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steve(ill) 
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: illinois
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 Topic: Small Inverter Welder
Posted: 20 Apr 2024 at 8:15pm |
My GO TO welding is a 225 amp Miller DC Thunderbolt.. about 25 years old..
Been looking at a couple of the new "INVERTER WELDERS"... See a 200 amp unit at AMAZON for $150. Great reviews... About 15" x 12" x 7" ... weight 11 pounds ! They say they will weld with 5/32 rod.. I only use 3/32 and that would be almost 100% duty cycle !
Personally never used one, but thinking about getting one to TEST.. Cant beat the price and the portability would be nice !
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desertjoe
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Posted: 20 Apr 2024 at 10:30pm |
Well, Steve,,,I gave one of those at Harbor Freight a darn close look when my Lincoln 175 was threatening to bail out on me earlier,,,,, I really like the small size for portability, but was concerned that the guy at HF said these machines use very short leads because of the smnall welder size,,,,,?? Anyway,,,I'm sure glad that you have offered to do the trial run on one of these for us,,,, 
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 21 Apr 2024 at 7:57am |
YEA... i look at that.. The stinger and ground are 10ft long.. The power cable is normally 6 ft and 12 gauge ..... Just like the plasma cutter , which i put a 20ft 10 gague power cable and 20 ft ground cable.. ... 10ft for the ground and stinger might be OK...but i would change the 6 ft power cable to 12- 16 ft. and probably 10 gague... Most are a 110- 220 power inlet that senses the voltage and switches itself inside.. Normally i would use the 220v... Keeps the amps down and the duty cycle up.
I plan to get one... maybe not for a few weeks... not sure.
Edited by steve(ill) - 21 Apr 2024 at 8:04am
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Coke-in-MN
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Posted: 25 Apr 2024 at 8:40am |
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Power in = power out , inverter just increases frequency , then transforms and rectifies the output to change polarity .
I have both a Miller 304 and Pow-Con 180 inverter welders , but both can SMAW, MIG, TIG weld and with Miller have water cooled TIG torch and high frequency start , Pow-Con is scratch start so hard on tungsten's .
Pow-Con weighs around 50 pounds and wire feed unit about 15 - without wire roll of .035 / 70S wire . Use it for field welding as can power with 12 HP generator and either stick or wire weld , away from shop.
Use 1/8 th rod for everything except SS where will use smaller rod for cast iron repair .
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Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something.
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 25 Apr 2024 at 9:22am |
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what the inverter does is get rid of that 50#- 100# Transformer inside the welder... And makes it 1/3 as big.... I dont think one of these small ones is a daily user.. But i hate taking the 150# Miller Transformer welder to the farm for a 30 minute job, then packing back up to bring home... Dont need the TIG or wire feed... just a decent STICK for 3/32 rod.
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 15 hours 28 minutes ago at 12:49pm |
Well, i ended up ordering one of these welders on Amazon.. Looked at the reviews of several brands. The review on THIS BRAND mentioned that the power cable was 7.5 ft long, stinger and ground clamps were 500 amp models and the cables were 10 ft, 2 gauge instead of 4 ga. All the brands look about the same and have basically the same power rating if your looking at the 200 amp models. They are 110 - 220 volts input.. There are smaller 130 amp models that run on 110 v only. Didnt want that.. This one also had $30. off last week so i got it for $120. including tax.
Edited by steve(ill) - 12 hours 57 minutes ago at 3:20pm
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 15 hours 26 minutes ago at 12:51pm |
You can see the physical size of the stinger and ground clamp compared to a 10 inch vice grip.. Also gives you and idea of the welder size. And the weight is about 10- 12 pounds.
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 15 hours 21 minutes ago at 12:56pm |
No time to read the directions (  .. ) ... Just plugged it into a 220 v 50 amp welding receptical and go... I thought there were going to be several "buttons" on the front to select rod size, hot start, etc... no... there is a resistor knob that goes from 20 - 200 amps and you see that on the digital read out. I normally weld at 90 amps on my MILLER.. Set this at 90 amps and it "says" your good for 3/32 rod ( 2.5 mm) .... Go to 92 amps and the readout says 3.2 mm rod..... guess that just gives you an idea of the amps needed if you know the rod size..
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 15 hours 17 minutes ago at 1:00pm |
Just played with it 15 minutes before lunch.. Rand a 309 stainless rod, 6010 rod and 7018 rod... all i use is 3/32 rods and normally around 90 amps.... This gives you an idea of the quality of the weld.. .. weld on the right is using my Miller 225a DC Thunderbolt ( 25 years old) as a reference of my ability. I tend to WEAVE a little side to side , so these beads are like 5/16 inch wide.
Edited by steve(ill) - 15 hours 15 minutes ago at 1:02pm
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 15 hours 10 minutes ago at 1:07pm |
I then got the "adaptor plug" that goes from 220v to 110 and plugged it in. You dont have to select anything.. The welder changes Internally to the correct input voltage... Tried to weld 6010 and somewhat disapointed at 90 amps.. Tried 95 and 100 amps. You could weld about 1/2 inch and then it would "stick" or "pop" and you had to start again.. I was hoping it would work better than that... Guess i will READ THE BOOK and trie it a few more times. I planned to use the 220 90% of the time.. but would be handy to have the 110 available in some areas... Maybe using a 1/16 inch rod would work better as you could set the power down to 50- 60 amps... but i always use 3 /32 rod.
This is also a STRATCH TIG welder, but it does not come with that torch head. you have to buy that extra.. I didnt plan on ever using that options.. Just wanted a very BASIC portable stick welder.
SUMMARY .... does seem to do the job.. Seems like you have to "pay more attention" to what your doing... but maybe thats just me and only 15 minutes of testing ??
Edited by steve(ill) - 15 hours 5 minutes ago at 1:12pm
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HudCo
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Posted: 6 hours 24 minutes ago at 9:53pm |
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i think i will stay with the lincolns and millers
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