welding 3/8 steel plate

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all i have is 110v 40 amp electrical service. can i weld 3/8 steal plate with an inverter arc welder if i bevel the edges? i take it i will have to do multiple passes? what kind of power would be required to do it in one pass?
Reply:Not enough info to give you an answer. "Inverter arc welder" just covers way too much area. If you have a Miller Maxstar 150/200 or a Dynasty 200, than yes. If you are talking about a HF cheapie, then no.Small cheap machines lack the output amps to properly fuse into the base material. More welds and beveling really won't solve those issues. There's a reason top end inverters are expensive. You get what you pay for. In general 110v power really limits what you can do even with the best machines. You simply lack enough input power.Last edited by DSW; 06-05-2012 at 11:14 PM..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:is your property getting 110 or 220 input from the electric company?  Or are renting and thinking the the landlord wont allow a 220 circut or welding where you are?
Reply:it is rented space and 110v 40 amp is all i have access to. i have read where you can use two separate breakers and grab 110 a leg off of each and make 220. if i do this i'm down to 20amp breakers and i know it's not best practice.
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWNot enough info to give you an answer. "Inverter arc welder" just covers way too much area. If you have a Miller Maxstar 150/200 or a Dynasty 200, than yes. If you are talking about a HF cheapie, then no.Small cheap machines lack the output amps to properly fuse into the base material. More welds and beveling really won't solve those issues. There's a reason top end inverters are expensive. You get what you pay for. In general 110v power really limits what you can do even with the best machines. You simply lack enough input power.
Reply:I'd avoid that company like the plague personally. I'd point you to a ton of problem threads, but since that manufacturer buys their section, most get moved there and are promptly deleted. Add in poor customer service, shady business practices and so on just to make it even worse.Do some serious searching and you can still find a few threads that didn't get moved/deleted in the off topic or other manufacturers sections.Here's just one example you might want to look at before you plunk down your hard earned money.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=124011In reality you need a 230v machine in most cases to weld 3/8" material. Note that just because you have 2 110v lines doesn't mean you are getting power from both legs of the service. It's certainly possible they pulled both lines from the same leg and all you could get is 110v power. We'd really need more info and picts of your panel to give any help with that. Honestly I'd be surprised if you have 40 amps of 110v available. Most 110v lines max at 20 amps. 2 20 amp 110v lines does not equal 40 amps of 110v power. Even 20 amp 110v lines are not common in many installations, 15 amp lines being the max in many older installations.Last edited by DSW; 06-05-2012 at 11:53 PM..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:i'm going by the breaker size in the box. i've got 20 amp breakers and one double 40 amp breaker. the 40 amp breaker powers an electric stove. i do not think the stove is 220 but i could check to make sure.  edit: i looked up on the web and it says most electric stoves run 220 so i maybe i'm okay. here it says that 39 amps are required to weld 3/8 steel plate if i read it right. is that how you read it? http://www.everlastgenerators.com/Po...LX-352-pd.htmlLast edited by Joe Jackman; 06-06-2012 at 12:09 AM.Reason: added more info
Reply:Electric stoves are almost always 230v. If you want to check, you want to test between the two legs on the stove breaker with a volt meter. Hot to hot you should have 220-240v..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:i will check tomorrow morning. do you think a 225 amp tig welder would work on 3/8" plate? would it help to mix in helium?
Reply:this looks like it would do the job. it's american made and they claim 3/8 steel in a single pass. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...9230_200479230
Reply:Well if it is running on 220 it might do but on a 110 curcuit I dont think that machine will have the output that you are looking for.  All of the machines that are MVP and operating on lower voltage it just wont be at its max operating abilities.  Another option is to locate a gen set that will put 6 to 7 kw and run a welder off of that and do your welding.  All of this is just my opinion.
Reply:Originally Posted by Joe Jackmani will check tomorrow morning. do you think a 225 amp tig welder would work on 3/8" plate? would it help to mix in helium?
Reply:Originally Posted by Joe Jackmani will check tomorrow morning. do you think a 225 amp tig welder would work on 3/8" plate? would it help to mix in helium?
Reply:Originally Posted by Joe Jackmani'm going by the breaker size in the box. i've got 20 amp breakers and one double 40 amp breaker.
Reply:What precisely are you building?
Reply:Originally Posted by k45A double breaker, where there is a bar connecting the two, is almost always 220.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmallWhat precisely are you building?
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWRunning at max you might be able to do it with good prep and beveling. However you won't get max power on 110v on that Hobart. On 110v power under real world conditions, 1/8" is the thickest it will do. Also the duty cycle on that Hobart maxed out isn't all that long. If you needed to do a few inches of weld, then it will do 3/8" on 230v power, but you'll hit the duty cycle very quickly. In reality it's really designed to handle material 1/4" and less, with occasional use on thicker stuff for very brief periods.As far as tig, even the best 110v capable machine out there on the market, Millers Dynasty, won't do much more than 150 amps on 110v, and to do that you'd need almost a 40 amp 110v dedicated line. ( 34 amps 110v IIRC) If you start running 200+ amps, you'll need to add a water cooled tig torch to your list of needed items as well... Using 3/32" possibly 1/8" stick electrodes the Dynasty would weld 3/8" material on 110v on a 20 amp line cranked up near max, but that's a $3K+ machine... Even their DC only version, the Maxstar 150, which would also do that with stick on 110v maxed out, would set you back almost $1000 roughly. In tig mode, neither of them will do 3/8" material properly on 110v power.
Reply:Buy a 220 welder and plug in to the stove outletMillermatic 252millermatic 175miller 300 Thunderboltlincoln ranger 250smith torcheslots of bfh'sIf it dont fit get a bigger hammer
Reply:Originally Posted by Ron PadillaWell if it is running on 220 it might do but on a 110 curcuit I dont think that machine will have the output that you are looking for.  All of the machines that are MVP and operating on lower voltage it just wont be at its max operating abilities.  Another option is to locate a gen set that will put 6 to 7 kw and run a welder off of that and do your welding.  All of this is just my opinion.
Reply:Originally Posted by Joe Jackmani have no been able to find an arc welder that can work off 220v and 40 amps that claims to be able to do 3/8 plate in one pass. everything with 250 amps output wants a 50 amp breaker.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmshopBuy a 220 welder and plug in to the stove outlet
Reply:Yes that is correct, I do know that an Esab caddi mig would run off of a genset and perform the job and do it well.  I am not sure if the Miller would run on that, but that is still an option for you.
Reply:What is confusing you is the amperage rating on the breaker the machine calls for is for maximum that machine can put out, and sometimes it's a bit higher because it will draw some extra power for a moment on striking an arc.  But the machine can run on lower amp circuits, just at lower output.  You don't need a full 225 amps to weld 3/8" with a stick machine.  Only question is what kind of weld beads you want them to look like.  You could always cap with a 7018 or 7014 for a nice looking surface.So, stop.  Listen to what has been said.  Get a 225 amp stick welder and plug it into the stove or dryer circuit.  It will do what you need unless you plan on welding continusously without stopping for more than a few minutes at at time.Get some 6011 5/32" rods and set it at 140 amps and do some test welds.  Crank it up a bit if you need.  I don't think you will have a problem welding 3/8".  Read here for a brief writeup by a pretty good welder: http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...ding-rods.htmlI have an old tombstone 250/250 plugged into my 30 amp dryer circuit and it calls for (I think) a 70 amp breaker.Good luck and hope that helps.
Reply:"You could always cap with a 7018 or 7014 for a nice looking surface."based on the videos i rented using 7018 for a cap was what i was planning on doing. this is what i rented.http://www.weldingvideos.com/about.html"Get a 225 amp stick welder"this one looks good but they say it needs 50 amps so i hope you're right it will work on 40 amps for 3/8 plate. maybe that's because it does up to 1/2 in AC mode that it wants 50 amps? http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too..._384175_384175"Good luck and hope that helps."everyone has helped a lot and i really appreciate the help."this one looks good but they say it needs 50 amps so i hope you're right it will work on 40 amps for 3/8 plate. maybe that's because it does up to 1/2 in AC mode that it wants 50 amps? http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too..._384175_384175"That machine will also do DC which is nice for certain situations and will give you less spatter.  And you are correct, it only needs the full amperage when it's cranked to the max.  When it's down lower, it's drawing less power and can be run on a smaller circuit.That's a good welder, but if you are in cost saving mode, you can find used ones for hundreds less.  Easy to test them out, too.There's a picture of the model Lincoln I have in this thread and it's what I have hooked up to 30 amp / 240 volt dryer circuit.  I haven't pushed it up to it's full potential but it's fine at 150 amps. http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=55404Last edited by RodJ; 06-06-2012 at 03:28 PM.