Power supply options for 160A welder

[WCH]

Hi All - I am a complete novice to welding but I am looking at purchasing a 160A MMA welder and wanted to know a couple of things before getting purchasing.

The welder requires a maximum 20A rated current consumption which is obviously higher than a 13A standard home socket.

Question 1 - If I get the right plug (EV type 2 male), is there any reason why I cannot connect it direct to my EV charging point which is rated at circa 7.3kWh / 32A? If I can then I don't need an electrician and I can do most of my welding in my driveway

Question 2 - If I did connect the welder to a domestic mains supply (13A) but only ran the welder at 80A (50% of capacity) would it blow the fuse or will the welder only draw 50% of its full mains consumption i.e. 50% x 20A = 10A and therefore not blow a fuse. Tuis would be useful when I want to do on-location welding where I might only have access to a 13A domestic fuse. I appreciate that 80A might only allow we to use a 2.5mm electrode

I hope these questions are not too idiotic but would appreciate any help...thanks

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Question 2 - If I did connect the welder to a domestic mains supply (13A) but only ran the welder at 80A (50% of capacity) would it blow the fuse

I use my stick (mma,) welder on a 13a...it easily welds with 3.2mm rods no problem....it's like you say....there will be a point where it will blow the fuse as you increase the power.

I suspect if you tried to use 4mm rods then there could be issues as they need more power.

I also use my 200A mig welder on a 13A fuse too...similar situation.

 

[frank horton]

I reg use my Oxford welder on 240v on a 16amp RCD.....never a prob with semi continu welding....
but in the end the plug partialy melted....so it now has a dedicated supply with a 30amp 3 phase style plug n socket...(bigger pins therefore bigger contact area) no more hot plugs.....
One other thing the lead from socket to machine needs to be laid out in long hoops if it's too long.....Otherwise this also gets hot when coiled up in use.......
My Oxford is oil filled and rated at 225amp's but it wont pull anywhere near that on single phase...
To use 4mm rods which I really need but I dont have 3 phase yet....plus cant explain it but the rod feels different when using 440v instead of 240v...

 

[BrokenBiker]

ive always run all my welders on 13 amps at home from my 100 amp gasless mig, my 180 amp parweld stick welder, 160 amp cws inverter, 195 mp transformer mig, a clarke 150 amp mig, a sealey something or other that claimed to be 180 amps (i think), my current 200 amp ACDC tig that regularly gets maxed out, and my 250amp mig that has been run flat out as well.

im currently using everything off a 50 meter extension lead as we are planning an extension on the house that will require a fair bit of digging so waiting til then to run the armoured to the shed so someone else can dig the trench with a mini digger instead of me with a shovel and then i only have to do the last 10 meters in soft gorund.

only time ive ever blwon a fuse or tripped a breaker was the iffy sealey 180 thing tht im pretty sure had internal faults as i got it for 60 quid off a garage

 

[WCH]

Thanks to everyone for their responses - seems like the 13A plug is the way forward - out of interest can anyone see why the EV charger socket would not work? Just interested in case I need to do some 4mm

 

[Barking Mat]

Thanks to everyone for their responses - seems like the 13A plug is the way forward - out of interest can anyone see why the EV charger socket would not work? Just interested in case I need to do some 4mm

No, no reason, it will work fine.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

can anyone see why the EV charger socket would not work?

I wasn't sure about the details...if its a simple 32a power socket then it's fine....but if it's a 32a EV charger (ie with a data protocol to initiate the charge) then that's a different matter.

If you have an EV...couldn't you use the VTL feature to run the welder?

My EV I think supported 7kw via the ccs port...I used it to power the Henry vac and various power tools but didn't try the stick welder. EV was returned on Monday so I can't try it unfortunately.