect to the chassis. Without this wire your chassis could become live. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif With the wire a breaker will trip, internal welding occurs, or lots of sparks fly. This is a lot better that the surprise touch! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Not necessary... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Use it if you can, it only takes a minute. Then it is pass to all your appliances as well.