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Welder and power requirement.
karlak - 2/4/11 at 10:13 AM

I bought one of the Aldi/Lidl cheapy Arc welders recently (I know, dont laugh) and have a little Job I would like to do today.

However, the welder does not come with a mains plug fitted and there is a warning about connecting to the mains.


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IMPORTANT: This high-power appliance is not supported with a domestic 3-pin plug and may not be connected to a standard soclet. The Welder must be connected to a 30A fused spur by an authorised / qualified person. Consul a qualified electrician if in doubt.

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What the heck is going on? I bought a "hobby" type welder and just assumed it could be used in a Domestic environment. It is the Power Craft 160A Arc Welder. HAs anyone else got one and used it ?



Cheers

dave r - 2/4/11 at 10:20 AM

a normal 13a plug will work 90% of the time you want it

you will however occasionally blow 13 a fuses... do not replace with a 1/4 bolt!!

Mr Whippy - 2/4/11 at 10:52 AM

my arc welder blows the 13amp fuses if I make an arse of the weld and it sticks but most of the time its ok on a low power. Did once melt the plug onto the socket, must have got really hot. One solution is to run a new cable from the garage fuse box, the 35amp stuff used for cookers, you will need an RCD that is rated for it too and then just have a proper highamp plug, something I meant to do myself. The migs don't seem to have the same problem as my 175amp one has never blown it's 13amp fuse.

coozer - 2/4/11 at 12:10 PM

I've got one, it is wired into a 13 amp plug but its pants.

I tried to do a bit, some 3mm angle and within 15 minutes it had cut out and it took 2 days to reset itself.

Its sitting on the shelf here if anyone wants it.

daviep - 2/4/11 at 01:49 PM

quote:
Originally posted by coozer
I've got one, it is wired into a 13 amp plug but its pants.

I tried to do a bit, some 3mm angle and within 15 minutes it had cut out and it took 2 days to reset itself.

Its sitting on the shelf here if anyone wants it.


Sounds more like a thermal cut out as you exceeded the duty cycle, no idea why it took so long to reset.

The only thing running off a 13 amp supply will affect is the max current you can pull, a 160amp set will probably run flat out on a domestic supply depending on what the transformer output voltage is dragged down to when welding.