Help choosing 240v generator for MIG welder?

[newbury]

Not to hijack the thread TOO much but what type stick welder would maybe work well with a 12KW Winco PTO generator?

Its my understanding that to stick weld @ 150A, you need 7 or 8kw. 12kw is about 50% more power.

So 12KW should be good for 225amps ?

12kw is lot's. For portability I'd get a 220 volt inverter. 200 amps would cover just about anything you'd need to do but you'd have enough power to run most machines up to about 300 amps.

My understanding is that the THD on my Winco 12KW would be too great for an inverter generator.

Like Bukitcase, I have not scoped a generator but ever notice that small engines are usually governed to 3600 RPM. Directly spinning a generator = 60 Cycles \ sec (60Hz). I have a 7500peak 6250 running on a 13HP engine. Using the so called 30 amp 120Volt plug powering my SP125 (use it at home on a 20 amp circuit though spec is for 25 amp) the generator will pop a breaker from time to time. Probably comes down to quality of generator so do you buy a cheap 10K or an expensive 7.5 K?

Or what if you bought a cheap 10KW to power all your equipment and now specs have changed?

Good comment Dave... I learned to buy quality if I wanted to use it for more than a few times.

Unfortunately many of us buy "quality" only to find out years later it doesn't spec to new equipment. I bought my B7610 with a Hudson trailer in 2009,

fully expecting I would need a trailer big enough for a 40 HP tractor later on.


Only to find out it's a little small for the 50HP M4700 I bought in 2013.

Greg, generators to run your Lincoln buzz box have to be big - to run an inverter they can be much smaller.
I run my Maxstar 150s inverter off a 5000/6250 generator for example.

But here is what Lincoln says about running the AC 225:

"It does appear (if you do the math) that you should be able to use 1/8 in. and smaller diameter electrodes with an AC/DC 225/125 powered by a 5000 or 6000 watt generator. Unfortunately, the design of the transformer on the AC/DC 225/125 is not efficient enough to be powered by a small generator. If you try and weld with this combination you will most likely experience the electrode being hard-to-strike and also the electrode frequently sticking to the work.

If you are fortunate to establish an arc, the arc will tend to pop out frequently. Also, there will not be adequate heat input to the work, resulting in low weld quality (poor fusion), and poor bead appearance.

To successfully run your AC/DC 225/125 welder you would need a minimum of a 15,000 watt AC generator."

By

successfully run

do you think they mean at FULL rated specs? Because 12KW is close. And Lincoln tombstones are about as common as HF welders on CL.

And what's likely to happen with say an Everlast PA300 run on a Winco 12KW (or other "dirty" generator) ? Electrode sticking? Or TOTALLY fried electronics?

 

[MinnesotaDaveChalmers]

By do you think they mean at FULL rated specs? Because 12KW is close. And Lincoln tombstones are about as common as HF welders on CL.

And what's likely to happen with say an Everlast PA300 run on a Winco 12KW (or other "dirty" generator) ? Electrode sticking? Or TOTALLY fried electronics?

If I owned a 12kw genny, I'd sure try it since those tombstones can be had for as little as $50

I don't know about the Everlast units, but the Maxstar I have is rated for general "dirty" generators according to Miller tech.

 

[newbury]

If I owned a 12kw genny, I'd sure try it since those tombstones can be had for as little as $50

I don't know about the Everlast units, but the Maxstar I have is rated for general "dirty" generators according to Miller tech.

After research on other forums it seems the inverters are prone to blowing the electronics.

 

[MinnesotaDaveChalmers]

After research on other forums it seems the inverters are prone to blowing the electronics.

Likely true of many inverters, I think the Miller Maxstar can be run that way since it has power factor correction built in.
That's only a guess, but I think that's why.