The largest MIG that you can realistically run on a UK supply is about 400A ……………
But you are going to be looking at a dedicated supply……………………
The supply is actually quite important in terms of how the welder performs. Inverter MIG’s will be very tolerant to input variation, however all transformer MIG’s will not particularly tolerant to input fluctuations and this is reflected on the output current and tip voltage ……… i.e. it happens when you are welding, so it just makes life a little more difficult to get that ‘perfect’ weld . To overcome this, then the supply to the welder should be ‘sized’ appropriately to ensure that there is no voltage drop due to exceeding the current carrying capacity of the cable and plugs / sockets.
My MIG is 300A and the supply is 10mm twin & earth straight from the consumer unit to the workshop. It is protected at the CU by a 63amp C curve MCB and terminated in the workshop to a 32A three pin blue commando socket. The safety rating factor of commando plugs is about x2 for intermittent use, so it is well within spec. Also for safety, I have run a separate 10mm earth back to the CU.
Just for interest, cable ratings for twin & earth are as follows,
2.5mm = 24Amp
4.0mm = 32Amp
6.0mm = 40Amp
10.0mm = 53Amp
16.0mm = 70Amp
Ian
But you are going to be looking at a dedicated supply……………………
The supply is actually quite important in terms of how the welder performs. Inverter MIG’s will be very tolerant to input variation, however all transformer MIG’s will not particularly tolerant to input fluctuations and this is reflected on the output current and tip voltage ……… i.e. it happens when you are welding, so it just makes life a little more difficult to get that ‘perfect’ weld . To overcome this, then the supply to the welder should be ‘sized’ appropriately to ensure that there is no voltage drop due to exceeding the current carrying capacity of the cable and plugs / sockets.
My MIG is 300A and the supply is 10mm twin & earth straight from the consumer unit to the workshop. It is protected at the CU by a 63amp C curve MCB and terminated in the workshop to a 32A three pin blue commando socket. The safety rating factor of commando plugs is about x2 for intermittent use, so it is well within spec. Also for safety, I have run a separate 10mm earth back to the CU.
Just for interest, cable ratings for twin & earth are as follows,
2.5mm = 24Amp
4.0mm = 32Amp
6.0mm = 40Amp
10.0mm = 53Amp
16.0mm = 70Amp
Ian