I know this has been asked in a round about way before, BUT is it feasible to run a modern inverter stick welder from a pickup truck?
I have a Parweld xti160, which is small and light and great to make in-field/on-site repairs, using up to 3.2mm 6013 running 100amps (on the diall). I probably burn 3 or 4 rods max at any one period of repair. For big jobs a temporary repair is enough to bring back to workshop/mains power supply.
Currently i use a mosa 200ts welder generator to power the welder, as the welding function does not work on the mosa. This works fine but is big and bulky and heavy for having in my pickup all the time. I also have a heap of handtools and spanners etc, and not much space for much else. I would love to save some weight and space in my pickup.
Surely it is possible to hook up a 12v inverter to power the welder? I know this can be easily done for grinders/drills etc, but would this be possible for a welder?
So ive not tested the actual current im welding at, or the input current this will be. But assume im welding at 100 amps (as per dial), and the max input current is 16amps at 230v, when welding at 160amps, so my acutal input current will be less than 16amps. It never blows a 13amp fuse in an extension chord.
Am i right in assuming that eg. 13amp input current, multiplied by 230v, gives 2990watts. With a power factor of say 0.9 this will be approx 3.3kva?
So using a pure sine wave 12v inverter of e.g 10000w peak/5000w continuous would power it? Then the 12v inverter would need powered by the battery/ additional batteries. So 3.3kva at 12v would use 275amps??? Is this correct? So for welding for an hour continuously i would need batteries capable of providing at least 275Ahr.
The main questions are:
1) Has anyone done anything similar to this with success?
2) Does my maths make any sense?
3) Should i just suck it up and keeping using the generator/welder combo and deal with the weight?
4) Buy a smaller generator e.g 4.5kva and sell mosa?
Many thanks guys, ive pondered this for a long time now.
I have a Parweld xti160, which is small and light and great to make in-field/on-site repairs, using up to 3.2mm 6013 running 100amps (on the diall). I probably burn 3 or 4 rods max at any one period of repair. For big jobs a temporary repair is enough to bring back to workshop/mains power supply.
Currently i use a mosa 200ts welder generator to power the welder, as the welding function does not work on the mosa. This works fine but is big and bulky and heavy for having in my pickup all the time. I also have a heap of handtools and spanners etc, and not much space for much else. I would love to save some weight and space in my pickup.
Surely it is possible to hook up a 12v inverter to power the welder? I know this can be easily done for grinders/drills etc, but would this be possible for a welder?
So ive not tested the actual current im welding at, or the input current this will be. But assume im welding at 100 amps (as per dial), and the max input current is 16amps at 230v, when welding at 160amps, so my acutal input current will be less than 16amps. It never blows a 13amp fuse in an extension chord.
Am i right in assuming that eg. 13amp input current, multiplied by 230v, gives 2990watts. With a power factor of say 0.9 this will be approx 3.3kva?
So using a pure sine wave 12v inverter of e.g 10000w peak/5000w continuous would power it? Then the 12v inverter would need powered by the battery/ additional batteries. So 3.3kva at 12v would use 275amps??? Is this correct? So for welding for an hour continuously i would need batteries capable of providing at least 275Ahr.
The main questions are:
1) Has anyone done anything similar to this with success?
2) Does my maths make any sense?
3) Should i just suck it up and keeping using the generator/welder combo and deal with the weight?
4) Buy a smaller generator e.g 4.5kva and sell mosa?
Many thanks guys, ive pondered this for a long time now.