Esab Dewalt Battery powered welder - the future?

[JOEPRO]

Just spotted this u toob shart on an Esab Welder which can run off 4x Dewalt batteries.

It would of course be better if it ran on Milwaukee batteries but I guess this is going to be the future and it looks good. For small outdoor stuff run 100% portable but also be able to plug into wall power for fab work.

 

[hotponyshoes]

It uses the dewalt flexvolt packs which can run at either 18v or 54v.

I don't know what voltage it's using but if it's 18v then adapters are easily available to use other batteries providing they fit in the dock.
If it's running 54v you could make up an external dock to use your own packs (providing you had 12 of them) or make up a custom pack for it with some Nissan leaf donor parts..

If you already have the dewalt packs then it is certainly a more attractive option than the other battery powered ones available that only use custom/expensive packs.

The main downside is you only get 140a and you could buy a top name inverter welder and a generator to run it all day for 1/3 of the price of the esab!

 

[Erie Fred]

The main downside is you only get 140a and you could buy a top name inverter welder and a generator to run it all day for 1/3 of the price of the esab!

This was done maybe 20 years ago with a nicad pack.
IIRC it had a short running time span, was gasless fluxcore, sold by Century welders.

The advantage is portability.

You can climb a ladder with this in tow, and weld.

No genset, no long cords, nothing.

For welding a bracket onto something that takes under 5 minutes, it would be great.
Before you can set-up your genset and run leads, your in & out of the job site with this one.

 

[hotponyshoes]

This was done maybe 20 years ago with a nicad pack.
IIRC it had a short running time span, was gasless fluxcore, sold by Century welders.

The advantage is portability.

You can climb a ladder with this in tow, and weld.

No genset, no long cords, nothing.

For welding a bracket onto something that takes under 5 minutes, it would be great.
Before you can set-up your genset and run leads, your in & out of the job site with this one.

Yea, I'd have one as I can see the advantages to it.
I do quite a few odd jobs on farms etc where it takes 10x longer to move the kit in and set it up than it takes to do the welding.
An angle grinder and one of those would probably cover 90% of those jobs as 2 rods would be plenty.
The tig side would also cover 90% of the odd bits of stainless welding I do in milking parlours..
I'd struggle to make it pay for itself with the jobs I'd have to use it for though!
Plus I don't have any dewalt kit!

I do have a battery mig welder, gas or gas less. Just runs from car batteries.
It will run from 12v-36v. Problem is, its not brilliant at 12v so I can't just plug it into the anderson connector on my truck.
At 24v it actually welds very nicely but it's just not that practical to charge up & lug 2x big batteries around with it.
I keep meaning to make up a li-ion pack for it or maybe try running it from a 36v ebike pack...
Main issue with that is, I'd normally only bother to use a mig welder if there was a decent amount of welding to do which then means lots of battery power.
Although the mig is ideal for thin rusty steel and I see a fair bit of that.

I'd like to get the esab and make up my own power pack for it, especially if I could make the same pack run my mig and maybe a 230v inverter, work lights etc..
But, it's a chunk of money and I already have plenty of 200a+ welders, a generator, loads of heavy extension leads...

 

[MattF]

Now they've done a proof of concept, however, other manufacturers may try to up the game on that one. Could lead to some decent versions & choice within a few years.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Now they've done a proof of concept, however, other manufacturers may try to up the game on that one. Could lead to some decent versions & choice within a few years.

If EWM bring out a multi-process 250a with AC tig that runs on Bosch batteries for under £1k I'll get one and do a review on it

 

[pressbrake1]

I’d rather have dewalt batteries the hopeless Milwaukee stuff.
I’ve had to buy a Milwaukee 1” impact gun for work and the dealer said get the extended warranty registration done as you’ll need it!

 

[Robbie260]

Both Fronius and Lorch have had ones for a while of course they don’t run on standard power tool batteries. The Lorch version I had was epic shame I didn’t really use it enough to justify it.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Both Fronius and Lorch have had ones for a while of course they don’t run on standard power tool batteries. The Lorch version I had was epic shame I didn’t really use it enough to justify it.

I saw one of those on a demo at a farmers thing. Lot of interest in it and I think they would have sold hundreds of them if they were £500 each...

The battery banks are expensive for what they are. Especially now when compared to 4 dewalt batterys when someone may already have 2 anway.

I think they could have made the packs seem a better price if they had chucked a couple of £ worth of electronics in and included a 110/230v outlet and some usb sockets or something.

 

[Barking Mat]

Yeah, as above, a dedicated removable battery.

 

[angellonewolf]

I saw one of those on a demo at a farmers thing. Lot of interest in it and I think they would have sold hundreds of them if they were £500 each...

The battery banks are expensive for what they are. Especially now when compared to 4 dewalt batterys when someone may already have 2 anway.

I think they could have made the packs seem a better price if they had chucked a couple of £ worth of electronics in and included a 110/230v outlet and some usb sockets or something.

2 batterys yea right try again

 

[Robbie260]

I saw one of those on a demo at a farmers thing. Lot of interest in it and I think they would have sold hundreds of them if they were £500 each...

The battery banks are expensive for what they are. Especially now when compared to 4 dewalt batterys when someone may already have 2 anway.

I think they could have made the packs seem a better price if they had chucked a couple of £ worth of electronics in and included a 110/230v outlet and some usb sockets or something.

True I mean it’s only about £400 for 4 flex volt batteries so you could have more than two full sets for the cost of one lorch and they will power all the dewalt cordless tools I have as well. It is definitely making it more tempting I just can’t get over esabs poor reputation for reliability these days which would be my only sticking point and the fronius one is the same price as the esab and you still have to buy the dewalt batteries seperate.

 

[hotponyshoes]

True I mean it’s only about £400 for 4 flex volt batteries so you could have more than two full sets for the cost of one lorch and they will power all the dewalt cordless tools I have as well. It is definitely making it more tempting I just can’t get over esabs poor reputation for reliability these days which would be my only sticking point and the fronius one is the same price as the esab and you still have to buy the dewalt batteries seperate.

Quick look on Google suggests they are both around the same price if you buy the esab WITH 4 dewalt battries (and the 4 bay charger)
I'd imagine the esab would be a lot more tempting than the fronius/lorch if you already had dewalt kit.

Unless the esab is using the 54v I can't see any reason why they couldn't offer models for other platforms? Unless esab/dewalt are owned by the same parent?

I'd agree about the modern esab reliability concerns and I'd personally consider the fronius to be a higher-end machine (not that I've ever tried either of them)

But 4 separate battries on the esab also has the advantage that if one stops working its a fraction of the replacement cost.

 

[hotponyshoes]

2 batterys yea right try again

I haven't seen any information on the esab to suggest it can use the normal dewalt batteries.
Which makes me think it needs the 54v from the flexvolt ones.

So the 20+ dewalt batteries you have might not be any use.
If you already have 4 or more of the flexvolt you are obviously a rich enough brand-tart to be the target market for the Renegade

 

[Barking Mat]

He took one off and stuck it on a grinder.

 

[hotponyshoes]

He took one off and stuck it on a grinder.

The dewalt flexvolt are dual-voltage batteries.
So if you connect one to a basic drill it will output 18v.
Connect it to a big sds drill and it will output 54v.
That grinder he used could have been either a 18v or a 54v model and the same battery would work in both.

What I don't know is what voltage the esab welder uses.

 

[E T]

I haven't seen any information on the esab to suggest it can use the normal dewalt batteries.
Which makes me think it needs the 54v from the flexvolt ones.

So the 20+ dewalt batteries you have might not be any use.
If you already have 4 or more of the flexvolt you are obviously a rich enough brand-tart to be the target market for the Renegade

Acoording to the Esab website the Renegade uses the 54V flexvolt batteries and 4 of them are included in the package.
If you already have 18V batteries they are of no use.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Acoording to the Esab website the Renegade uses the 54V flexvolt batteries and 4 of them are included in the package.
If you already have 18V batteries they are of no use.

Ah,
So no 3d printing 4x adaptors to run it from my batterys then

I wonder if they are just connecting them in parrallel for the runtime or series to make 216v input?

 

[E T]

Apparently it comes with the 20V/60V flexvolt batteries and not the 18V/54V ones. And the supply voltage is 80V DC in battery mode.

Renegade VOLT™ ES 200i

ESAB is committed to providing the highest level of customer service & support to help maximize your investment. Explore our wealth of product support resources.

esab.com

 

[eddie49]

make up a custom pack for it with some Nissan leaf donor parts.

Since an inverter welder is actually powered by DC inside, it should be fairly easy to run a generic MIG or Arc welder from a high-voltage battery. Simply replace the mains power cable and bridge rectifier with a 320 volt stack of Li-ion cells...!
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