Stick welder shorting out!

admin

Hi, I'm an amateur welder and I have a powerplus stick/arc welder.The problem I'm having that every time I try to weld something it immediately knocks out the power in my house. I have very good electricity in my house I think I may be doing something wrong. I am putting the negative on the larger part of which I'm welding and soon as I gently dab the parts with the stick it just means lights out.Thanks for reading and thanks for all helpful answers!
Reply:I had similar problem once with my 120v welder. I believe the inrush current is higher load than what you have on the line already( ie. an appliance or something still is connected) . If the line has nothing on it and is direct to the panel with breaker, there might be something else wrong. If the whole house is tripping off, then ya something is defiantly wrong.
Reply:More info is really needed here.When you say "immediately knocks out the power in my house" do you mean you are tripping your main breaker, or arre you tripping just the breaker the machine is on? Also what are the requirements for that machine? 110v/ 220v, input amps etc. Brand name and model numbers would help to at least look that info up.If it's a 110v machine, I'd guess you have other items on the circuit and you are tripping the line breaker rather than the main for the house. If thats the case, try unpluging everything else on that line or using an outlet with no other items pluged in. If it's a 220v machine, my 1st thought is your breaker isn't large enough ( a common issue trying to run large diamiter rods on 30 amp dryer outlets)  or you miswired the outlet, if it's the line breaker thats tripping. If the house breaker is tripping, then my guess is that you already have the system maxed out and have a small main breaker ( old 60 amp service or 100 amp service running electric heat and hot water)Give us as much info as you can about the situation. The more info we have , the better we can help with out guessing..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:Thanks for the answers. I'll try once more, with all electricity turned off in the house and come back with more detailed information! thanks!