Welder Upgrade

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Charley Davidson

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I'm gonna have to upgrade my welder from my Millermatic 140 110volt mig to something bigger. In the shop I'm in I only have 40 amp 220 and it would be very cost prohibitive to upgrade. So my question is what's the biggest welder I can run in this shop?
 
The Miller will be similar to my Hobart 140 - draws 20 amps flat out. If you double the voltage, you double the work it can do. A 20 amp feed at 220 should allow 280 amps output. Crank it up to a 30 amp circuit and you should be able to run 360 amps out.

In other words, unless you're planning to build tanks, you should be able to run whatever you need on that service, subject to duty cycle.

All that is just my opinion, base on simple math. Others will know specific details that effect available models.
 
Charlie,
Time to look at an inverter type machine. They are characterized by lower amp draws and higher amps at the stick/stinger. Just about any of the newer breed IGBT and electronic units will fill the bill. Miller and Lincoln both are making new style units and definately worth looking into. Hope this helps.
Bob
 
I would think you could go at least to a 210 class machine. Go to the miller welding site (millerwelds) and look at the various user manuals. They are all downloadable.
 
You can do an absurd amount of welding on a 30 amp 240 circuit... I run a Miller 210, and a 250 on 30's and haven't had any issue, though the 250 is supposed to pull on a 50... We did a pile of 1/2" plate aluminum with the 250 that way (though I think we were suffering a bit of voltage drop, it did get through it)... After that, when I decide to really get serious, I just go get the CP-200, and plug in to the 30 amp 3 phase...

Tim - Who really needs to drop a 50 amp circuit out of the bottom of the panel for the next time I have to build a tank...
 
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