Welding with 4000watt generator

[domains]

Nice friend

Everytime hes come over to my shop he would ask to buy a tool, I thought I was selling house and moving closer to town so he got most of my tools really cheap, Tire removal sold it for 40$ Got my ATV 4x4 for 500$, tons of tools, paied him over 2000 coffees through out the years, he never paid me one, I hit my limit a few years ago and no longer friends

 

[BukitCase]

Until you respond to the request for ACTUAL make and model #'s for your welder AND generator(s), all the answers you get are only going to be WILD SPECULATION at best - preferably links if possible -

1 - virtually ALL generators have two "ratings" - one is the PEAK wattage (mainly a number for liars to sell you less than you need) The second is CONTINUOUS wattage _ OK for a CONTINUOUS load, but STILL not good enough for a SUDDEN load like a welder needs when striking an arc - for that the generator should have at least half again the wattage capability.

2 - There are very few (if any) companies who sell INVERTER welders who will honor their warranty if you use a generator that is NOT "clean power" - this means less than 5% THD (stands for Total Harmonic Distortion) - That specification is like any other spec; if they do NOT brag about it, they ain't GOT it - the least expensive clean power genny's I've seen that DO have it, are some of the Power Horse branded genny's that Northern tool sells - those tend to start pricing close to $1000, so not a cheap "bandaid" either.

3 - If you don't care about warranty, you MIGHT get away with using either of the genny's you have to run your inverter welder, and YES - you WILL see enough difference on 240 volts to run at least one size larger rods. No guarantee just how LONG you'll get away with it.

Sorry if I'm bursting your bubble, but like everything ELSE in the world, "TANSTAAFL" (acronym from an ancient SciFi book, means "There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch" ... Steve

 

[setxjeff]

It’s worth it, after Hurricane Rita I had to make that adapter up to repair my tractor box blade. Since then I’ve bought and engine powered welder and a adapter Just in case I need to run my MiG welder

 

[domains]

Until you respond to the request for ACTUAL make and model #'s for your welder AND generator(s), all the answers you get are only going to be WILD SPECULATION at best - preferably links if possible -

1 - virtually ALL generators have two "ratings" - one is the PEAK wattage (mainly a number for liars to sell you less than you need) The second is CONTINUOUS wattage _ OK for a CONTINUOUS load, but STILL not good enough for a SUDDEN load like a welder needs when striking an arc - for that the generator should have at least half again the wattage capability.

2 - There are very few (if any) companies who sell INVERTER welders who will honor their warranty if you use a generator that is NOT "clean power" - this means less than 5% THD (stands for Total Harmonic Distortion) - That specification is like any other spec; if they do NOT brag about it, they ain't GOT it - the least expensive clean power genny's I've seen that DO have it, are some of the Power Horse branded genny's that Northern tool sells - those tend to start pricing close to $1000, so not a cheap "bandaid" either.

3 - If you don't care about warranty, you MIGHT get away with using either of the genny's you have to run your inverter welder, and YES - you WILL see enough difference on 240 volts to run at least one size larger rods. No guarantee just how LONG you'll get away with it.

Sorry if I'm bursting your bubble, but like everything ELSE in the world, "TANSTAAFL" (acronym from an ancient SciFi book, means "There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch" ... Steve

Heres specs of my welder, The generator is a champion 3000. peak 4000 I welded 5/64 rods nice penetration at 75 amps, it would bog when starting to weld then smooth off nice, Generator 4000 starting watts then runs at 3000

 

[BukitCase]

According to that, I would get as much as you can for your two (actually 3000 watt) generators (if still possible, send the new in box one back) and find a genny that puts out 6000 watts CONTINUOUS (it'll probably be around 7500 PEAK) - I just looked at Northern's offerings, apparently that size range is pretty rare - then....

I found this model elsewhere, it's EXACTLY what I'd recommend for what you're trying to do and you will NEVER find a better price. It's also spec'd at under 5% THD. This is NOT an inverter welder, that size in inverter would run over $2000. Running on this generator your welder should run any rod the mfg claims it can -

Powerhorse Portable Generator — 7000 Surge Watts, 5500 Rated Watts

Powerhorse Portable Generator — 7000 Surge Watts, 5500 Rated Watts

www.ultimatetoolstore.com

Disclaimer - I've NEVER dealt with that company, but if I were in your situation I'd grab one before they add the other $500 or so to the price... Steve

FURTHER disclaimer - only YOU can decide if you're comfy dealing with a foreign based company, read this to see what I mean

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Who Makes Powerhorse Engines? – A Comprehensive Look at Powerhorse Engines, its Manufacturer, and Types

Powerhorse is a brand of portable generators that are sold at various stores, such as Home Depot and Lowe’s. The company has been in business since 1981, and they produce a wide variety of generators for both residential and commercial use. In this blog post, we will take a comprehensive look...

whomakes.net

 

[domains]

One generator is for my moms house other is mine, Thats a cheap generator but i'm in Canada

 

[BukitCase]

Sorry to hear that; our present dictator is doing his best to make you feel GOOD about living in Canada - maybe BOTH of us should be reading up on how the Russians make potato vodka ... Steve

 

[domains]

Sorry to hear that; our present dictator is doing his best to make you feel GOOD about living in Canada - maybe BOTH of us should be reading up on how the Russians make potato vodka ... Steve

I stopped drinking, its been a year, Got gout and it went away, now i'm a pothead I guess, don't smoke much tho, love it with my morning coffee

 

[rangerfredbob]

I've welded a bunch with my Champion 4kw generator (says 3500 continuous, whatever, I have $100 in it and it works) and Harbor Freight Titanium MIG 170 welder, I've stalled the generator a number of times and blew out a GFI outlet and tripped breakers, hasn't hurt anything so far... although on flux core you might be able to push limits a bit more, but if you sneak up on things you're probably fine getting what you can. I know I have plugged my camper into the big 3 pin connector, I haven't tried using it on 220V since it doesn't have the right plug for anything I have...

 

[newbury]

Until you respond to the request for ACTUAL make and model #'s for your welder AND generator(s)

One generator is for my moms house other is mine,

Ok what is the EXACT MAKE AND MODEL of the generators?
Champion makes lots of welders.
IF you've 2 INVERTER welders available you might be able to PARALLEL them and run your welder.
/edit - that should have been

Champion makes lots of generators

IF you've 2 INVERTER generators available