Generator power

[InferdRhythm]

Hey all, I've just got myself an old truck I'm looking to restore and I need to get myself a welder, but I know nothing about them, it's got to be simple enough for a newbie to use but it's got to be strong enough to weld chassis size metal. I also need to get a generator as I have no power supply to my garage, so my question is, are the two compatible ? Will I be able to run this welder off this generator ? And are these even the ones I should be going for ?

Welder:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...f_rd_i=desktop

Generator:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-WP3500L...rds=Generators

Any and all advice would be much appreciated

 

[octo0072000]

what truck are we talking about first that will give people some idea of what you are trying to do


1 that welder is a basic one most people call them door stops not very good at all
2 can you run it from a generator yes but not that one you would need one twice the size or more with a AVR (automatic voltage regulation) not a cheap make like wolf some welder do not function well on generators

Clarke range the 151 welder are well thought of i suggest you do a lot more reading on here first
as you have no idea about welding
some people are good at it others never can do it
top of page click on the green mig heading that will take you into the tutorials
best of luck welcome to the forum

 

[gaz1]

from my reading you want kva 6 or more to run a mig welder at full power but i wasnt looking at running it on petrol but on gas instead

 

[steve t]

what sort of truck is it, pictures please

 

[InferdRhythm]

It's a 1996 mazda b2200 ... It's mainly body work that I'll be trying to weld but I also want to be able to cut and weld the chassis to change certain mounting points etc.

I've been trying to research what I should buy but I don't understand electricity, I presumed that if a welder can run off a plug socket in the garage 240V, surely it would work fine on a generator that outputs 700V ? But i take it that's not right ?

Can anyone recommend a better quality welder/ generator that would be compatible together ? The two I've chose out above were based on the fact someone told me "a mig welder is what you want, and a gas one too"...

 

[winchman]

If you do the maths the generatoris 13 amps at 240 volts, to be honest I would be tempted to have something a little bigger
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-WP7500..._1_4?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1447266942&sr=1-4
This would do it easily but its a lot more expensive. I would contact the seller and see what they have that will run the welder as you might find soem one who will sell you both and do a deal. Personally I would look for used just incase you find a bargain

 

[InferdRhythm]

A mig welder is what you want, and one that uses gas.

Unfortunately, the one you linked to only matches that description if you're looking at it from round the corner, down the road a bit and you're squinting - a bit of fog would help too...

700v generator? Where?

Sorry i was originally looking at the small 700v generator but decided I at least needed the 3200 that I linked above... And I've just now realised that that's watts and not volts lol! Shows just how little I know

 

[InferdRhythm]

If you do the maths the generatoris 13 amps at 240 volts, to be honest I would be tempted to have something a little bigger
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-WP7500..._1_4?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1447266942&sr=1-4
This would do it easily but its a lot more expensive. I would contact the seller and see what they have that will run the welder as you might find soem one who will sell you both and do a deal. Personally I would look for used just incase you find a bargain

Now that generators a beast !! But a little too big/expensive

Why don't manufacturers make these things more simple ? If I knew what power input a welder needed, I could just buy a generator with a bigger output and be done

 

[HughF]

A 5kw Chinese diesel generator has a pretty decent avr, and a pretty decent prime mover being a yanmar clone. I would suggest you buy a cheap second hand single phase mig off eBay, something like an old Brit weld, cebora, Clarke 150 etc. They should run quite well on 5kw.

Expect to be about 800-900 quid down with a generator, mig, gas, wire, helmet.

Avoid a generator that has capacitor excitation, they won't run a mig welder well. Older transformer excited brushed alternator gensets (6kw lister sr2 etc) are fine and will run welders well, even though they technically lack an avr.

 

[HughF]

There is a half decent mig for sale at the moment on this very forum, a good price too.