good evening all, first off let me say howdy as i am new here, but have been reading for a week or so, many different things on this great forum...
let me start off by saying i have never welded a day in my life, however i have been reading off and on for the last year about how to weld and which welders may suite my needs today and in the future as i learn to weld. also i did work in a AL handrail fab shop for a bit a number of years ago and learned very quickly how to be in the shop and not get flash burnt eyes.
at first i was looking at a basic HD or Lowes lincoln 120v however in the future i see myself as possibly needing to weld up to about 1/4" in steel but probably nothing thicker, and no more then 1/4" AL also. so for future uses i am leaning towards a 240v MM180 without auto-set for roughly 800 bucks from airgas gulf coast.
now for my power situation: for the 120v machines i really think i would need a 20a circuit, and i only have 1 of those available and not very convenient to use, as well as a 30a dryer circuit, the dryer circuit would be easier to make a cord for as its the closest to my back door, so i can just make an 25' ext cord or so and be good to go. the other reason i am leaning towards a 240v machine.
now for a bit of confusion and the real reason i am making this post! while looking at the specs for the MM180 i see that 21.7a 230v input is based on a rated output of 135 A at 22.5 VDC, 30% Duty Cycle. with a Welding Amperage Range of 30 - 180 Amps, so far so good. now to the confusing part! the miller webpage says this machine can weld up to 5/16 steel on a single pass, however when using millers flux core calculator it says 1/4" steel requires 170-190 amps and 3/8 requires 330-375 amps(there is no 5/16 in the list). now if 1/4" steel uses the max output of the machine, how could it weld 5/16 steel? thats the confusing me part....
also since the rated output will draw 21.7 amps if i have to turn it up to the max will the 30a dryer circuit suffice?
thanks for your time and sorry for the long winded post, just trying to be thorough.
Ratt
let me start off by saying i have never welded a day in my life, however i have been reading off and on for the last year about how to weld and which welders may suite my needs today and in the future as i learn to weld. also i did work in a AL handrail fab shop for a bit a number of years ago and learned very quickly how to be in the shop and not get flash burnt eyes.
at first i was looking at a basic HD or Lowes lincoln 120v however in the future i see myself as possibly needing to weld up to about 1/4" in steel but probably nothing thicker, and no more then 1/4" AL also. so for future uses i am leaning towards a 240v MM180 without auto-set for roughly 800 bucks from airgas gulf coast.
now for my power situation: for the 120v machines i really think i would need a 20a circuit, and i only have 1 of those available and not very convenient to use, as well as a 30a dryer circuit, the dryer circuit would be easier to make a cord for as its the closest to my back door, so i can just make an 25' ext cord or so and be good to go. the other reason i am leaning towards a 240v machine.
now for a bit of confusion and the real reason i am making this post! while looking at the specs for the MM180 i see that 21.7a 230v input is based on a rated output of 135 A at 22.5 VDC, 30% Duty Cycle. with a Welding Amperage Range of 30 - 180 Amps, so far so good. now to the confusing part! the miller webpage says this machine can weld up to 5/16 steel on a single pass, however when using millers flux core calculator it says 1/4" steel requires 170-190 amps and 3/8 requires 330-375 amps(there is no 5/16 in the list). now if 1/4" steel uses the max output of the machine, how could it weld 5/16 steel? thats the confusing me part....
also since the rated output will draw 21.7 amps if i have to turn it up to the max will the 30a dryer circuit suffice?
thanks for your time and sorry for the long winded post, just trying to be thorough.
Ratt
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