Welding Tips and Tricks

So I want to start welding with MIG and flux core in my garage. It would be running from a 220v outlet that is connected to a 30 amp breaker, would this be good enough so that I could weld on 3/8 plate so that I can practice for weld tests and other things?

Moffpro wrote:So I want to start welding with MIG and flux core in my garage. It would be running from a 220v outlet that is connected to a 30 amp breaker, would this be good enough so that I could weld on 3/8 plate so that I can practice for weld tests and other things?

Hey, welcome on!

At 220V rms and 30 amps, that's a peak power (at 100% efficiency) of 6.6KW. Since you're welding DC at, say, 25V max, that allows a peak power (again at 100% efficiency) of 264 amps. Assuming 80% actual efficiency (in truth, inverters do better than this), that's 211 amps at the arc. Plenty.

Also, many home users unplug their dryers to plug their welders in, and most of the newer 220V dryers are on 30A circuits.

220V "actual" is pretty rare, these days, anyway. Actual measured voltage is more likely to be 230 or 240 +/- a few volts, so the power available increases.

Steve S

Moffpro wrote:So I want to start welding with MIG and flux core in my garage. It would be running from a 220v outlet that is connected to a 30 amp breaker, would this be good enough so that I could weld on 3/8 plate so that I can practice for weld tests and other things?

oh yeah.. i can get 95 amps consintus out of my AHP160 on 110V 20 amp braker... on 30amps you could easy get out enough power to weld most anything.. unless your trying to use a very old welder.. as they tend to pull more power for less output amps.. so if your welder is older then 15 years.. i would slowly bring up the power and find your limit. how i figured out i can run 90 amps continus with my AHP but i can burn something in quick with 100-110 amps on it..