I could be wrong

[Sberry]

I just was talking with my engineer but and happended to mention the discussion orver wire size and breaker interuption and thought back to ricks post of the 2 chioces and although I didnt have time learn further it seems with current limited devices the reactions in the wire may not seem to be as clear cut as I had thought. Maybe Fun4 wasnt so far off.

[hankj]

Sorry, gang.

I've tried to exercise restraint, apply reason, and do everything I can to accommodate what I read in the "wats (sic) remain" post, but I just can't. Unlike fun4, I don't have 3 years training in house wiring; it's more like 32 years of residential, commercial and industrial AC in single and 3-phase, and high current DC telephone plants. The notion that power consumption will remain constant regardless of the applied voltage is flawed, and I just can't get past it.

My original post was merely an attempt to find out if it was possible to exceed rated capacity with the welder, which it apparrently is!

Be well.

hank

[Sberry]

There is usually a "rated" and a Max and it seems most of the time the current input rating, or breaker rating is running at the rated output. I seems like if that is 90A at 18V and you have a 135 machine it would make it easy to go way past wouldnt it? If the secondary drops below what is usable,, ? 17 maybe ?? Whats the point of the 135A machine?

[hankj]

Cary,

The 135A machine was made for guys like me, who had no welding experience, didn't know the metallurgy, or anthing else about the craft, exept that a whole lot of stuff is welded, and I wanted to learn that skill in these "sunset" years. Probably the biggest draw is that it plugs into a 120V, 20A circuit and runs pretty well on it.

I'll never be in the class of weldors that you pro's are, but I'm pretty happy with my progress to date. Had I known how badly I would become hooked, I might have gone bigger to start, but the MM135 served me well. With proper technique, it is quite usefull, albiet slow on thicker material. It's probably all the machine a true "hobby weldor" will ever need, and it does great on light guage sheet, like body panels, etc. I don't think I want to build a trialer with it, so this fall I'm headed to the dealer for a 210!

Be well.

hank

[Sberry]

This is a time of year for me where I should avoid too many posts here as its difficult to post many clear thoughts. But I think the 210 is made for guys like you. Its really a full size machine in most respects and has enough power for some larger work, it also takes full size rolls of wire and is certainly priced reasonable. For my tastes I would keep the 135 around and have 023 wire in it and 035 on a larger machine. Most work can be done with the 035 but its nice to reach back and be able to go light with the flip of a switch, also if you have a bottle for each it great to be able to go get gas when you want to instead of when you have to. About the first month I had a feeder I got another bottle as thats a big hassle. I buy a new roll of wire when I put the last one in so I am not at the mercy of store hours or special trips to get supplies. I have 2 125's and a 330 on my big machine and that lasts a while. You could probably get by with a couple 125's quite comfortably.