Running Welders off Generators

[dragoneggs]

I think 3000iS has a 230v outlet. Miller Tech said to weld 3/8" with the MultiMatic200 I'd need 7200W. I don't know how the 211 would behave. My pair of Honda EU2000i can weld on the 3/16" preset, but the generator overspeeds to get it going - tells me it's over the limit. I suspect with a single 3000iS you will be in the 14ga range maybe more(?) On 6000W it sounds like you might get to 5/16. A 2nd 3000iS is a lot of money, and another 76 lbs too but they are quiet!

Thanks Sodo... yeah I definitely love how quiet it is and that was very important to me for power outages... not quite portable as your 2000 but I wanted just one for the house and rare off site use. Now that I am welding and could use (wish list) more backup house power... a second one has sounded appealing but should be low on the need list. I never ever see these things on the used market. They are keepers for sure!

 

[Sodo]

I have ran my maxstar (inverter welder) off of two different generators, the way I made sure they were close enough to 60 cycles was hooking one leg of the power from the generator and another leg off of "land" power, going to an incondesent light bulb.

If the cycles are off the light will "pulse" when they are balanced it will function as normal.

Adjust the speed of the engine and go "high" and "low" then set in the middle.

It worked for me and I didn't have to get out an oscilloscope.

Hmmmm. Very Interesting. I would expect that to synchronize two 60Hz waveforms would require a microprocessor control system that makes adjustments to the phase (correcting phase errors far in excess of 60 times per second). I can't imagine an engine (and subjected to intermittent loading) could hold such a steady RPM. Am I missing something?

I would expect that connecting 2 separate sources of AC, that if the phases drifted even slightly out of sync there will be smoke & fire. Are you sure this is possible?

 

[SoGeorgia]

Not exactly the same, but same concept using an incandescent bulb to run generators in parallel.

 

[CNC Dan]

Hmmmm. Very Interesting. I would expect that to synchronize two 60Hz waveforms would require a microprocessor control system that makes adjustments to the phase (correcting phase errors far in excess of 60 times per second). I can't imagine an engine (and subjected to intermittent loading) could hold such a steady RPM. Am I missing something?

I would expect that connecting 2 separate sources of AC, that if the phases drifted even slightly out of sync there will be smoke & fire. Are you sure this is possible?

Possable. But for small homeowner size gensets, not likly.
But the honda inverter gensets have a way to sync two units together.

But you can use the lightbulb trick to compare a gensets frequancy with a known frequancy.

 

[Oliver1655]

My Miller 35 mig welder runs fine on a 5k generator.

 

[Texasmark]

If you are referring to this Mark I can't help you there. My generators are 5500 and 6500w and are magnetic induction...rotor connected directly to the engine drive shaft. My Blue Miller 240v ac-dc stick welder is transformer controlled. I have no problem with the 6500w generator running a 6011 or 7018 in 3/32 diameter.

HTH,
Mark

 

[Sodo]

Not exactly the same, but same concept using incandescent bulb to run generators parallel.

Awesome vid. The segment with the lightbulb next to the O-Scope was great!. Nice industrial gensets, and that dude knows some stuff! However, he did not say what happens if one of the motors has a hiccup, would the phase shift? Or if the motors don't have exactly equal power?

If a 'device' existed to combine the outputs of any 2 'normal' generators that could be a useful item if not so expensive. I suspect it would have to convert to DC, combine and invert back to AC.

 

[Farmerford]

I have an 11KW PTO generator driven by an 18pto hp tractor and have no problem doing maintenance welding with a Miller AC/DC Thunderbolt 300 amp transformer type stick welder with 6010. My standards are not very high, but I don't think any of the welds have failed. Don't recall going over about 200 amps though.

 

[Sodo]

Farmerford, regarding 200A,,, what size rod are you using?

My Blue Miller 240v ac-dc stick welder is transformer controlled. I have no problem with the 6500w generator running a 6011 or 7018 in 3/32 diameter.

Appreciate the data point TXmark, thx for the genuine experience. Miller tech said 7200W (for 1/8 rod, with (150A) inverter welder). Anyway since I need to buy one, I'm thinking that 8000W is a good target for my uses.

 

[Soundguy]

I have an 11KW PTO generator driven by an 18pto hp tractor and have no problem doing maintenance welding with a Miller AC/DC Thunderbolt 300 amp transformer type stick welder with 6010. My standards are not very high, but I don't think any of the welds have failed. Don't recall going over about 200 amps though.

keep in mind that you are likely not getting more than 9kw use out of that 18hp engine. ( yeah, i know. math it out and it's higher.. but real world rule of thumb is about 2hp per kw ). still. 9kw is a good bit of juice to work with.