Leaving a welder on question

[woodlandfarms]

How long do you leave you machine on before turning it off? I have seen guys flip both stick and mig on and off and others let it run all day. I am right now going about 5 minutes then shutting it down. If working I am keeping the gas on, but if settling down for more than an hour or so I turn the gas off.

 

[yomax4]

If it's a transformer machine it will continue to use a certain amout on juice even when you aren't welding. Inverter? not so much. I would worry more about shutting the gas bottle off when not being used.

 

[Shield Arc]

Not sure I understand your question. Are you talking about cool down before shutting off? Or not letting them idle when not using them for a while?

I let all my machines cool down before shutting down. The harder, (high amp) welding I let them cool longer. My engine drives I'll let run longer between use than my shop machines, only because they are outside the shop, and they take longer to start.

 

[rankrank1]

As for the Gas: I would turn the gas of when done so as to avoid costly leaks in order to save money.

As for the machine: I always let my machines run a bit after I quit welding so the cooling fan circulates cool air through the internal electrical components. I think cooling them down helps them last longer and should apply to any type of welder: engine drive, electrical transformer, or electrical inverter. Any of them generate heat doing what they do, Anyway, I have no set time that I wait as it mainly depends on how hard I feel I pushed the machine. If I ever have any doubts that I might have not given the machine enough time to cool down then I will place my hand near the intake area vents of the welding cooling fan area and then place my hand near the welding cooling fan output vents and do a rough temperature comparison by feel. If the output vent area feels warmer to me then I let the machine run some more for cool down.

 

[Scooby074]

I leave mine on the whole time Im welding. The running fan keeps it cool, and cool is good.
I turn off the gas if Im going to be more than 10 mins. Probably overkill, because I know I have no leaks (test with soapy water). But gas is expensive!

 

[woodlandfarms]

I am sorry I wasn't more specific but I am getting the answers to my question and much more.

What I was referring to was I have a buddy who does his weld, turns it off, grabs the next piece, aligns it and then turns the welder back on. Seems hard on the machine to me. But then I go to a shop and the machines are just sitting there on, no one using them....

I never thought about cool down after hard welding. I haven't done my stick welder any favors...

 

[Arc weld]

At most all that's running is a cooling fan. Your friend could wear his switch out or damage the welder because it hasn't cooled off enough after using it. Most shops you don't shut them off till you do your clean up at the end of the day. Engine drives you'd shut off for a break but electric machines, it's no big deal to leave them on.

 

[Willl]

Like the rest, the amount of time left running depends on how hard it was used.

Bottle gets shut off asap.

And out of habit, just walking past and hasn't been used in weeks, I'll double check it's still closed.

 

[Shield Arc]

And out of habit, just walking past and hasn't been used in weeks, I'll double check it's still closed.

I do the same thing.

 

[dkhntr04]

I will let them cool off and stay on during short pauses in work. My Lincoln Pt225 which is my main welder makes it easy as it has an automatic fan. At idle with no fan it only draws 3A IIRC, and when I am done welding for the day or for a good while I wait until the automatic fan shut down.