Powercraft PCMIG 135/09 which plug?

[willpower1337]

Hello everyone!

I am new to the forum so firstly, Hello!

I am just trying to clarify something about the welder that I have. In the manual it says the following:

the |1 on the side of the welder says its 32.5amps max. Here is the side panel:

With these bits of information i would have thought that the welder will run on the 13a plug that was provided up to 65 amps but above that you would need to get a 32amp industrial socket to be able to handle the load. I only have just noticed this when the fuse went pop a few days ago welding thicker than normal material. My friend has interpreted it as it will run on a 13a plug but it needs to be a industrial/heavy duty 3-pin household socket.

I would just like to know which is the approach i should take? because if it needs a industrial plug (regardless of which type) I'm going to have it installed anyway. I just would like to know weather I am reading and interpreting the manual properly!

Thanks a lot in advance

All the best

Will

 

[voipio]

Welcome to the forum.

Based on the user manual, the welder can be powered using a standard 13A plug, with 13A fuse, into a standard 13A socket for welding current settings up to 65A, but be sure that both plug and socket are in good condition, plug pins are clean, and the wiring terminals are properly tightened. Above 65A will require use of a 32A Commando style plug and socket, not a 13A industrial plug, and with a suitable circuit breaker on the mains supply. In truth, you will probably get away with up to 80A welding current using a 13A plug but, of course, it's not ideal to have a fuse pop half way through a welding run. It's also good to ensure the plug is not getting warm during use.

 

[Wozzaaah]

It’s only 135a, no idea why it would want anything like 32a input current.
Stick a plug on it and get welding, the worst than can happen is the 13a fuse will blow.

 

[willpower1337]

Thank you both for your replies!

Welcome to the forum.

Based on the user manual, the welder can be powered using a standard 13A plug, with 13A fuse, into a standard 13A socket for welding current settings up to 65A, but be sure that both plug and socket are in good condition, plug pins are clean, and the wiring terminals are properly tightened. Above 65A will require use of a 32A Commando style plug and socket, not a 13A industrial plug, and with a suitable circuit breaker on the mains supply. In truth, you will probably get away with up to 80A welding current using a 13A plug but, of course, it's not ideal to have a fuse pop half way through a welding run. It's also good to ensure the plug is not getting warm during use.

That was how i interpreted it, thanks for the info! The plug was getting hot and that's what i think blew the fuse in the end. Fair play to the JCB extension lead though, it was only the fuse that got hot!

It’s only 135a, no idea why it would want anything like 32a input current.
Stick a plug on it and get welding, the worst than can happen is the 13a fuse will blow.

I mentioned this in the OP but yeah the fuse did pop when I was welding some 6mm stuff and I had it cranked a ways up.

I'm going to look at getting a socket and circuit breaker fitted when all this virus stuff dies down a bit. Was looking to practice a bit while I have the time on my hands!

Would you say a circuit breaker off a 30a fuse in the garage fuse box then into a industrial plug would be sufficient (So House Fusebox > Garage Fusebox > MCB > Socket)? The cable going out to the garage is a cooker weight cable (at least 2.5mm but maybe more) and the fuse its coming from is also rated at 30a.

Thanks again! This has been a massive help

All the best

Will

 

[eddie49]

No need for anything more than a good-quality 13A plug, a tight-fitting socket ( ooh err missus ) a heavy-duty or - preferably - no extension lead, on a MIG welder up to 180 Amps.

 

[willpower1337]

No need for anything more than a good-quality 13A plug, a tight-fitting socket ( ooh err missus ) a heavy-duty or - preferably - no extension lead, on a MIG welder up to 180 Amps.

Thanks for your reply

Could the fact I was using it on a long extension lead made the fuse pop? or could it have been a bad quality fuse? The lead was rated for 3100w which i would have thought would have been enough as it was a heavy duty JCB lead. I was using it cranked up to 135a at the time with a fairly high wire speed.

Thanks again

 

[eddie49]

It sounds like your "JCB" extension lead is OK ( after all, they can run diggers off them ... ? ). I reckon it was a bad fuse, or maybe loose in the plug and arcing, causing the fuse to heat up.

At maximum output, the welder provides 135 amps at 21 volts, which is 2835 watts. Ignoring losses, to get 2835W from 230v you will draw 12 amps, so the numbers are about right.
In fact, a 13A fuse will ( should ) take a lot more before it blows:

"The actual current, where a BS 1362 fuse will blow, is about 1.66 times the rated value, so for a 13A fuse this will be 21.6A."

- taken from : https://www.pat-testing-training.net/articles/fuse-operation-characteristics.php
- which has a nice picture of a burnt plug.

 

[willpower1337]

It sounds like your "JCB" extension lead is OK ( after all, they can run diggers off them ... ? ). I reckon it was a bad fuse, or maybe loose in the plug and arcing, causing the fuse to heat up.

At maximum output, the welder provides 135 amps at 21 volts, which is 2835 watts. Ignoring losses, to get 2835W from 230v you will draw 12 amps, so the numbers are about right.
In fact, a 13A fuse will ( should ) take a lot more before it blows:

"The actual current, where a BS 1362 fuse will blow, is about 1.66 times the rated value, so for a 13A fuse this will be 21.6A."

- taken from : https://www.pat-testing-training.net/articles/fuse-operation-characteristics.php
- which has a nice picture of a burnt plug.

Thank you! I had no idea that 13a fuses could take that much! I have a couple of questions then building on from this.

Is that what the 12a under the |1eff section is referring too on the side panel (in OP)? because in the book it says it needs to be connected to a source capable of |1max, which is 32.5a but then in the box next to it as i said before it says 12a. Are these standard terms in the welding world? because i tried googling them but I turned up a blank (I suspect its because i didn't know what to search for...).

My other question is would you recommend a particular brand for fuses? and maybe plugs too? I am trying to weld some 6mm steel for a combat robot so will need to be turned up quite a lot. What Amps would you expect to weld 6mm Steel and Hardox nicely?

Thanks again! This has been super helpful as I don't really have any welder friends to ask!

All the best

 

[eddie49]

I think that the I ( one ) values are for the primary current, and I ( two ), the secondary.
The I1 max is probably the initial switch-on surge, which can be high for an inductive device like a transformer. A very sensitive electronic circuit breaker may see this surge and trip out, but a wire fuse will not mind. The I1 eff is the "effective" or root mean square ( RMS ) primary current. This is a measure of the DC current that would produce the same heating effect as the sinusoidal alternating current.

For 13A plugs, I would suggest Masterplug or Permaplug, or an MK 655 Toughplug.

To weld, you can reckon with 30 to 40 Amps per millimetre, or 1 Amp per thousandth of an inch. This means that a 135A MIG will not manage 6mm steel, it can only do 3 to 4mm. For your work on 6mm, I think you need to switch to using a 140 Amp stick ( Arc ) welder.

 

[willpower1337]

I think that the I ( one ) values are for the primary current, and I ( two ), the secondary.
The I1 max is probably the initial switch-on surge, which can be high for an inductive device like a transformer. A very sensitive electronic circuit breaker may see this surge and trip out, but a wire fuse will not mind. The I1 eff is the "effective" or root mean square ( RMS ) primary current. This is a measure of the DC current that would produce the same heating effect as the sinusoidal alternating current.

For 13A plugs, I would suggest Masterplug or Permaplug, or an MK 655 Toughplug.

To weld, you can reckon with 30 to 40 Amps per millimetre, or 1 Amp per thousandth of an inch. This means that a 135A MIG will not manage 6mm steel, it can only do 3 to 4mm. For your work on 6mm, I think you need to switch to using a 140 Amp stick ( Arc ) welder.

Thanks a lot mate!

I shall get one of the sockets mentioned and put it in to the fuse box in the garage on its own fuse, just to be on the safe side! I was actually looking at getting an ark welder for bigger stuff. Been looking at the Clark Inverter welders with the view to maybe convert it to TIG later (I noticed you can buy the conversion kits). What are your thoughts?

Thanks again! This has been so helpful!

 

[eddie49]

There's a large choice in modern arc welders, starting with the matchbox-sized ZX7-200:
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/cheap-ebay-200amp-single-phase-inverter-mma.94224/
Arc ( MMA ) welding has its own learning curve, but at least you do not need gas. Many arc inverters will do scratch-start TIG, which does need gas ( pure argon ) and is another hill to climb...

 

[willpower1337]

There's a large choice in modern arc welders, starting with the matchbox-sized ZX7-200:
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/cheap-ebay-200amp-single-phase-inverter-mma.94224/
Arc ( MMA ) welding has its own learning curve, but at least you do not need gas. Many arc inverters will do scratch-start TIG, which does need gas ( pure argon ) and is another hill to climb...

Thanks again mate! I'll look into that

Doing a little research in to how to weld better lol I came across flux core nozzles (the ones that are black and just cover the gas feed part of the gun and not the tip). This could help me a lot because I don't have the best eyesight. But all I have found online is ones from America (for Lincoln welders) and the like. Do you know of any manufacturers of them in the UK? Also are they just rubber? Because I have a 3D printer and could make my own but obviously I'm concerned about the temperature the tip gets too!

Thanks again! It is much appreciated!

 

[eddie49]

When using my Uptime 160 MIG with fluxcore, I did find that the now-unnecessary gas shroud can be removed to give better sight of the weld pool. If you are welding in a tight situation such as inside a car sill, there is a risk of touching adjacent metal. I have made an insulating sleeve using water pipe for underfloor heating - it is hard plastic with a thin aluminium foil layer inside. It does tend to melt a bit at the very tip. Heatshrink sleeving would probably work as well.