I need a welder....

[AL_Josh]

Yeah, the url was a mile long and I thought I fixed it.

Also the generator is a 5550 not a 5000. The manual says the AC current load at 240 volts is 23.1 Amps.

They have one at Home Depot without the DC. It cost $239.00 which is well within the budget.

Is there a mig welder that is able to use for welding in the same conditions? Like on angle used for a utility trailer(thicker material). I think the Mig Welder might be easier to use. I am more familiar with stick welding though.

Thanks to all for the quick answers.

 

[Highbeam]

My experience with anything less than a very expensive MIG welder has been pretty disappointing. A good MIG setup can easily hit 2000$ but a more economical version using fluxcore can be had for several hundered which is still more than the stick. HD has a lincoln wire feed that runs on 220 and is pretty decent. I would stick with the big brands like miller, hobart, or lincoln. But if cheap is your angle then people have had pretty good luck with harbor freight stuff. The problem is that wirefeeds have lots of moving parts to fail.

Myself, I would stick with the tombstone for field repairs in less than clean areas. It is just hard to beat the one pass with great penetration of that stick.

 

[AL_Josh]

Ok, I have narrowed it down to the Tombstone welder.

Can you explain how it has a range of 40-125 amps and will still work on my generator. I am not that electrically inclinded.

I believe Highbeam when he says it works fine I just was looking for more of an explination as to how the number plug into the requirements.

Lincolns web site says Specs.: Rated CC AC Output=225, Volts=25, Duty Cycle=20%

Output Range = 40-225A AC

What does that mean?I have experience welding but I am still a novice always looking for more info.

Thanks

 

[JustGary]

"Rated CC AC Output=225, Volts=25, Duty Cycle=20%"

The welder takes in relatively low current high voltage and puts out low voltage high current. Multiply the output volts times the amps for power:

225A x 25V = 5625 Watts

(Actually Volt-Amps, but let's not get into that). The conversion from 220VAC is not 100% efficient, but you see how close you are before any losses.

The generator is probably very happy driving a 220V stepdown transformer, because it is a balanced load and generators really like that. It is possible that you will get a bit more out of your generator than the rated power, but don't count on much.

The 20% duty cycle means that you should only use the welder 20% of the time. They probably have a specification for that time, but it doesn't mean all day one day and then off for four days. Most welding is done in short segments with time off for fitup and slag busting, so the 20% will work itself out. The bottom line is that you don't want to overheat the windings in the transformer. At full power, you also don't want to overheat the windings in your generator.

The good news is that when you ask for full power and lug the generator, the welder doesn't really care if the voltage or frequency drop a little bit. You'll pop a breaker when it's had enough.

Regards,

Just Gary

 

[MMM]

Spend a few extra bucks and go with AC/DC machine, as trailer building will involve a great deal of OP passes unless you plan to flip trailer, stand it on end etc A trailer is no place for inferior welds. Duty cycle is uaually rated for full amperage (20%@250a, 100%@60a etc) TSC did have a Hobart AC/DC for under $400 a while back.

 

[JustGary]

MMM,

Thanks for mentioning the rest about duty cycle. I forgot to mention that.

The DC welder will take much more current to run on DC (like someone else already said), but you probably will never weld with it on full power anyway. You'll like DC a lot better in most cases, so like MMM just said, consider it if you can afford it.

- Just Gary

 

[AL_Josh]

When you say OP passes, what do you mean? Do you mean overhead?

As mentioned before I have done some welding but I am still learning. I wasn't old enough to learn from my grandfather before he closed the machine shop. He built mufflers for alot of the deisel engines that went in shrimpboats in our area. I have some freinds that work at a shipyard and have been helping me out. I am looking into taking some classes.

My utility trailer will be later but I have other stuff I will be practicing on. Practice makes Perfect!

Thanks,
Josh

 

[MadReferee]

Go over to the Hobart welders forum and ask your question. They are very nice people and are color blind to machine manufacturer. The forums are very active and there are plenty of experienced people over there who can help you. I believe that a similar question to yours was asked in the past several months.

Hobart Weld Talk forums

 

[cattoon]

Woo Hoo something I can answer,,,,, I have a Briggs and Stratton elite series Gen set that I ues to run my Hobart Handler 175 on, have about 35 ft of big ext cord, works like a champ,,, 5500 cont watts 8500 surge, when you pull the trigger the gen throttles up just a bit then settles down and runs like a champ, 120 volt compressor seems to work it harder, so my vote would HH 180 or if you could find a HH175 and weld to your hearts content

 

[Highbeam]

"Can you explain how it has a range of 40-125 amps and will still work on my generator. I am not that electrically inclinded."

Volts * amps = watts. The generator makes 5000 watts which is equal to 23 amps at 220 volts or 200 amps at 25 volts.

The welders range of 40-125 amps at 25 volts is equal to a range of 1000 - 3125 watts.

Also note that the circuit breakers on these generators are slow-blow. So if you pull more than the rated power from the generator you will either slow the engine down or stall it before the breaker blows. I haven't picked up any damage from this but realize that you will very seldom need 5500 watts of power welding with AC.

Another nuance that might be unique to my generator is that when you strike the arc on a high amp setting, the engine slows for a second as the governor brings back the rpms on the loaded engine. This slowing reduces the voltage for a moment and requires you to be pretty good at keeping the arc going. Once the arc is steady, the weld can be run as normal. That won't happen when welding on grid power.

Practice makes perfect. If you can make good stick welds then you can make great wire feed welds so it is good to become proficient on the cheap stick welders.