1st Purchase!

admin

I am going to purchase a Mig. I am leaning towards the Hobart 187EZ at TSC. I believe my garage has all 3 phase wiring. I'm not an electrician (sorry) that is what I was told when I bought it. It just has regular outlets in it so what would I need to do to switch it over to 230. I want to buy a welder I can learn and grow with. I am going to try to learn on my own and with some help from others and maybe take some classes. Besides the welder what will I have to purchase? Any other tips will be appreciated. I look forward to learning from this site. Thx. alot.
Reply:Location, age of house and type of house would help. Not many houses have 3 phase...unless a very large building or business was occupied prior. The Hobart 187 is a nice unit. IF your house is 3 phase, you can run only 2 of the 3 hot wires off the main box to have 220/230. Get an electrician to do it. Welcome to Weldingweb! If you're on the east or west coast, a few of the guys hold classes every few months. Everyone is welcome to attend.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:If you truly have 3-phase, which is very rare in residential, you'll want need to know the phase-to-phase voltage. It's either 208V or 240V, which can make a difference with some equipment.Chances are, you just have 240V single-phase, and a HH187 is a great garage shop welder.  I highly recommend a top-quality auto-darkening hood, like the Miller BWE. It's the most productive thing you'll have after the welder itself.You can't have too many grinders, each with a different kind of wheel.  Lots of wire brushes, too.  And clamps, clamps, and more types of clamps.Run a 30A circuit for the Hobart.  Post your location. If you're in Las Vegas, I can help.
Reply:You can't have too many grinders, each with a different kind of wheel. Lots of wire brushes, too. And clamps, clamps, and more types of clamps.
Reply:No, No this is a garage that was once run as a machine shop so I am sure it probably is 3 phase. I dont know much about electric past the basics so.... Where are the classes on the east coast? I live in southeastern ohio.
Reply:Okay, now you need to tell us the phase-to-phase voltage so we can recommend the right equipment.Is it 3-phase supplied at the meter, or is there a converter supplying the garage/shop?
Reply:That makes a little more sense.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Just because you have 3 phase dosent mean you have to use it. I recomend if you ever plan on moving your welder to go with somthing 230 single phase unless you are going to realy get serious about welding and will allways have 3 phase avalible a 230 machine will weld all you need. I am not an electrician but you will have a wild leg on 3 phase and you want to be shure and not tie in to that with anything 110 or 230
Reply:If he has a 208V phase-to-phase, then he will have a wye-connected service with no high legs.  This is why I am asking him his phase-to-phase voltage before guessing what he has and doesn't have.
Reply:You lost me LOL. If it helps, all the outlets are just basic household outlets. The compressor itself which is 3 phase I was told is wired directly to the breakers. Anyways I dont know if that was any help. He said an outlet could be converted or something. What about a 115v Handler 140 welder? Would I be better off to go ahead and get the 187EZ? I don't even know how to weld right now but I have the money to buy and want to learn. I plan on mostly doing automotive welding in the future. Frame rails, body panels, sheet metal, roll cages stuff like that. Thx alot for all your guys' help also.
Reply:You need to determine your phase-to-phase voltage anyway.  A $5 cheap meter from Harbor Freight can do it. This will arm you with all the information you need.  My guess is that it will be 240V which will allow you to use any common 240V single-phase equipment.A 3-phase receptacle can easily be converted if the wires are the same size as what you will need for the new one, we just won't use one of them.I still recommend the HH187.  An awesome machine that will do everything the HH140 will do and then open up a whole new world also, especially for roll cages and frame rails.Last edited by MAC702; 05-08-2007 at 03:53 PM.
Reply:Open the door of the breaker panel and find the breaker for the compressor.  Does the breaker handle look like it crosses three breaker units or two?  If it looks like it crosses two, then it's probably a single phase 240 volt breaker.  (It could be 208 volt single phase if the shop is wired 208/120).  If the handle crosses three units, then it's likely a 3-phase breaker.Hope this helps a little.John-----------------------------------|Craftsman 230/140 amp AC/DC BuzzboxSynchrowave 250
Reply:In this thread: http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread...7934#post97934, he only has one 3-pole breaker in the box, and he said that went to an air conditioner.I'm guessing the compressor breaker was removed with the compressor.