Need to rent a gen to weld

[1930artdeco]

Hi all,

It looks like I will need to rent a generator to use my mig welder on my car. Will any generator work that puts out 220? Or do I need to look for something in particular?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Moosefire]

For the cost to rent you might be able to get the stuff to put in the plug in your welder. Other than that, I'm no help.

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[paranoid56]

what welder do you have? that will determine what size generator.

 

[bad_idea]

Buy or build a 240v extension cord. Male plug to fit the dryer outlet, female plug to fit welding machine. 10 gauge wire is sufficient for a 30 amp circuit. Most all dryer outlets are 30 amps. Most 240v MIG welders won't draw enough to pop a 30 amp breaker. I ran my MIG welder like that for a lot of years at my last house, there just wasn't room in the panel for a dedicated circuit run out to the garage.

You can buy the appropriate cable from an electrical supplier and put the correct ends on the cable. Or you can buy a pre-made extension cable. Building it yourself will be much cheaper.

 

[txvwnut]

I’ve tried running a 110 wire welder off my 6500 watt generator and it was a no go. Everything would start fine then mid bead a breaker on the gen would trip. For a 220 wire feed you’d need a large generator that would have to be towed home behind a truck and cost way more per day than what it would cost to make an extension cord.

 

[PCustoms]

I’ve tried running a 110 wire welder off my 6500 watt generator and it was a no go. Everything would start fine then mid bead a breaker on the gen would trip. For a 220 wire feed you’d need a large generator that would have to be towed home behind a truck and cost way more per day than what it would cost to make an extension cord.

Not true.

You popped the breaker on your generator because you pulled more then the breaker was rated. If it was a 20a breaker you pulled around 2500w, so the generator had plenty of power overall.

I've run 240v welders of small portable generators several times.

 

[sgf13]

You may have to build a cord anyway. I needed to run my Lincoln A/C stick welder (buzz box) of my 5000W generator but the outlet plugs didn't match. I made an extension cord style adapter and it worked out well. I also built extensions for the welding leads. Depending on your welder and distance you have to go this might be an option, and you'll have them for later.

If you do rent make sure the gen. outlets match your welder plug before renting.

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[1930artdeco]

Sorry here is my MIG welder (220v). I also have TIG that I can run off of 110. But I am going to have to weld in some floor pans and quarter panels o that is why I was wanting to use the MIG.

Mike

 

[The Cobbler]

can I ask why you need to use a generator?

 

[MoonRise]

The specifics of if/what/how to run a welder successfully from a generator depend COMPLETELY on exactly what welder and it's input power specs and demands.

And I don't feel like trying to look up the specs on that All-Star welder.

Also note that running a welder from a generator with it's limited surge power capability is NOT quite the same as running it from a wall outlet fed from utility power with basically UNLIMITED surge power capability (at least as far as home or small business power usage short of time travel flux capacitor scenarios).

For instance, to actually run a Lincoln tombstone buzz-box off of a generator Lincoln flat-out says that you NEED a minimum of a 15kw generator.

https://m.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/support/welding-how-to/pages/generator-size-detail.aspx

 

[HaiKarate]

Do you not have 240V at your house/garage?

I used to be intimidated by wiring a 120V outlet when I had my first house. Do some research and either make a cord or install a 240V outlet. Note: this may open up future tool possibilities/purchases (large air compressor, etc.) so proceed with caution!

 

[1930artdeco]

Where the car is stored all I have is a single 110 outlet. And I am not sure about the quality of the circuit at that. I can use my 110 tig since I am only working on sheet metal but I have 4 pans and dogleg that I need to weld. So I figured my mug would work better and faster. But if it is going to be that much of a problem I will just have to use the tig. But I will look up the specs to see about a gen for my mig.

Mike

 

[1930artdeco]

Ok, I talked with a welder at work he suggested doing the welds tig style as it will be cleaner. Fine, I have one that I can start at 5 amps. Now the question, I was told since mine is brand new and of the inverter type that I should shut down all of the electronics in the house do to EM interference. Does this make sense? I can’t see it making that much if any at all. If it does, is there a range estimate?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Sumboodie]

It would be very non UL approved if it fed power that dirty back through the grid.

I remember as a kid not being allowed to watch TV when my Dad was out in the garage welding. You could watch the lights in the house dim based on hard hard the welder was running.

I'd guess mostly due to houses having maybe ~60 amp service at the time, that the welder was causing quite a voltage drop?

I know in my house, I can tell when the air compressor kicks on as it momentarily dims the lights. I've never noticed the welder do that, but I've always been the one welding.
Have 100 amp service to houses here.

The few times I've run my Lincoln 175 on a gen set, I've found it didn't weld nearly as good as while on grid power. Perhaps due to the dirty power most small gen sets make?

I used a 7.5kw gen set and it handled it fine. A 4kw gen set wasn't enough other than on the lowest welder settings.

 

[Bodj Built]

Ok, I talked with a welder at work he suggested doing the welds tig style as it will be cleaner. Fine, I have one that I can start at 5 amps. Now the question, I was told since mine is brand new and of the inverter type that I should shut down all of the electronics in the house do to EM interference. Does this make sense? I can’t see it making that much if any at all. If it does, is there a range estimate?

Thanks,

Mike

I run mine at home all the time with no issues. You'll be fine.

For what it's worth, I'd pick up a cheap HD140 and plug it into the wall for the stuff you're doing. Rather than paying to rent a generator, I'd use the money there. You'll find yourself needing 110v for other places besides the garage.

 

[Sumboodie]

Sorry here is my MIG welder (220v). I also have TIG that I can run off of 110. But I am going to have to weld in some floor pans and quarter panels o that is why I was wanting to use the MIG.

Mike

I'd imagine that's a 240v machine. Or are you not in the USA?

 

[1930artdeco]

Ok. I thought it was a bit odd to have to turn off electronics in the house while I weld. When I get to the welding portion of this project (car sheetmetal) I will weigh my options to tig or mig-more than likely tig though. I don't know if the inlaws house can handle the amp draw for a welder, so may still have to rent. Thank you for the replies.

Mike