Inverter question regards arc welder use

[MudRunnerTD]

Fair enough, but you might have missed the comment this welder is the size of a tissue box, which is 1/4 the size of the 24v gas less mig in case.

Yep didn't get that. Nice and compact. I have often looked at the little carry ones and thought they'd be great too.

[MudRunnerTD]

Darren, just remembered my 24V mig, which is a Ready Welder 2, protects the batteries from internal arcing, hence if this was the same style of welder you used, would explain why perhaps there was no damage to the cells and your battery life remained unaffected.

If you have a Ready Welder why don't you stick with it? Do you want to sell it?

[johno90]

You will find it isnt reaching the advertised 6k watts. Sorter like those genpower 8kva gensets on ebay for $800 wont even run a small box a/c or start a fridge.
If you want to use a welder with an inverter then your going to need 5k watts normal running - which will require a hard wired sized inverter.
Ever seen the genset/ inverter system most portable welders use? There big for a reason doesn't matter what physical size the welder is it still takes the same amount of energy to start a spark and hold it (depending on wire size etc etc)

[PeeBee]

I never sell anything, just keep on buying!!! I am just looking at options I guess and whats simplest. If I didn't have to remove a couple of batteries and could simply plug in a welder to a socket and get moving, that would be my choice. Right now its simply about laziness I guess, as either should do the job, but I suspect the arc current at strike is exceeding the capacity of the 12V inverter and to overcome this I need a larger inverter, which for this frequency of use, being maybe never, isn't justified. From memory, my transformer welder at home requires a slow blow fuse of 40amp rating to cope with the inrush current. I understand this is reduced in the 'inverter style welders' but still around the 30amp I am guessing, hence the likely reason why I am not successful as my inverter will deliver 13amps continous and 26amps for 10 secs, but I am guessing so was looking for confirmation 'by someone' that this is the case.

[PeeBee]

You will find it isnt reaching the advertised 6k watts. Sorter like those genpower 8kva gensets on ebay for $800 wont even run a small box a/c or start a fridge.
If you want to use a welder with an inverter then your going to need 5k watts normal running - which will require a hard wired sized inverter.
Ever seen the genset/ inverter system most portable welders use? There big for a reason doesn't matter what physical size the welder is it still takes the same amount of energy to start a spark and hold it (depending on wire size etc etc)

Thanks, I have done a bit of reading today and my strike current capacity is way down it seems. I am probably looking at sticking this new small welder on the garage shelf for another day and revert to using the ready welder mig when required, hassle being its a lot larger in size.

[mudnut]

It would be interesting to see what sort of wave is produced by the inverter and what is happening, by using a scopemeter as you strike an arc.

[GQtdauto]

I tried mine which is a bigger unit capable of AC-DC and high frequency but as soon as I select arc setting it trips the overload on the inverter , so I will get my son on the weekend when he's down to bring his smaller unit which is not much bigger than yours by the sound of it and will check again .

[GeeYou8]

I am pretty sure the inverter will have some sort of protection that will stop it giving the instantaneous load that the welder.
You might be better off with a modified sine wave inverter.
Taking DC making into AC then back into DC is going to be inefficient.

[GQtdauto]

I am pretty sure the inverter will have some sort of protection that will stop it giving the instantaneous load that the welder.
You might be better off with a modified sine wave inverter.
Taking DC making into AC then back into DC is going to be inefficient.

My inverter is modified not pure sine , but the two gels are separated one under hood other in the back but close to inverter wiring is the stuff they used to run 5000 watt solar from roof to switch box etc which ways probably 20 metre run so pretty thick twin cable .
Wish I'd kept the one I had in the van and replaced with this crap one now .

[PeeBee]

Bloody hell, upgraded to a pure sine wave to try and overcome these issues with electric tools not liking modified sq wave. i know my grinder , power saw and drill are a lot noisier on Mod Sq wave than the pure sine wave. If this inverter has internal protection it doesnt indicate externally and certainly has not tripped a fuse.

I just had a close look at the nameplate and here in lies the problem. This thing is sold with a 10amp plug, but the nameplate says it can draw 25amps. What confuses me then is how this operates on a 10amp circuit, or is the 26amp so quick on start up that the fuses in the fuse box cope with the surge?

So this suggests the inverter size needs to be circa 7kw , but is this a normal load rating of simply the strike power rating (240V x 30A)? This does my head in to be honest. Might just stick with the readywelder2 and be done with it.