Mig Welder on Generator.

[Terry Judd]

Looking to run a small Mig from a generator, gen I have at the moment is 3kVA, is there any small mig that would run on that power, or would I need to up the Gen.

 

[Kent]

honestly I doubt it though I have never looked into the real tiny mig sets. Mostly for say a 180 amp set your looking at 6kva min more often 7 kva, personally I should go at least 8-9 kva. AVR (auto voltage regulation) is very worthwhile and required under warranty using many welding plants.

What is it for? Can you not Hire in?

 

[HughF]

what kent said... bigger genny needed.

 

[blenkie1]

What are you welding and why do you need a genny for?

 

[Terry Judd]

Its for my son, he does repair work, sometimes needs onsite welding, its what he has at the moment 3kVA and asked if it could work on that size, I did say very doubtful 5-6 kVA at least.

 

[rikrobson]

At least 6KVA and AVR too.

 

[the snooper]

At least 6KVA and AVR too.

and you would need to make sure that 6kva would be the absolute power drawn including inrush as avr's don't like more being draw they tend to pack up

 

[the snooper]

Its for my son, he does repair work, sometimes needs onsite welding, its what he has at the moment 3kVA and asked if it could work on that size, I did say very doubtful 5-6 kVA at least.

ive tried 150 transformer mig on a 5kva diesel it was useless at full power, never really tried it on low power

 

[Jim Davey]

Get an engine driven stick set instead, it's far less hassle and cheaper in the long run as you pay once for a process that actually works.

 

[HughF]

Plenty of 200a hverhill sets with honda gx power on ebay, not that I know if they're any good or not.

 

[blenkie1]

Get an engine driven stick set instead, it's far less hassle and cheaper in the long run as you pay once for a process that actually works.

Agree. Get a half decent engine driven welder. It might be stick but it's a start. I have a Lincoln ranger and it has an option to plug a mig in if needed.

 

[HughF]

Voltage sensing feeders are available from lincoln, miller and tecnical arc services. These will run in globular/spray transfer from a CC engine drive, or in short circuit transfer as well when hooked up to a cc/cv machine like a ranger 305d or a trailblazer 302 diesel.