Generator help

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Hows it goin im looking at getting a HH190 or a lincoln 180c in the near future. I have been welding a little with a lincoln weld pak HD I picked up to do sheet metal work on my truck with but im looking to go with something bigger and instead of running a 220 breaker I have a 5000 watt generator will this beable to hold up for either of these welders. Thanks in advance.
Reply:your generator can make:5000 watts=220volts  x ? amps =22.7 amps...how many amps do those machines draw incoming? are you gonna be welding 20 gage or 3/4" plate?run it for a while?maybe ...hold up?i doubt it..and striking an arc draws more initially than running along once arc is established..others that know more  may respond , icould be wrong..
Reply:Small gensets are often rated in surge watts, not continuous wattage. If your genset is rated at 5000w surge, it probably puts out something like 4200w roughly continuous.The HH190 shows it wants almost 21 amps at 230v at rated output. That means it will need about 4800watts to give you the  130 amps of rated output and probably more to give you the max at 190 amps. You will need probably a 8KW cont. output genset to run maxed out, and probably a 6KW cont rated genset to run at rated output. A 5KW cont genset might work IF everything is perfect and you are running under 130 amps, but you are maxing out the genset, and if you end up with voltage drop when the engine bogs down you can hurt the welder..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:It takes 2 horsepower to make 1000 watts of electricity.  If your genset has a 10 horsepower engine on it then you have 5ooo watts of power available to use at that rating.  The surge rating means zip in regards to constant available power (continuous run).  Bob
Reply:i've run my HH187 on my 8250/5500 gen set before.  it does well on the lower settings.  when your running 7/70, the generator knows it.  short welds at max are possible but i would not want to do it all the time.