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I have already done some searching in the forums and found that some people have been able to hook up their 175 welders to a 5500 watt generator.Today I build a 220V cable, tested with meter and hook up my welder to it. I was trying to weld on .083 and .125 mild steel. As soon as I started to weld the generator bogged down and then picked back up. But my welds looked terrible.Anyone got any ideas? I think I am simply under powered for that size of metal.Thanks in advance!
Reply:Hey Malich, Ya gotta say some about your generator. Constant duty output, maximum surge output, cord size etc.. A lot of folks have good luck running the 175 class machines off generators but it does take something on the upper end of the typical home use gen set. One thing to check on in the mean time is what they call 'auto idle'. Some home use generators have a switch that, when set, let's the generator idle down till a load is applied then it revs up and levels off. With a stick it's a fuel saver and very doable but I don't see this working well with a wire feeder. Auto idle is great for a lot of the construction type duties.
Reply:Hi Sandy,Here is some information I found in the owners manual.The outlet I am using is 120/240 Volt AC, 30 Amp. 60hz Single Phase. Loads requiring up to 6,000 Watts of power.This is a Troy Built 5550, Model 01919.I am not sure what size wire I used for the cable from Gen to Welder, but it is the same thing I am using in a 25' length from my dryer outlet only this cable is 15' and the person at Home Depot said is was ok also.Do you think if I switch the X and Y hots at when building the cable from one end to the other this would cause some additional load? I think I may have done this.My outlet on the Gen has the 4 hole type. I used the ground and the two hots, now do you think if I used the nuetral -vs- ground whould make a difference? From what I understand they go to the same place.Thanks again!MikeLast edited by malich; 05-29-2005 at 07:32 AM.
Reply:I went ahead and switched the two hot wires in the cord I made and now I can weld better than on house 220.I used .025 and .030 wire and the arc is much more stable, all the welds I did on house 220V I did the same on Gen and they came out even better. I am not sure why but maybe I need to stop using the dryer outlet and get a dedicated outlet.I was also able to use less wire speed for the same exact welds and get a totally better looking weld with half the effort.Does anyone know why this could be? Thanks again for everyones help!Mike
Reply:Malich,Well I'm glad you're cooking okay now. I downloaded the manual for that genny and it looks like it has all the power you need for that welder. Looks like a nice generator. Was the price competitive with other models? Strange huh? Switching the hots around should do nothing as far as home or gen set. The load is across the two. Even if there were some low voltage situation on one leg (for the home connection) the reaction should be equal to near the same. Always expect a small difference when going from one pwoer source to another as the voltages aren't always the same and transformer outputs are a direct relationship to the input. It very normal to have to tweak your settings from what they were at one house or gen set to another. As far as the ground nuetral thing, on a 230v circuit all the work is across the two hot legs and the ground is setting there for faults and a tiny bit of 'loss across' the load issues, so theoretically isn't in use unless there is a fault. Other than a non-code issue switching to the nuetral instead of ground won't make any difference as, on the gen set, are all tied to the frame back at the machine. It will make a difference when using 120v and GFCIs are involved and a few other scenarios but not a transormer based welder. Sounds like you may have been trying to run at 120v and pulling twice the current from that generator on one leg?? That would have put it trying to do around 30 to 40 amps for the same amount of work.At home you may want to take some measurements on that recepticle you are using. Shouldn't be a problem unless the electrical system or wiring to that recepticle is terribly mismanaged and one leg is being pulled down by something else. Most pwoer panels are designs to balance the load as you plug in the breakers but you never know what all has been done. Your own welder circuit is always the best policy.Anyway, getting wordy here. Glad it's working now.
Reply:I would measure the 2 legs of the generator under load and make sure that their voltage is equal. I've seen more than one generator with unequal voltages from neutral to hot.When you swapped the 2 hots, it shouldn't have changed a thing, theoetically.If it did, you have a generator problem.
Reply:Sandy,We purchased the gen after the hurrican last year (I live in Florida) and we got it for $700 from Lowes. I made a cable to back feed the house so all the light switches and outlets would work when the power was out. The gen did an awesome job, and we are ready for this year. All I did was change the hots around and then loaded some .025 solid and started welding. I then changed to .030 and it work great also. I am not sure why I had the problem from the beginning if the hot do not really matter which side they are on. I check the outlet and it was producing 220V.I also noticed the arc was much more stable than on house 220V, and the buzzing sound was real clean and stable. I wonder if my 25' cable is just too long? Maybe I will put in a dedicated outlet for the welder this week.Thanks again everyone!Mike
Reply:I also noticed the arc was much more stable than on house 220V, and the buzzing sound was real clean and stable. I wonder if my 25' cable is just too long? Maybe I will put in a dedicated outlet for the welder this week.
Reply:Sandy,Ever who makes the Troy Built model I have makes the exact same for Sears etc. I noticed the same exact gen in a sears catalog for abot $200 more. I think you need to just shop around and you can get the same thing for more or less depending on brand.Mike
Reply:I think you need to just shop around and you can get the same thing for more or less depending on brand.
Reply:This is a Troy Built 5550, Model 01919 on the inside if any one was wondering Attached Images |
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发表于 2021-9-1 00:20:23