DC inverter or AC Welding Machine?

admin

DC inverter or AC welding machine?With all else being equal, which would cost more in terms of electricity bill in the long run?
Reply:An inverter will draw less power, but I wouldn't worry too much about it unless your service isn't big enough to supply the amps or electricity is really expensive where you are.  Around here, I could max out my machine drawing 52 amps @ 240 volts for an hour straight (if the machine would handle it) and it would cost me less than a buck.  Realistically I could work all day long building something and not spend a dollar in electricity for the welder.  Figuring in cutting, fitting, grinding, planning, etc.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Some of this will depend on exactly what machines you are comparing. A small 110v HF inverter stick machine is not going to pull the juice say an industrial XMT inverter will, but at the same time the capasity match is no where close either!Just what are you trying to figure out? If you are trying to decide between a small lower end inverter like the HF ones and an AC Lincoln, you also have to look at what they can do. Small machines like the inverters from HF usually will run 1/16" rod maybe 5/64". An AC tombstone will easily run 1/8" or 5/16" rods in most cases. Thats a huge differnce in what you can weld. To get that sort of performance from an inverter, you need to be looking at something like a Miller Maxstar to keep the capasity roughly the same. At that point the inverter would use probably about 3/5ths the electric the AC machine would. But you'd pay a lot less for the AC machine buying both new.I agree with Boostinjdm, I doubt you'd see a noticable difference between the two on the electric bill unless you are doing a serious project welding for hours and hours on end..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