Used Welder

[minuteman62-64]

Re: Used Welder

Not sure what your backhoe project is - but I built my CADigger with the Lincon 225 amp. AC stick welder I bought at Price Club (before it became Costco). Yeah, AC/DC would have been nice, but the old Lincon AC did everything I asked of it.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Used Welder

Because circuit breakers are time-inverse which means their trip time is proportional to the current......a 40 amp breaker with a "D curve rating" can handle 60 amps for more than 120 seconds before it trips. With a welder that has a 20% duty cycle you would not want to exceed 2 minutes of continuous welding anyway.....that is why you can derate the wire size down to a #10 NEC article 630,table 11

I am very familiar with that welder and the manual specs 70 or 90A breakers. It can also draw 60A continuous current at a 30% duty cycle which is 3 minutes of continuous use.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Used Welder

I am very familiar with that welder and the manual specs 70 or 90A breakers. It can also draw 60A continuous current at a 30% duty cycle which is 3 minutes of continuous use.

Maybe he is not building ships........I don't think I've ever held an arc for 3 minutes at max amps

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Used Welder

Maybe he is not building ships........I don't think I've ever held an arc for 3 minutes at max amps

I have no idea what he is welding but when I rewired my garage for my TIG welder and plasma cutter, I put in the size circuit that the manual recomended.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Used Welder

I have no idea what he is welding but when I rewired my garage for my TIG welder and plasma cutter, I put in the size circuit that the manual recomended.

Hey, if he is not tripping the breaker what is your point. Undersized breaker is not a code violation and his 8 gage wire exceeds what the NEC requires for this welder....he could of used 10 gage according to code.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Used Welder

Hey, if he is not tripping the breaker what is your point.

My question is why run on 40A breakers, which was my original question. Why buy a welder of that capacity and then install 40A breakers on a new wiring install? I didn't question his wire size.

As far as derating the wire size because of duty factor, if you never plan on plugging anything else into an outlet other than a welder, that is fine. Personally, the price difference between 10 and 8 is insignificant for one run.

 

[mscher]

Re: Used Welder

It may have been my very minimal welding experience, but,

I tried the welder out today at work, but was not overly impressed. The adjuster is stuck in the hotest postion 230a (which I knew), but the test arc I was trying lay, did not seem all that "hot". The rod I used was a 1018 (I think) on a piec of 1/4" steel. The owner thought (said) it was because the rods he included were old, but I would think that it would still throw a big spark at full power. this has just set in his garage for a few years and he has used it "some".

Anyway, he said just take it home and see if I can get it to work and pay him whatever I think it's worth, or pay nothing.

I'll see whit it's liike inside and let my bro (experienced welder) take a look at it.

The DC does work.