Inverter stick welders

[nudge 22]

The weakest part of you home electrical circuts are the circuit breakers so if you plug a 15 amp appliance into a 10 amp socket the worst that could happen is you will trip the circuit breaker and I doubt you would trip a circuit breaker with a 130 amp welder inverter or not.
I have a 170 amp mig and i have never tripped mine our work inverters are 150amp and i have never triped a breaker.

As for duty cycle I have used alot of different machines with different duty cycles and have never had one cut out I wouldn't worry about it to much

[junglejuice]

Originally Posted by nudge 22

The weakest part of you home electrical circuts are the circuit breakers so if you plug a 15 amp appliance into a 10 amp socket the worst that could happen is you will trip the circuit breaker and I doubt you would trip a circuit breaker with a 130 amp welder inverter or not.
I have a 170 amp mig and i have never tripped mine our work inverters are 150amp and i have never triped a breaker.

As for duty cycle I have used alot of different machines with different duty cycles and have never had one cut out I wouldn't worry about it to much

I think you have missed the point of a 15a outlet, it is the EARTH that is the difference as welders can often have high earth currents so the earth is upgraded to help cope with this, just because yours has never done it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
It is like any other safety device, none do anything till they are required and if you have bypassed it then it is too late....
Electrical safety is very important for people and property.....

[Mur]

There will be no earth current in the welder unless there is a short to the case of some kind. The earth in a power plug is just connected to the metal case of the appliance.
If there is a short, it doesnt matter what amps the welder is drawing, it will be bypassing it all!

Despite that, it isnt a good idea changing the plug.
The plug is probably different to stop people plugging high power devices into the small outlets.
The 10a plug will have cableing that wont be designed for 15 amps.
Get 15a one put in at home, it will be usefull for something else.
If you really need to use it at a mates house, get a 15a extension lead, and file down that plug. Than only use it at a low power setting.....

[junglejuice]

Originally Posted by Mur

There will be no earth current in the welder unless there is a short to the case of some kind. The earth in a power plug is just connected to the metal case of the appliance.
If there is a short, it doesnt matter what amps the welder is drawing, it will be bypassing it all!

Despite that, it isnt a good idea changing the plug.
The plug is probably different to stop people plugging high power devices into the small outlets.
The 10a plug will have cableing that wont be designed for 15 amps.
Get 15a one put in at home, it will be usefull for something else.
If you really need to use it at a mates house, get a 15a extension lead, and file down that plug. Than only use it at a low power setting.....

Not quite, if there is an open circuit on the neutral or even a poor connection on the neutral the current will flow down the earth conductor back to the M.E.N. connection to prevent the metal case from becoming live and electrocuting the operator.
As I said above it is a safety system to help prevent DEATH or a charcoal house.....

[jenzo]

hmm, im not too sure about filing the plug down.. correct me if im wrong,if a short or something did happen installed with 10a cabling when running at full power then couldnt it melt the cable,thus posing a fire hazard? im no electrician so what ive said is probably wrong, but am very open to learning

[junglejuice]

Originally Posted by jenzo

hmm, im not too sure about filing the plug down.. correct me if im wrong,if a short or something did happen installed with 10a cabling when running at full power then couldnt it melt the cable,thus posing a fire hazard? im no electrician so what ive said is probably wrong, but am very open to learning

Actually whether it is at full power or just sitting there powered on makes no difference in the case of a short circuit but that is what the protection device is there for either fuse or circuit breaker.
It is more of an issue if there is an open circuit on the neutral as that WILL liven up the case if it is metal if the earth is not sufficient.
If the active open circuits it simply will stop working....

[josh9465]

Originally Posted by Steve F

The welder worked well, I should have had a bit of practice before I started as it's been a while so I had to redo some welds but that was my fault. The best thing about it was I could weld all day without hitting the duty cycle, it had no problems with the 6mm or 4mm and you can see the heat marks on the back of the pieces showing decent penetration.

If you look half way down the front face you can see where I had done some stitches of the 6mm winch plate to the 4mm face, when I'd done the whole thing you could see all the weld lines on all pieces



I ran it on some 3mm as well but haven't gone any thinner, I'll see if I get a chance to try it on some real thin stuff this weekend.

Cheers
Steve

hey steve hows the welder going. im tempted at buying the FIRE welder off ebay too. did you have a chance on welding some thinner metal. got any close ups of ur welds.
josh