Hi all - I haven't been here in a long time, but remember this to be one of the most knowledgeable groups about all things metal...
I need to be able to power a small MIG welder (Lincoln SP-100T) with a generator, but don't know enough about voltage, watts, etc to know what size I need. It won't be continuous use, mostly spot welds or joints that would require no more than 60 seconds of welding. This is for an on-site found object metal sculpture.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
- Jud Turner
If you plug the welder directly into the generator a 20 amp 120 volt outlet will run a SP100 for light welding. Steve
My SP-100 works fine on a Honda 2500 watt genny
Gunner
"Lenin called them "useful idiots," those people living in liberal democracies who by giving moral and material support to a totalitarian ideology in effect were braiding the rope that would hang them. Why people who enjoyed freedom and prosperity worked passionately to destroy both is a fascinating question, one still with us today. Now the useful idiots can be found in the chorus of appeasement, reflexive anti-Americanism, and sentimental idealism trying to inhibit the necessary responses to another freedom-hating ideology, radical Islam"
Bruce C. Thornton, a professor of Classics at American University of Cal State Fresno
AMPS X VOLTS = WATTS. Add a 30% safety margin and you should be able to run its duty cycle.
A 2600 watt generator would not be adequate for full duty cycle in my opinion, but a 3500 should handle it all day long.
I'm not sure about the sp100t, but some inverters (MIG power supplies) can be sensitive to voltage spikes, sags, etc. I had to replace a varistor on my PowCon after it was loaned for some generator-powered field work.
The little Lincoln SP MIG boxes aren't inverters.
The welder itself is limited to 10% or 15% duty cycle at max output.
Correct.
"Lenin called them "useful idiots," those people living in liberal democracies who by giving moral and material support to a totalitarian ideology in effect were braiding the rope that would hang them. Why people who enjoyed freedom and prosperity worked passionately to destroy both is a fascinating question, one still with us today. Now the useful idiots can be found in the chorus of appeasement, reflexive anti-Americanism, and sentimental idealism trying to inhibit the necessary responses to another freedom-hating ideology, radical Islam"
Bruce C. Thornton, a professor of Classics at American University of Cal State Fresno
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