tombstone

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i have a new garage with a 50 amp separate breaker wired to an outlet for a welder, will 50amp be ok for an old ac-dc idealarc 250, if not i will buy a new ac-dc lincoln buzz-box, what to do in butler pa.
Reply:Hello. Take a minute and add your location to your User CP at the top left, so we always know where you are at.I can't remember off the top of my head what the top amps is on that machine, but I think it was a bit higher than 50 amps. You may be able to work with what you have if you know the wire size, as the electrical code will allow you to run slightly lighter wire for the amps with welders due to the duty cycle of the machine. We'd need more info to tell that.You can however run that machine at lower settings however, so all is not lost. Chances that you need to run a full 250 amps is usually pretty slim for the average hobby guy. There are a lot of guys who run AC 225 Lincolns rated at 50 amps of 30 amp dryer outlets. They are usually limited to 3/32" and lower electrodes or they will trip the breaker. You will probably be the same. I'd bet you can easily run 1/8" rods with no issues, and that's usually the largest rod most hobbyists need to run. At worst you trip the breaker, it won't hurt the machine to run it with lower input amps.The old Idealarcs are nice machines. A lot nicer than the cheaper AC 225's. I'd run an Idealarc at lower power before I'd go with an AC 225 any day.Good luck..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 have an old thunderbolt 225/150 ac/dc welder running off a 50 amp breaker.  Never had a problem with it but I can't remember ever needing  to set it to max power.
Reply:I think 70 amp is the recommended breaker size for the T-stone. But as DSW said, the machine will probably do just fine on a 50 amp.
Reply:I'm running that machine off my 30 amp 240v dryer circuit. So far up to 110-120 amps DC on 1/8" 6011 without tripping the breaker but not a lot of duty.  If I had 50 amps I wouldn't think twice.  If you start tripping the breaker, you might try a "slow trip" breaker. I think that's what they're called and they allowmformsome spikes such as striking your arc and a little leeway.  My machine has PFC caps so that helps some at higher loads.  I think you are fine.