Running welder off a generator

[Stickrunner76]

Most welding sites ( including Lincoln ) say it's almost impossible to do so .Lincoln site says to run their 225ac buzz box/tombstone welder , a person would need a 15k generator .but low and behold I just found a couple YouTube videos of the ac225 tombstone being used on the same generator as I just bought about 2 weeks ago !

https://youtu.be/_TcxOsaaKTg

[Stickrunner76]

https://youtu.be/GDIpiYNgTyY

[Stickrunner76]

GENERATOR SIZE FOR OPERATING A LINCOLN AC/DC 225/125 WELDER?
It appears that a 5000 or 6000 watt 230 VAC generator is large enough to operate my AC/DC 225/125 welder using a 1/8 inch diameter E6010. Please confirm.
It does appear (if you do the math) that you should be able to use 1/8 in. and smaller diameter electrodes with an AC/DC 225/125 powered by a 5000 or 6000 watt generator. Unfortunately, the design of the transformer on the AC/DC 225/125 is not efficient enough to be powered by a small generator. If you try and weld with this combination you will most likely experience the electrode being hard-to-strike and also the electrode frequently sticking to the work.

If you are fortunate to establish an arc, the arc will tend to pop out frequently. Also, there will not be adequate heat input to the work, resulting in low weld quality (poor fusion), and poor bead appearance.

To successfully run your AC/DC 225/125 welder you would need a minimum of a 15,000 watt AC generator.

[raulie morse]

I've run my tombstone A/C on a 7,000 watt gen set quite a bit, I ran 3/32" electrodes with no problem. YMMV?

[Shade Tree Welder]

As long as the welder does not pull more watts than the "running" watt of the genset, you will be fine. So my TB 302D can run my Dynasty up to about 175 amps welding current on AC. It would be lower amps on DC, conversion is not as efficient.

[GWIZ]

Originally Posted by Stickrunner76

Most welding sites ( including Lincoln ) say it's almost impossible to do so .Lincoln site says to run their 225ac buzz box/tombstone welder , a person would need a 15k generator .but low and behold I just found a couple YouTube videos of the ac225 tombstone being used on the same generator as I just bought about 2 weeks ago !

https://youtu.be/_TcxOsaaKTg

Did you notice the 75 Amp setting?

Originally Posted by Stickrunner76

https://youtu.be/GDIpiYNgTyY

Did you notice he set the welder at 90 Amps?
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It would be deceptive if Lincoln said you can then you find out you can not turn up your welder past 120 amps and keep the generator happy.
Some of the older Generators did not have any type of protection and just melt down.

The size of the rod can limit the amount of amps.
I don't know the exact numbers
an example something like you set the welder at 200 amps with a 3/32" rod
the rod can melt faster than you can feed it so in reality you may only be welding at 160amps.

Your first thread was about Inverters.
Inverters have a habit of pulsing the Input side at full power so no telling how well a 250 amp Inverter will run on a small generator not like a transformer machine that does not pulse input power.

Using an Inverter on a under powered Generator the inverter may just turn off from low voltage or the inverter may get confused and burn up. some may be just fine.
It would be up to what protection devices are built into the inverter, likely the cheap ones have less.

When it comes to Inverters I would be more inclined to have a generator rated 20% higher then what it needs regardless of low amp welding ,
and set the generator to running RPM

[Stickrunner76]

Actually I've found a thread online that says complete opposite about inverter welders and the guy actually showed a video backing that statement up

[digger doug]

Originally Posted by Stickrunner76

Actually I've found a thread online that says complete opposite about inverter welders and the guy actually showed a video backing that statement up

You can find what ever you want online.

These nice folks here are backing up their helpful postings with actual, in the field , E-X-P-E-R-I-E-N-C-E.


Need to respect that.

[greywynd]

Seems like the OP is just looking for answers, and is waiting to pick the one that he likes. May mean some major disappointment when it doesn’t work worth a damn, or at all, after he spends the money.

Hey, if it worked reliably to run a cheap welder off of a cheap generator, I wonder why I see so many portable welders in use that cost a lot more money?


Sent from my iPhone using ShopFloorTalk mobile app

[terry lingle]

The trouble with small generators is in the generator design.
There are several different control schemes for them. Real world performance is quite dependent on these differences.

While there are also different control schemes for larger generators they are all based on the reasonable expectation of starting and running " "difficult" loads. From practical experience I have found that the best answer is "try it and see"