Need recommendation on generator

I think that a range of "jobs" that one could do with a wimpy generator and a small low duty cycle 130A welder is a little bit too limited -- the OP will be unable to bid on many attractive jobs. I would also look for something capable of at least 200A at a 50% duty cycle. Disclaimer, I am not a welding professional, I am a computer programmer.

i

Thanks!

OK, thanks... good thinking!

Yabbut ................

You're spending all that money on a generator. Why not buy a welding machine that has a generator included? Sure, the generator will run the small Miller, but what happens when you need to 7018 something?

Steve

I don't know anything about welders, but if the EU3000is puts out enough power then it's a great choice. In fact, I own one and love it.

If, however, you need to go bigger and you are concerned about noise then I would recommend one of these:

EM5000is

120/240V 4500W 68dbA @ rated load 62dbA @ 1/4 load Approximate Cost: $3000-$3600

EM7000is

120/240V 5500W 69dbA @ rated load 63dbA @ 1/4 load Approximate Cost: $3200-$4000 If a typical welding job only takes a few hours, however, I would go with a less expensive, but noisy generator. My experience has been that most people can tolerate a lot of noise, if it's for a relatively short period of time.

An example generator would be the Briggs & Stratton 5,550 Watt Wheelhouse Portable Generator. These are sold at Home Depot for $699.00. However, if you look around, you might be able to find a good used one for about $400.00:

B&S 5,550 Watt Wheelhouse

120/240V 5550 Watts/8,550 Starting Watts 80dbA (My guess) $699 (At Home Depot)

If your son uses the B&S generator for awhile and finds that it is to noisy, then you might be able to quiet it down a little bit by putting a box over it and maybe leaving it in the (covered) truck bed.

For a rudimentary box, I would use 2 by 4's and put sheet rock on the inside and plywood on the outside and fill the cavity with fiberglass insulation. The box would be open on the bottom or have a plywood floor and it would be completely open in the front.

For cooling I would use a large, ventilation fan ($166) like the one at:

I would cut a 6" hole in the back of the box to accomodate the 6" duct that connects to the fan. (I would put one or two bends in the duct). My guess is that the open box would cut the noise down by maybe

10 dbA in 3 directions. However, the caveat is that I have never done this, so I confess I'm doing some guessing.

! - Get serious. When in business you need to (at least seem to) be professional and not display ignorance by trying to do a real job with hobby tools.

2 - Go big or go home. 3 - Listen to Steve B. 4 - Find a real engine driven welder that can burn 3/16 7018 and will also drive the toy wire feed on those specialized jobs where the real welder is too big. Make sure to have lots of cable and hose as you need to be able to stretch out to reach the work.

Good luck

I think, though, that we can all agree that a Honda EU3000 and a Weldmatic 130 are a little too limiting as far as the range of jobs goes. Just how far to go in search of a beefier generator, is not as clear.

i

No, you don't need a big rig for carport repairs. You just need to be able to do all sorts of welding so that those companies will call you for the carport repairs. I did all the insurance repairs for U-Haul's insurer in the Las Vegas valley. My best day was $3200 in repairs. Me and one other man. We used Makita cordless screwguns.

I didn't need a big welder for that, but if I hadn't gotten my foot in the door with welding, they would have found someone else to do all the repairs. My "big rig" was a Lincoln WeldanPower with a 16hp Onan. Not good for welding big rod all day, but adequate. I used 6011 3/32" rod for fixing the

3x3x.120' legs, as well as wrought iron repairs. It was all I needed. If I had been welding heavy equipment or pipe, I would have chosen a bigger welder. Choose the welding machine for the job.

At the end, I went and got a small Lincoln that was mounted in a frame. I believe it had an industrial 8hp B+S motor. I put wheels on it. I built an I beam dolly system with winch to load it on and off my flatbed 3/4 ton truck. I could take it off the truck, take it up an elevator, and weld on railing ten floors up. Or out by a pool. You can do that with a BIG machine, but you have to drag out a lot of leads. There were times when I would take the big machine, but it sat in the garage for a long time. The small machine was easier to get in and out of the truck, and a joy to just wheel up next to a gate way back by the pool instead of dragging out hundreds of feet of lead and putting them back.

If you're a problem solver, resourceful, and well equipped, they will call on you to fix a lot of things. And it all pays good. If you can keep them happy and solve their problems, they keep calling you. If you can't, they start calling others.

It's pretty simple.

Steve

Your note forwarded to son... Tks!

Thanks! Your note has been forwarded to son...

Thanks! Forwarded to son.

Thanks again! - off to Lyle

Ok, spend a zillion dollars on that lovely diesel Miller Air Pack that will cover pretty much any possible need even those you'll never have.

Pete C.

Exactly my point.

The smallest Lincoln engine driven welder is the Power Arc 5500.

amps (enough for 1/8" rod) or 4kw continuous. My local home store sells if for $849

I'm still in "make do" mode for my portable welding: a borrowed 4 kw generator (with a NOISY 8 hp B&S) and either a buzz box or a SIP Flux core. How pathetic but it works.

But I am rem>>"Go big or go home" ???? Listen to SteveB's story about doing carport

Several years ago, I started with a Lincoln SP100 which I still have. It really works well when connected to a circuit designed for a washing machine - single appliance dedicated. Eventually I needed more power and decided to go portable - Miller Bobcat. Most of the ornamental fence company trucks will have one of these units in the back. The Miller 135 will plug right into it and handle the light stuff quite well. Need more power? Just plug in the leads and there's 200 amps DC at 100% duty cycle. The most I have ever run with it was 5/32" 6011 at 145 amps on some steel support columns for a church front porch. The 8KW generator in the unit runs anything that I need. The newer models generate 10KW.

Better to get a welder that includes a generator than a generator to run a welder.

Sorry you were absent the day I posted that a general purpose welder/power supply that this fellow would need is in the $3500 range.

STeve