generators and welders

[ryanjones2150]

generators and welders

Give drag racers a little rope and they won't hang themselves, they'll unwind it, tie each strand together, stretch it, dip in titanium and wrap into an indestructible cable because the rules didn't specifically say you couldn't.

[H80N]

Give drag racers a little rope and they won't hang themselves, they'll unwind it, tie each strand together, stretch it, dip in titanium and wrap into an indestructible cable because the rules didn't specifically say you couldn't.

A phenomena not uncommon in hotrodders & racers as a class...
I worked at Dave Kent's "Creative Car Craft" during the 1970s and saw "Many" interesting things...

[ryanjones2150]

generators and welders

Always pushing the limits is how we get better.

[OscarJr]

That is a very good option and there is a fair amount of aluminum on this particular drag car. I got a line on a bigger power source, but it's not an inverter generator like that honda. I have used this type of generator in the past and had some sensitive electronics not work properly or not at all. Didn't cause any damage to the electronics (that I know of), but it doesn't do any good if it doesn't work. And with all the fancy schmancy electronics in these inverter welders, and how expensive they are, it terrifies me to screw one of them up.

The RV cord is a great idea and once you start looking for power sources in the field, you're absolutely right, they are not terribly hard to find. BUT it won't help me much under an overpass on the freeway. So even if I take along a shore power cord big enough to run something like my 221, I'd still want that portable welding ability. We'll have the generator to run power tools anyway, so it's a matter of multitasking the power source, welder and other tools.

If you have the 221 DV, it might run from a standard generator. I say this because it has a very robust PFC circuit that sometimes withstands "dirty power". You might want to call HTP to verify if it can work with a standard non-inverter generator that usually doesn't fall in the "less than 5% THD" category. Either way, you need hefty power if you plan to do aluminum repairs in the field as I'm sure you know it needs hefty power at the start to overcome the heat-sinking ability of aluminum. At 120V/20A, you're limited to about 130A of welding power, which isn't much when dealing with aluminum.

[ryanjones2150]

generators and welders

My HTP 221 isn't the DV model. Never figured I'd need 120v with AC capacity. And really, anything aluminum that were to fail on this car during the trip would either be absolutely catastrophic or we'd be able to build a work around I think.

My other option on hand is my lincoln 140c (that I could run a spoolgun on), but I'm pretty sure that thing will take even more power to run. This isn't a bad option, and given an adequate power source, it may work well. The missing link is the power source I think. At least for my two welder options.

[MinnesotaDave]

Here's my question...since space is a premium, but I still need a welder, what kind of problems should I expect to run into with powering one of my machines off a generator? My machine options are a lincoln 140c or my maxstar 150sth. I'd absolutely prefer my maxstar, just not certain if I could damage it by running it on a generator. My power source will be a small, 2000w honda inverter generator.

So...advice please?

When I asked miller tech, they told me the maxstar will run off any normal 5000 watt generator. It ran great off my old Generac 5000/6250 genny, transformer based mig welders did not.

The maxstar is power factor corrected (PFC) and does not require a low THD (total harmonic distortion) generator.

[ryanjones2150]

generators and welders

So I need to bigger power source, period. That's expensive. Figures.