After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small 110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her tits"
John Griffin

Gunner, do some math and you will see that the 15A breaker will trip
way below any usable welding parameters are reached. My calculations
suggest that at 36 volts welding voltage, and 50 amps of welding
current, your power consumption at the electrode tip reaches what a
15A breaker can supply. And that's before taking conversion losses
into account.

i

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:33:16 GMT, Gunner <gunner@lightspeed.net> wrote:
After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small 110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her tits"
John Griffin

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:15:35 -0600, Ignoramus23017
ignoramus23017@NOSPAM.23017.invalid> wrote:

Gunner, do some math and you will see that the 15A breaker will
trip
way below any usable welding parameters are reached. My
calculations
suggest that at 36 volts welding voltage, and 50 amps of welding
current, your power consumption at the electrode tip reaches what a
15A breaker can supply. And that's before taking conversion losses
into account.

So you are saying that my 110vt Lincoln Weldpac 100 dosnt work?

and the Marquette Little Joe buzzbox always trips my 15 amp breaker
at
90 amps?

Odd...must be something we are both missing here....cause they both
work, and both are transformer based.

Gunner


i

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:33:16 GMT, Gunner <gunner@lightspeed.net
wrote:
After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in
my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small
110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is
not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not
big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

Gunner

"Gunner" <gunner@lightspeed.net> wrote in message
news:irvur2ptlt8i9ule5r9uio63qvb5s13ksc@4ax.com...
On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:15:35 -0600, Ignoramus23017
ignoramus23017@NOSPAM.23017.invalid> wrote:

Gunner, do some math and you will see that the 15A breaker will
trip
way below any usable welding parameters are reached. My
calculations
suggest that at 36 volts welding voltage, and 50 amps of welding
current, your power consumption at the electrode tip reaches what a
15A breaker can supply. And that's before taking conversion losses
into account.

So you are saying that my 110vt Lincoln Weldpac 100 dosnt work?

and the Marquette Little Joe buzzbox always trips my 15 amp breaker
at
90 amps?

Odd...must be something we are both missing here....cause they both
work, and both are transformer based.

Gunner


i

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:33:16 GMT, Gunner <gunner@lightspeed.net
wrote:
After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in
my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small
110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is
not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not
big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

Gunner

Unusual for the arc voltage to be much above 20v when actually
welding. So 20 volt x 100 amps = 2 KW. Now that is an easy load for
a normal domestic socket here in the UK where we can draw up to 3 KW,
but I don't know the idiosyncrasies of the US electrical system to
comment if that's ok on your side of the pond.

AWEM

Gunner, do some math and you will see that the 15A breaker will trip
way below any usable welding parameters are reached. My calculations
suggest that at 36 volts welding voltage, and 50 amps of welding
current, your power consumption at the electrode tip reaches what a
15A breaker can supply. And that's before taking conversion losses
into account.

i

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:33:16 GMT, Gunner <gunner@lightspeed.net> wrote:
After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small 110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her tits"
John Griffin

"Jerry Foster" <jmfoster711NOSPAM@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:zlMvh.5688

SNIP

Unusual for the arc voltage to be much above 20v when actually
welding. So 20 volt x 100 amps = 2 KW. Now that is an easy load
for
a normal domestic socket here in the UK where we can draw up to 3
KW,
but I don't know the idiosyncrasies of the US electrical system to
comment if that's ok on your side of the pond.

AWEM



I have done some engineering jobs that involve operating equipment
off the
power systems of several countries and the British system, as best I
understand it, is unique. In the U.S., and in virtually all other
countries, a circuit is fed from a fuse or breaker with the line
going from
one outlet to the next to, finally, one at the end of the string.
In the
British system, the line is a loop from fuse to outlet to outlet,
etc., and
then back to the fuse. In other words, the circuit is fed from both
ends.
Hence, a common house circuit using AWG 14 wire is, in the U.S.,
fused at 15
amps, but in Britain, fused at 30 amps. Each outlet is, in effect,
fed by
two AWG 14 wires in parallel. And, to protect the device plugged
into it,
the plugs contain fuses appropriate to the device being plugged in.
So, you
can take 3 KW off of a British outlet, but only half that off one on
this
side of the pond. And, before someone else feels the need to point
it out,
in the U.S., kitchens and most shops are wired with AWG 12 and fused
at 20
amps...

Jerry



Also of course not only is our current capacity doubled, but so is the
voltage as our sockets are all 230v, so 4 times the capacity of
American 110v ones. I reckon that it is a good well engineered
technical solution.

AWEM

After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small 110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:33:16 GMT, Gunner
gunner@lightspeed.net> wrote:

After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small 110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

Hi Gunner,

I suspect you would want something like the Miller Maxstar
150. See:

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/stick/maxstar_150_s/

Pricey (Base model $818). A friend of mines shop got a
couple of the Lincoln welders that compete with this and he
thought they were great. They work best when fed by 230 vac
though.

You could make up a special extension cord for your own use.
You need two heavy 110 volt cords, a junction box and a 220
volt plug to fit your welder. You can put the 220 volt plug
in the junction box or on a pigtail coming from it. Wire it
up so the hot leg from each 110 volt cord go to the 220 volt
plugs hots. Now when you go to use it you have to find two
110 volt circuits that are on opposite legs. This will give
you 220 volt to the welder for TEMPORARY use. The
electrician jockeys will wince, but I think you are smart
enough to understand what is going on here and the
consequences that could come from misusing it

to weld some bits back on a "wrought iron" gate at a clients house. All
I had was the Weldpak 100,..with .035 flux core, a long skinny extension
cord and some wind. If Id had my normal 50' 10 ga extension cord, Id
have been in much better shape, but while the welds were better than
"putty welds" and were enough to hold the bits back on...cosmetically
they sucked the big weinie. First mistake was welding vertical down
hand...and running out of power, even cranked up balls to the wall in
amps. The bits were 3/16"-1/4" that needed welding to 3" square tubing.
Standard fence materials for the artzyfartzy clone tract housing.

The original welder was a good burger flipper. Poor welds, even poorer
engineering..putting welds in the wrong orientation for the stress
directions, only welding one side ..etc.

Nice family from Sri Lanka, the poppa owns half a machine shop where Id
just torn down, repaired and put back together a 6' radial arm drill.
So I was obligated to give it my best shot. I normally use the lil MIG
for repairing guarding, the odd bench and shelf repair..minor welding
stuff in the course of my duties as a machine tool repair
tech...somebody let the guard on a belt sander get loose, vibrate then
crack in half..so Id drag in the Weldpack, fix em up and add it to the
bill. Works great for this sort of thing. Anything bigger, Id drag home,
and weld it with "real" welding gear..and charge appropriately.

I simply could not get enough power at the wire to get a good looking
fillet. The welder would run a nice bead for 20 seconds...then start
bogging down, arc would sputter..etc. Felt like a bad liner feels.
Never did trip the breaker in the house..so I knew I was losing
something in the skinny extension cord, etc

Ernie suggested a inverter stick welder, for several very good reasons,
the least being that stick tends to be "hotter" and give me a better
weld, both cosmetically and in penetration. 1/16 and 3/32, of which Ive
got probably 100lbs of 6011 and 6013 in those sizes..more 3/32. Good
stuff, both Lincoln and Certainium.

Ive a very elderly Marguette 3 tap buzz box. 110vt, ac only, transformer
with no chokes, inductors etc. Just a transformer inside sheetmetal with
a ground clamp and a stinger. So I fired it up, and made some welds in
the same sorts of materials that I was having fits with at the clients
place. IRRC..30vts open circuit. Had some arc starting issues because of
the low voltage, and had to work really short arc..but too short would
snuff the arc, then turn the rod red hot instantly. So low voltage
indeed. But it would dig pretty deep, particularly with 6011, did some
welds, cut them and checked for penetration, etc. Then duplicated them
with the Weldpack 100. Much prettier welds, but not as deep by a
significant amount. I even ran a couple sticks of 7018, which did
pretty good as long as I kept the rod in the puddle..but not too deep or
it would also instantly snuff the arc. Could barely run it vertically
though, either up or down..and restarting the arc was a stone bitch.
3/32"

But it showed me that I could weld thicker stuff than I could with the
MIG. Not as pretty, not as handy and no where as convient as wire..but
it worked well enough to try to find one, for these odd jobs.

Im not going to be welding very much with it, nor very often..but like
particular tools..they save the day on occasions. The lil buzz box had
three taps, low, medium and high..and the data plate on the box claims
90 amps maximum, with 30volts open circuit. And on High..I was running
a full rod+ before it would pop a 20 amp breaker

If I had the room, Id have a small engine driven welder mounted in the
truck..but I dont..shrug..compact and light is a requirement.

Im not..I repeat NOT a weldor. Im at best..a gifted dauber, at worst..a
good burger flipper. Shrug. But stuff generally passes the BFH test.
Stick Ive been doing for a few years, here and there..shrug

So thats why Ive been looking for a small compact 110vt stick welder to
stuff in the back of the truck next to the Weldpack 100. Next to my 50'
10ga extension cord. Most cases..I wont have the opportunity to break
into a sub and snag off 220 or 110. If I did..Id pick up a small but
higher amperage 220 MIG. I figure a 135 would be about right. Nor do I
have the room to load up my 5000 watt genset, "just in case"

Lincoln SA-200s and 300s are a dime a dozen where I live..but I cant
pull a trailer around with one of the big bastards on it..just in case.

Thanks for the input.

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her tits"
John Griffin

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:14:39 -0500, Leon Fisk <lfisk@no.spam.iserv.net
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:33:16 GMT, Gunner
gunner@lightspeed.net> wrote:

After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small 110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

Hi Gunner,

I suspect you would want something like the Miller Maxstar
150. See:

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/stick/maxstar_150_s/

Pricey (Base model $818). A friend of mines shop got a
couple of the Lincoln welders that compete with this and he
thought they were great. They work best when fed by 230 vac
though.

You could make up a special extension cord for your own use.
You need two heavy 110 volt cords, a junction box and a 220
volt plug to fit your welder. You can put the 220 volt plug
in the junction box or on a pigtail coming from it. Wire it
up so the hot leg from each 110 volt cord go to the 220 volt
plugs hots. Now when you go to use it you have to find two
110 volt circuits that are on opposite legs. This will give
you 220 volt to the welder for TEMPORARY use. The
electrician jockeys will wince, but I think you are smart
enough to understand what is going on here and the
consequences that could come from misusing it :)


Of course.

What brought this whole thing on was from a week or so ago, when I had
to weld some bits back on a "wrought iron" gate at a clients house. All
I had was the Weldpak 100,..with .035 flux core, a long skinny extension
cord and some wind. If Id had my normal 50' 10 ga extension cord, Id
have been in much better shape, but while the welds were better than
"putty welds" and were enough to hold the bits back on...cosmetically
they sucked the big weinie. First mistake was welding vertical down
hand...and running out of power, even cranked up balls to the wall in
amps. The bits were 3/16"-1/4" that needed welding to 3" square tubing.
Standard fence materials for the artzyfartzy clone tract housing.

The original welder was a good burger flipper. Poor welds, even poorer
engineering..putting welds in the wrong orientation for the stress
directions, only welding one side ..etc.

Nice family from Sri Lanka, the poppa owns half a machine shop where Id
just torn down, repaired and put back together a 6' radial arm drill.
So I was obligated to give it my best shot. I normally use the lil MIG
for repairing guarding, the odd bench and shelf repair..minor welding
stuff in the course of my duties as a machine tool repair
tech...somebody let the guard on a belt sander get loose, vibrate then
crack in half..so Id drag in the Weldpack, fix em up and add it to the
bill. Works great for this sort of thing. Anything bigger, Id drag home,
and weld it with "real" welding gear..and charge appropriately.

I simply could not get enough power at the wire to get a good looking
fillet. The welder would run a nice bead for 20 seconds...then start
bogging down, arc would sputter..etc. Felt like a bad liner feels.
Never did trip the breaker in the house..so I knew I was losing
something in the skinny extension cord, etc

Ernie suggested a inverter stick welder, for several very good reasons,
the least being that stick tends to be "hotter" and give me a better
weld, both cosmetically and in penetration. 1/16 and 3/32, of which Ive
got probably 100lbs of 6011 and 6013 in those sizes..more 3/32. Good
stuff, both Lincoln and Certainium.

Ive a very elderly Marguette 3 tap buzz box. 110vt, ac only, transformer
with no chokes, inductors etc. Just a transformer inside sheetmetal with
a ground clamp and a stinger. So I fired it up, and made some welds in
the same sorts of materials that I was having fits with at the clients
place. IRRC..30vts open circuit. Had some arc starting issues because of
the low voltage, and had to work really short arc..but too short would
snuff the arc, then turn the rod red hot instantly. So low voltage
indeed. But it would dig pretty deep, particularly with 6011, did some
welds, cut them and checked for penetration, etc. Then duplicated them
with the Weldpack 100. Much prettier welds, but not as deep by a
significant amount. I even ran a couple sticks of 7018, which did
pretty good as long as I kept the rod in the puddle..but not too deep or
it would also instantly snuff the arc. Could barely run it vertically
though, either up or down..and restarting the arc was a stone bitch.
3/32"

But it showed me that I could weld thicker stuff than I could with the
MIG. Not as pretty, not as handy and no where as convient as wire..but
it worked well enough to try to find one, for these odd jobs.

Im not going to be welding very much with it, nor very often..but like
particular tools..they save the day on occasions. The lil buzz box had
three taps, low, medium and high..and the data plate on the box claims
90 amps maximum, with 30volts open circuit. And on High..I was running
a full rod+ before it would pop a 20 amp breaker

If I had the room, Id have a small engine driven welder mounted in the
truck..but I dont..shrug..compact and light is a requirement.

Im not..I repeat NOT a weldor. Im at best..a gifted dauber, at worst..a
good burger flipper. Shrug. But stuff generally passes the BFH test.
Stick Ive been doing for a few years, here and there..shrug

So thats why Ive been looking for a small compact 110vt stick welder to
stuff in the back of the truck next to the Weldpack 100. Next to my 50'
10ga extension cord. Most cases..I wont have the opportunity to break
into a sub and snag off 220 or 110. If I did..Id pick up a small but
higher amperage 220 MIG. I figure a 135 would be about right. Nor do I
have the room to load up my 5000 watt genset, "just in case"

Lincoln SA-200s and 300s are a dime a dozen where I live..but I cant
pull a trailer around with one of the big bastards on it..just in case.

Thanks for the input.

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her tits"
John Griffin

Gunner, for these incidental welds you could go back in time and use oxy /
acet setup and produce very strong welds with a little patience. I'll be you
already have a small portable set on your truck

just a thought
Pete


"Gunner" <gunner@lightspeed.net> wrote in message
news:lfe0s2p4il15epeugot2l7f0gq5lu4ktop@4ax.com...
On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:14:39 -0500, Leon Fisk <lfisk@no.spam.iserv.net
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:33:16 GMT, Gunner
gunner@lightspeed.net> wrote:

After discussing the issue of needing a small portable welder in my
truck and doing some welding with an elderly Marquette 110vt
transformer buzzbox, Ernie Ls suggestion of finding a small 110vt
inverter welder makes a lot of sense. My Lincoln Weldpak 100 is not
suitable for a lot of the field welding I need to do, is just not big
enough..sigh..damnit

Anyone got a 110vt inverter stick welder they want to swap for
something?

Hi Gunner,

I suspect you would want something like the Miller Maxstar
150. See:

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/stick/maxstar_150_s/

Pricey (Base model $818). A friend of mines shop got a
couple of the Lincoln welders that compete with this and he
thought they were great. They work best when fed by 230 vac
though.

You could make up a special extension cord for your own use.
You need two heavy 110 volt cords, a junction box and a 220
volt plug to fit your welder. You can put the 220 volt plug
in the junction box or on a pigtail coming from it. Wire it
up so the hot leg from each 110 volt cord go to the 220 volt
plugs hots. Now when you go to use it you have to find two
110 volt circuits that are on opposite legs. This will give
you 220 volt to the welder for TEMPORARY use. The
electrician jockeys will wince, but I think you are smart
enough to understand what is going on here and the
consequences that could come from misusing it :)


Of course.

What brought this whole thing on was from a week or so ago, when I had
to weld some bits back on a "wrought iron" gate at a clients house. All
I had was the Weldpak 100,..with .035 flux core, a long skinny extension
cord and some wind. If Id had my normal 50' 10 ga extension cord, Id
have been in much better shape, but while the welds were better than
"putty welds" and were enough to hold the bits back on...cosmetically
they sucked the big weinie. First mistake was welding vertical down
hand...and running out of power, even cranked up balls to the wall in
amps. The bits were 3/16"-1/4" that needed welding to 3" square tubing.
Standard fence materials for the artzyfartzy clone tract housing.

The original welder was a good burger flipper. Poor welds, even poorer
engineering..putting welds in the wrong orientation for the stress
directions, only welding one side ..etc.

Nice family from Sri Lanka, the poppa owns half a machine shop where Id
just torn down, repaired and put back together a 6' radial arm drill.
So I was obligated to give it my best shot. I normally use the lil MIG
for repairing guarding, the odd bench and shelf repair..minor welding
stuff in the course of my duties as a machine tool repair
tech...somebody let the guard on a belt sander get loose, vibrate then
crack in half..so Id drag in the Weldpack, fix em up and add it to the
bill. Works great for this sort of thing. Anything bigger, Id drag home,
and weld it with "real" welding gear..and charge appropriately.

I simply could not get enough power at the wire to get a good looking
fillet. The welder would run a nice bead for 20 seconds...then start
bogging down, arc would sputter..etc. Felt like a bad liner feels.
Never did trip the breaker in the house..so I knew I was losing
something in the skinny extension cord, etc

Ernie suggested a inverter stick welder, for several very good reasons,
the least being that stick tends to be "hotter" and give me a better
weld, both cosmetically and in penetration. 1/16 and 3/32, of which Ive
got probably 100lbs of 6011 and 6013 in those sizes..more 3/32. Good
stuff, both Lincoln and Certainium.

Ive a very elderly Marguette 3 tap buzz box. 110vt, ac only, transformer
with no chokes, inductors etc. Just a transformer inside sheetmetal with
a ground clamp and a stinger. So I fired it up, and made some welds in
the same sorts of materials that I was having fits with at the clients
place. IRRC..30vts open circuit. Had some arc starting issues because of
the low voltage, and had to work really short arc..but too short would
snuff the arc, then turn the rod red hot instantly. So low voltage
indeed. But it would dig pretty deep, particularly with 6011, did some
welds, cut them and checked for penetration, etc. Then duplicated them
with the Weldpack 100. Much prettier welds, but not as deep by a
significant amount. I even ran a couple sticks of 7018, which did
pretty good as long as I kept the rod in the puddle..but not too deep or
it would also instantly snuff the arc. Could barely run it vertically
though, either up or down..and restarting the arc was a stone bitch.
3/32"

But it showed me that I could weld thicker stuff than I could with the
MIG. Not as pretty, not as handy and no where as convient as wire..but
it worked well enough to try to find one, for these odd jobs.

Im not going to be welding very much with it, nor very often..but like
particular tools..they save the day on occasions. The lil buzz box had
three taps, low, medium and high..and the data plate on the box claims
90 amps maximum, with 30volts open circuit. And on High..I was running
a full rod+ before it would pop a 20 amp breaker

If I had the room, Id have a small engine driven welder mounted in the
truck..but I dont..shrug..compact and light is a requirement.

Im not..I repeat NOT a weldor. Im at best..a gifted dauber, at worst..a
good burger flipper. Shrug. But stuff generally passes the BFH test.
Stick Ive been doing for a few years, here and there..shrug

So thats why Ive been looking for a small compact 110vt stick welder to
stuff in the back of the truck next to the Weldpack 100. Next to my 50'
10ga extension cord. Most cases..I wont have the opportunity to break
into a sub and snag off 220 or 110. If I did..Id pick up a small but
higher amperage 220 MIG. I figure a 135 would be about right. Nor do I
have the room to load up my 5000 watt genset, "just in case"

Lincoln SA-200s and 300s are a dime a dozen where I live..but I cant
pull a trailer around with one of the big bastards on it..just in case.

Thanks for the input.

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her tits"
John Griffin

The best solution would've been to put off welding until you came back with
the proper extension cord. An alternative could've been to drill some holes
and drive in some self tapping screws for a temporary repair, until you were
passing by the next time with the correct cord.

Those small parts shouldn't have been difficult to weld with your little
welder. Trying to weld with a line voltage drop at high power was most of
(if not the entire) problem.
Having some .030" FC wire might've worked better.

As Ernie has pointed out numerous times in RCM and SEJW, the highest output
of these little welders is 90A (the better brands, not the elcheapos).

I also read a post regarding Ernie welding 1" steel demonstration workpieces
(although not with FC wire, IIRC), so there is a lot of BS floating around
concerning the limited thickness of steel that can be welded with the small
welders (not that I'd feel comfortable about welding 1" steel with my 120VAC
wire welder).

I'd be more confident in a 90A DC wire welder being the more versatile tool,
compared to the little Marquette 90A AC stick welder.
I would think that 90A of DC and FC wire would perform better than 90A of AC
trying to burn 1/16" rods. The FC wire isn't all filler, since the center is
flux.

WB
metalworking projects
http://www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html
...........

"Gunner" <gunner@lightspeed.net> wrote in message > What brought this whole
thing on was from a week or so ago, when I had
to weld some bits back on a "wrought iron" gate at a clients house. All
I had was the Weldpak 100,..with .035 flux core, a long skinny extension
cord and some wind. If Id had my normal 50' 10 ga extension cord, Id
have been in much better shape, but while the welds were better than
"putty welds" and were enough to hold the bits back on...cosmetically
they sucked the big weinie. First mistake was welding vertical down
hand...and running out of power, even cranked up balls to the wall in
amps. The bits were 3/16"-1/4" that needed welding to 3" square tubing.
Standard fence materials for the artzyfartzy clone tract housing.

The original welder was a good burger flipper. Poor welds, even poorer
engineering..putting welds in the wrong orientation for the stress
directions, only welding one side ..etc.

Nice family from Sri Lanka, the poppa owns half a machine shop where Id
just torn down, repaired and put back together a 6' radial arm drill.
So I was obligated to give it my best shot. I normally use the lil MIG
for repairing guarding, the odd bench and shelf repair..minor welding
stuff in the course of my duties as a machine tool repair
tech...somebody let the guard on a belt sander get loose, vibrate then
crack in half..so Id drag in the Weldpack, fix em up and add it to the
bill. Works great for this sort of thing. Anything bigger, Id drag home,
and weld it with "real" welding gear..and charge appropriately.

I simply could not get enough power at the wire to get a good looking
fillet. The welder would run a nice bead for 20 seconds...then start
bogging down, arc would sputter..etc. Felt like a bad liner feels.
Never did trip the breaker in the house..so I knew I was losing
something in the skinny extension cord, etc

Ernie suggested a inverter stick welder, for several very good reasons,
the least being that stick tends to be "hotter" and give me a better
weld, both cosmetically and in penetration. 1/16 and 3/32, of which Ive
got probably 100lbs of 6011 and 6013 in those sizes..more 3/32. Good
stuff, both Lincoln and Certainium.

Ive a very elderly Marguette 3 tap buzz box. 110vt, ac only, transformer
with no chokes, inductors etc. Just a transformer inside sheetmetal with
a ground clamp and a stinger. So I fired it up, and made some welds in
the same sorts of materials that I was having fits with at the clients
place. IRRC..30vts open circuit. Had some arc starting issues because of
the low voltage, and had to work really short arc..but too short would
snuff the arc, then turn the rod red hot instantly. So low voltage
indeed. But it would dig pretty deep, particularly with 6011, did some
welds, cut them and checked for penetration, etc. Then duplicated them
with the Weldpack 100. Much prettier welds, but not as deep by a
significant amount. I even ran a couple sticks of 7018, which did
pretty good as long as I kept the rod in the puddle..but not too deep or
it would also instantly snuff the arc. Could barely run it vertically
though, either up or down..and restarting the arc was a stone bitch.
3/32"

But it showed me that I could weld thicker stuff than I could with the
MIG. Not as pretty, not as handy and no where as convient as wire..but
it worked well enough to try to find one, for these odd jobs.

Im not going to be welding very much with it, nor very often..but like
particular tools..they save the day on occasions. The lil buzz box had
three taps, low, medium and high..and the data plate on the box claims
90 amps maximum, with 30volts open circuit. And on High..I was running
a full rod+ before it would pop a 20 amp breaker

If I had the room, Id have a small engine driven welder mounted in the
truck..but I dont..shrug..compact and light is a requirement.

Im not..I repeat NOT a weldor. Im at best..a gifted dauber, at worst..a
good burger flipper. Shrug. But stuff generally passes the BFH test.
Stick Ive been doing for a few years, here and there..shrug

So thats why Ive been looking for a small compact 110vt stick welder to
stuff in the back of the truck next to the Weldpack 100. Next to my 50'
10ga extension cord. Most cases..I wont have the opportunity to break
into a sub and snag off 220 or 110. If I did..Id pick up a small but
higher amperage 220 MIG. I figure a 135 would be about right. Nor do I
have the room to load up my 5000 watt genset, "just in case"

Lincoln SA-200s and 300s are a dime a dozen where I live..but I cant
pull a trailer around with one of the big bastards on it..just in case.

Thanks for the input.

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her tits"
John Griffin

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:15:35 -0600, Ignoramus23017
ignoramus23017@NOSPAM.23017.invalid> wrote:

Gunner, do some math and you will see that the 15A breaker will trip
way below any usable welding parameters are reached. My calculations
suggest that at 36 volts welding voltage, and 50 amps of welding
current, your power consumption at the electrode tip reaches what a
15A breaker can supply. And that's before taking conversion losses
into account.

So you are saying that my 110vt Lincoln Weldpac 100 dosnt work?

and the Marquette Little Joe buzzbox always trips my 15 amp breaker at
90 amps?

Odd...must be something we are both missing here....cause they both
work, and both are transformer based.

Gunner

Gunner <gunner@lightspeed.net> writes:

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:15:35 -0600, Ignoramus23017
ignoramus23017@NOSPAM.23017.invalid> wrote:

Gunner, do some math and you will see that the 15A breaker will trip
way below any usable welding parameters are reached. My calculations
suggest that at 36 volts welding voltage, and 50 amps of welding
current, your power consumption at the electrode tip reaches what a
15A breaker can supply. And that's before taking conversion losses
into account.

So you are saying that my 110vt Lincoln Weldpac 100 dosnt work?

and the Marquette Little Joe buzzbox always trips my 15 amp breaker at
90 amps?

Odd...must be something we are both missing here....cause they both
work, and both are transformer based.

Gunner

Iggy - you've got something wrong here - you have said what you have
said about Gunner without realising you have made the mistake by
getting the voltage way wrong - the one you use in your power
calculation.

The voltage you are quoting is probably "Open Circuit Voltage". And
Constant Current welding machines go to much OCV's than this - I know
that many give you a good tingly buzz and OCV's around 90V are
reported for some welding machines.

The "arc running" voltage is lower. Here are some of my own actual
readings, working with a friend who is a welding technician /
instructor at a technical college:

"All 2.5mm diameter:

+-------------------------------------------------------+
|7018 |Bohler EV50 |22V |72A|
|---------+---------------------------------+-------+---|
|6013 "R" |straight rutile |25V |62A|
|---------+---------------------------------+-------+---|
|6013 "RC"|Zodian Universal rutile-cellulose|21V |76A|
|---------+---------------------------------+-------+---|
|6010 |Foxcel |30V |62A|
|---------+---------------------------------+-------+---|
|6010 |Foxcel - wet |28V |64A|
|---------+---------------------------------+-------+---|
|6011 |Arcos Nu5 |20V-25V|62A|
|---------+---------------------------------+-------+---|
|6011 |Arcos Nu5 - wet |30V-35V|63A|
+-------------------------------------------------------+

Welding machine was Murex Transtig AC/DC 250HF
on polarity DCEP
set to 20% on the 20A-320A range."

Say 22V for non-cellulosic rod

(15A x 110V)/22V = 15 x 110/22 = 15 x 5 = 75A

That 75A can only be the welding current if the welding machine is
100% efficient - which cannot be the case.


Now this is the stuff you will know, Iggy...

Reputedly, copper-and-iron tranformer weldign machines are about 50%
effient - which squares with how often you blow the fuse when welding
away with a buzz-box.
(that's because 50Hz to 60Hz would need an infeasibly massive
transformer to be efficient(?))

A inverter "silicon" welding machine is reckoned to be over 90%
efficient - which squares with the fact that here in the UK you can
lay down loads of heat in your welds without blowing the fuse ever.
(and this is because "chopped" at around 20000Hz even a tiny
transformer is very effcient for weldign currents)

So Gunner with an inverter welding machine is surely going to be
happily welding away with 2.5mm (3/32nd-inch) rods off this weedy
domestic supply...

Isn't that right?

Richard Smith