Welding at remote location using a generator

[dgoddard]

Some of you may have read my posts about an irritated eye while welding up a railing and I have another railing to weld that will likely have to be done outdoors. The problem will be getting power to the welder for that. But I do have a generator. The specs of the situation are as follows.

Coleman Generator:
3500 Watts continuous
4375 Watts Surge
Voltage 240
This works out to:
14.58 amps continuous
18.23 amps surge

Hobart Handler 187 230 volt Welder
5/16 max thickness single pass
20.5 Amps

Material to be welded
1.5 inch pipe,
OD 1.9 inch
Wall 0.150

Question:
If
--I get the plugs so that I can connect the welder to the generator,
-- And I use flux core wire

How likely is it that I will be able to
-- weld the 0.150 thick pipe
-- outdoors
-- providing only light breeze

Considering that
--if the welder only uses 20.5 amps to weld 5/16 (0.3125)
-- And the pipe is 0.150 which is only 48% as thick

Is it reasonable to assume that the welder will use substantially less amperage when welding the thinner material? I have seen a Hobart handler 125 welder which runs on 120 volts running on a generator of this size, Welding similar or thicker pipe (about 4 inch) used for corner posts on farm fencing.

And assuming that it can be made to work are there any steps to take to make the system work well?

[steamin10]

I would predict in the real world, you do not have a workable combination. Between voltage sag and inrush currents, I predict a sticky situation without a good arc start. You should have more backup in your lineside generator. It is the equivelant of running a welder on a long extension cord of minimum size.

I have a 110 Red mig, (ok Lincoln if you must know) and it gets cranky on any extension cord. It just doesnt like it. I have a 30 ft lead of #10 SO cable that I use to get into my driveway, and it works well right off the dedicated house breaker. 30 amp.

[dgoddard]

I would predict in the real world, you do not have a workable combination. Between voltage sag and inrush currents, I predict a sticky situation without a good arc start. You should have more backup in your lineside generator. It is the equivelant of running a welder on a long extension cord of minimum size.

That is of course the concern however part of the equation that is a bit unknown is just how much of an inrush is required by the welder when operating on settings appropriate to the thinner material. The generator does have two modes, a gas saver mode in which the engine speed slows down when no load is present and the engine throttles up as soon as the system detects a load. That would obviously not be the preferred mode in this case. The other mode is for the engine to stay fully up to speed regardless of load and that is the obvious choice to maximize the possibility of success. I do know that this generator can start my 240 volt single phase 2 hp lathe and given the inertia of that motor plus the chuck and gearing that would be s substantial inrush. I also know that the generator will not start my 3hp rotary converter, (the relays in the capacitor box just clatter). But what are the inrush characteristics of a MIG welder?

[hammermill]

keep the welder at high rpm, i suspect the welder will dray around 10 amps at half power maybe less as it is a inverter welder, if memory serves me right, inrush will not be high like a old iron core transformer welder, buzz box

not sure? dig out the clip on amp meter and have someone watch the current on one leg as you weld.

[dgoddard]

Another factor I noticed is that for any given material thickness that comparing the voltage and feed rate of the wire for the same OD size (0.030), that solid wire seems to need the same or higher voltage and usually a higher feed rate. Welding at a remote location refers to outdoor welding in this case where gas shield will not be suitable given the winds around here. So what does using flux core do to the issue of how this might or might not work?

[redneckalbertan]

You can try, the worst that will happen is blowing a fuse or tripping a breaker.

With self shielding wires they are usually larger in diameter than solid wires to accommodate the flux. Larger wires equals more amperage drawn. If you can use a smaller solid wire and hoard yourself in to protect your work area from wind I would be more inclined to do that. You could also try turning up the flow rate of shielding gas. As well faster wire feed speeds will require more amperage draw, but more amperage also gives you better penetration.

[Dave_C]

Don,

I've tried doing the same thing you state. [Using my generator to weld in remote locations].

My gen set is a bit bigger and it worked just fine. I think mine is 5600 Watts continuous.

I'd give it a try with what you have and see how it goes. The generator has a breaker on it (at last mine does) so you won't hurt anything.

You can borrow mine if you can load it! Or I might just have to come see you, LOL

Dave C.

[TomB]

We weld snowmaking pipes with a 6500 watt generator and a Hobart 200 TIG/Stick welder for hours at a time all on the side of a mountain. I tend to use stick but one of my operators is very good with TIG and that is his selected approach. But we first used a smaller generator and results were marginal. Our pipes are very old steel and range from 4 to 10" diameter. The pipes are very corroded so they spring holes. There was a previous operating group that seemed to like freezing the system so we started with pipes that had hundreds of 1 to 2 foot long splits. Mostly those have been fixed but doing so required 50 to 100 days of welding every summer for three years.

[Russ Hanscom]

Take some bits and test your combination to see how it behaves.

I have a Lincoln 140C that will weld up to 3/16 stock powered by a Honda 2000 but that is tight.

[Scott]

I would say not too much success with that setup.. Might get lucky? I used my Esab Caddy-mig 200 on three different generators with good luck. First was a true 4000 watt Thermal-arc scout.. Would run almost at full output with that one..Then a China generator rated at 4500 watts peak 3500 true output.. Later # is really where you want to look for what it really is.. Unless it's a Honda/Yamaha MQ where they rate peck out putout at 30 minute duty-cycle.. I am at 4000 + ft/ So my generator ratings will be less overall The Esab is the very best smaller mig for running off of a generator. I can get about 400 wfs out of the china one, using c-25 gas, and .030 solid wire. Picked up a MQ-6000, and it's perfect in size and power.. Can run my Thermal 186 at 200 amps output, and zero issues..