Van generator to power welder?

[F.J.]

LWB transit 3.500 tons plus trailer business use doesn't this come under tachograph laws ??

The Van I'm getting has a tachometer fitted and I am booking onto my trailer towing licence next week

 

[F.J.]

Heck, you often can't get to 50mph anyhow on the m60 anyhow for traffic

Things going well then glad to hear it

When travelling further a field I set off early to beat the traffic, although the road works do hinder the early starts.

And yes, work has been good to me this year and I am hoping to continue by expanding the fleet an staff as at the moment I'm finding that I am needed in two places at once most days of the week!!

 

[Jim Davey]

I wouldn't go above a 6mm carbon on a 300 amp machine.

 

[moose]

Remember the tacho laws, is it the old disc type or one were you need the Tacho card from dvla very similar to a driving licence?

 

[wheresmejumper]

If gouging is often required,miller do a few generators with a built in compressor

 

[Richard.]

Lincoln state that the ranger is capable of gouging but do you know what size compressor would be needed for gouging and would the ranger run it or would I need a seperate unit? I'd have to check what cfm the pto compressor kicks out as that may do the job

100psi is a good working pressure for arc air. 300 amps is not great though as the process is very aggressive on power sources. I personally think 6mm carbons need a bigger power source to utilise them well.

 

[octo0072000]

not sure on class as non LGV on the tacko bit few years now since i used tackos my still have to have the card now or do the course

 

[the snooper]

Lincoln state that the ranger is capable of gouging but do you know what size compressor would be needed for gouging and would the ranger run it or would I need a seperate unit? I'd have to check what cfm the pto compressor kicks out as that may do the job

the cfm should be quite high as they run the road breakers / jackhammers from them so will be way more air then needed

 

[the snooper]

So do you actually need a tacho when towing a trailer?

The rules are simple – if your van plus the trailer has a gross vehicle weight above 3.5 tonnes combined, you’ll need one (with a few exceptions that we’ll mention later).

So if you drive a 3.5-tonner such as a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, you’ll knock it over the legal limit as soon as you attach any kind of trailer.
For small vehicles it’s a simple question of maths. A two-tonne vehicle with a one-tonne trailer equals three tonnes and therefore can legally be driven without a tacho.

Exceptions
So can you get round the law in any way? Well yes, provided you fit into one of two main categories.

Firstly, tachos are only needed if you drive for hire and reward. If, for example, you take a large camper van and trailer on holiday you won’t need one.

More pertinent is that if you do not travel further than 50km (33 miles) from your base, you won’t need one either. This is an area where you may be able to stretch the boundaries a tad, but don’t expect the VOSA boys and girls to take your word for it and wave you on your way if they come knocking on your side window.

They’ve seen every trick in the book and are quite savvy with the tacho rules for vans so they’re more likely to come sniffing round your office demanding proof that you don’t stray far from home in the course of your business.

 

[the snooper]

The Van I'm getting has a tachometer fitted and I am booking onto my trailer towing licence next week

tachometer or tachograph ? the former is a rev counter

 

[F.J.]

tachometer or tachograph ? the former is a rev counter

Sorry I meant tachograph, a disc type. I understand to a degree the laws of towing with different weight classed vehicles but I will be going legit for the biggest I can tow, not just for a towable welder/genny but so I can also pick up, deliver customers buckets, baskets, small machines etc.... I wouldn't dream of chancing it when it comes to vosa and the like as my van is my business and I'd be up the proverbial creek if I got caught!

 

[F.J.]

100psi is a good working pressure for arc air. 300 amps is not great though as the process is very aggressive on power sources. I personally think 6mm carbons need a bigger power source to utilise them well.

As I have never done any gouging, (I just want to cover all bases when it comes to plant repair), what kind of stuff could I see myself gouging with a 6mm rod? I regularly have seized pins in bosses that I have to remove where I think if I could shave them down with arc air it would save time

 

[the snooper]

Those under floor units have a set procedure for starting and stopping so if your nor familiar look up the instructions as they can be damaged easily also once started you should be able to remove the ignition key to stop theft of the van

 

[Richard.]

I've done loads of it in my 20's and bear plenty of scars as a result. A 6mm round carbon could be used to go as deep as 15mm in 1 pass but could also happily go 3mm. The angle of attack pretty much defines the depth. Bigger carbons with higher currents will go deeper but the real advantage is width of the gouge. For shaving the top off a seized pin I'm sure 6mm will be fine do you intend to get close to the surrounding that it is seized into as you can get flat carbons that take a squarer gouge if that's more useful. As said though 300 amps is not a lot even for small carbons. You tend to get very fierce jolts of high current which does give small units a wake up.

 

[Jim Davey]

I've seen 700 amp Miller Big Blues rocking on their chassis and belching out black smoke as they come under load when burning 12mm carbons, I always think to myself God I'm glad that's not my machine they're doing that to!
I do couple up a pair of Newarc R4500MPs though to make a potential 900 amp gouging power source with a link box to join them, I even made a remote with a twin pot so both welders share the same amount of load. Not had to put it out for a while though, it doesn't seem such a popular process these days with good gouging ability on big plasmas.

 

[Bill Edwards]

As I have never done any gouging, (I just want to cover all bases when it comes to plant repair), what kind of stuff could I see myself gouging with a 6mm rod? I regularly have seized pins in bosses that I have to remove where I think if I could shave them down with arc air it would save time

For plant repair what about oxy fuel instead?
It can be used to simply heat, cut or it can also gouge. No power supply or air compressor needed.

As to the welding side, for plant repair do you need a MIG?
It's just that it isn't so hard to get a welder generator if MMA would do your job, whereas to weld off a generator requires a much bigger unit to run happily.

 

[Jim Davey]

Facing digger buckets takes a LOT longer with stick, and time as they say, is money.

 

[Kent]

For plant repair what about oxy fuel instead?
It can be used to simply heat, cut or it can also gouge. No power supply or air compressor needed.

As to the welding side, for plant repair do you need a MIG?
It's just that it isn't so hard to get a welder generator if MMA would do your job, whereas to weld off a generator requires a much bigger unit to run happily.

Makes sense to me Bill

 

[Bill Edwards]

Facing digger buckets takes a LOT longer with stick, and time as they say, is money.

F.J was mentioning a 170 or 200 amp MIG earlier in the thread though, you'd be talking pretty thin digger buckets with that amperage, and the duty cycle wouldn't be up to much either - a 170a MIG with a 35% duty cycle doesn't do digger bucket work too well!

 

[Jim Davey]

He can with his Ranger though.