I have a Longevity 200sx and I seem to be able to get away just fine for most things with the 110. It also can go to around ~125 A... I forget the exact number.

What thickness/material are you welding where you can't get penetration?

 

Though its not a lens, I bet I have you beat.



stubby #6 setup compared to a #12 cup. needed to weld some tight spots finishing the last few welds on manifolds.

on WP#9 torch.

 

Damn, the wp9 torch is tiny.

 

Flex head, with short back cap helps.

Though 95-99% of the time I weld with a large lens and the #12 cup.


its only a 130A torch and let me tell you, welding that hot you don't have much of a duty cycle with it.

I need to get a cooler and get the WP#20 torch-which is the same shape and size but water cooled and rated for 250A.

 

Surprised you haven't melted the handle yet!

 

Its my own gear, once it starts getting hot i stop so that I dont melt it.

anything with sustained amperage of over 120 (manufacturers rating) i swap back to the 200A china torch.

 

I'm running a WP#9 also. The flex head is great. It spoils ya.

 

you need to be very careful doing something like this. Air conditioners have a special section in the NEC because of their load characteristics.

For example, your AC may have only #14 wire, which can handle 15 amps. The circuit breaker may be a 20 amp breaker, which is to prevent nuisance tripping from the compressor inrush current. If this is the case and your welder draws more than 15 amps, you would be in violation of the code, and could damage the insulation in your wires.

 

That ^ and my house has an interrupter on it. I'm not fully sure what it does, but from what i understand it will cut power to things the the AC unit in the summer time and high load days. It's optional for a reduced power bill. I'm not sure as i bought the house with it.
I'd be careful of that too though.

 

My garage is detached, so I'll need to have someone run a line for 220. While they are doing that I assume it won't be too much trouble for them to set up a separate circuit so I don't need to worry about borrowing power from the AC or dryer.

 

Do it yourself? Its not all that hard to stick another breaker in the box, dig a trench, lay some conduit, run the wire, etc. My dad managed to do it, and the building inspector lives next door so we cant hit a piece of wood with a hammer without him popping his head in to make sure its up to code. Just dont forget the expansion joint on the conduit where it meets the houses, thats the one thing the building inspector made my dad fix.

 

If you have power running to the garage already, just pull 4 wire through that same conduit. Just make sure to lube it real good. Use the old wire to pull it through.

There are endless resources on the net on how to hook up the power. You'll need a sub box in the garage too.

 

conduit is sized by the amperage and the type of wire being pulled through it.

you guys are grossly oversimplifying it. there are a lot of codes based on use, type of wire (al or cu) required airspace in the conduit, etc. im not an electrician but I had a lot of help consulting when I upgraded my service.

I ended up with TEK cable to run the 100a service to my garage. the TEK cable is direct bury rated and was sized for 100A with a welder in the circuit because welders need specific calculations for wire size.

 

This isn't soviet canada..


SSHHHHHHHHH

 

The other DIY pitfall is not buying wet rated cable when running conduit outside.

 

What I have now is either a 10amp or 15amp, so it's <1" conduit. I'm not sure a big enough line would even fit, much less be up to code. Besides, I do still need 110 service for lights and the opener.

What sort of circuit should I be looking to install for a ~200amp or less machine? Off the top of my head I think I have 80amp service but I haven't checked in a while.

 

You still have 110 service when you bring 220 in as long as you have a junction box in the garage its just one more wire. Think of residential 220 as being 110x2.

 

my direct bury cable was 1" diameter on its own.

110 service is just half of the leg of a 220 service. 220 uses 2 hot and 1 neutral and a 110 uses a hot, neutral and a ground.

wiring a panel though you will have 3 wires plus a ground. 2 hot, 1 neutral and a bare (no cover) ground.

Keep in mind, im not an electrician- I just know how to set it up in my own home and terminology might be a bit off.

 

its 2 more wires.

hot (220)
hot (110/220)
neutral (220/110)
Ground (110 round plug + sub panel gnd)

if your running wires to your garage, do a base cacluation on size you will need based on what you want to have in the garage. then run main wire from the house panel to a sub panel in your garage and then distribute from there. you can get panels for $100 with breakers in a kit from home depot. I suggest going to an electrical supply house for the main wire because it will be expensive. My 80' run of wire was about $800 just for the wire.

 

That's 4 wires, there's 3 for 110. 4-3=1.