pedrobedro
Man at Matalan
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A friend of mine has the Thermal Arc 175se inverter and it runs 3.2 on a 13 amp plug or a decent extension with no problems.
So what is the highest amp you can go to before you need a 16 amp cee form
A friend of mine has the Thermal Arc 175se inverter and it runs 3.2 on a 13 amp plug or a decent extension with no problems.
About the most you can get out of an inverter on a 13A plug (and fuse) without blowing the fuse all the time is 140A. It will vary a bit because inverters vary in efficiency from 85% to over 90%. The dearer ones like Lorch tend to be more efficient. It isn't a hard and fast thing anyway, because fuses have some leeway and they don't blow the instant they pass more than 13A.
You really ought to have a 16A supply or better for a 120A plus inverter, like it probably says in the manual. That's why so many welders don't come with a plug fitted, because the maker isn't going to encourage people to do things which are not belt and braces, but they know that most people are going to use them with a 13A supply.
You seem to need about 10% less welding current on DC. I find 3.2s are best at about 110-115A and 130A is much too hot. I don't have many problems with blown fuses using a 13A plug.
sounds good is this as good as the lorch, i see they do a 201 model too, im willing to spend some decent money on one that will cope with gates, railings and mostly grass cutting machinery
be careful,i was looking at a 200 amp Lorch arc inverter lately,didnt realise it was 3 phase though.didnt expect such a small plant to be
sounds good is this as good as the lorch, i see they do a 201 model too, im willing to spend some decent money on one that will cope with gates, railings and mostly grass cutting machinery
That Thermal Arc has a two year warranty and will put up with burning 3.2mm rods easily. It will do 4mm rods as well. One of the lads on here has one that died, I think under warranty.
Lorch, EWM etc will be a different thing although they may not seem much different on paper. Designed to put up with a reasonable amount of being dropped and knocked about which the cheapies can't take and designed and built to put up with heavy daily use. They do things like go to the extra trouble of mounting all the heatsinks in an enclosed wind tunnel so all the control electronics are kept out of the way of metal dust. I believe Lorch are designed to cope with a 1 metre drop, which would almost certainly kill the £200 ones.
Very nice and if you have to have an inverter which works all day every day, the sort of thing you have to go for. But if you use one a couple of times a week and look after it, keeping it out of grinding sparks and not dropping it, it's hard to justify the cost.
Much like a lot of other things such as routers, you can get ones which are good enough for most people for £100, £200, but if you ask someone who uses them a lot for furniture making or similar, they buy the £400 and above ones which will run all day and not miss a beat.
To be honest, I think you are starting on a slippery slope. Looking for an arc inverter, but wanting a good one which will put up with trade use, then sliding into TIG and wanting one with HF start, then there are the other features, slope in and out and all the rest. HF start is a step up in price for the same general quality of machine.
The same applies to TIG machines as to arc inverters, if you want industrial quality, you have to pay industrial prices. TIG is really a workshop technique so portabality isn't such a big deal as with arc.
Have you thought of getting a £200-£250 arc inverter with lift start TIG from Parweld, RTEch or Thermal Arc and putting off the purchase of a TIG machine until you've got a bit more experience and a better idea of what you want? It will have a resale price, or eventually do as a spare or what you pick up when you want something very portable for arc work.