General welding questions that dont fit in TIG, MIG, Stick, or Certification etc.
ryanjames170
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  • Joined:
    Sun Sep 25, 2016 12:46 pm
  • Location:
    Wisconsin

So i figured i would share this with you guys here.. tid bit of info might be helpful to someone

so the past 2 days i have been running my AHP160ST off my Allpower 3000W generator has a continuous rating of 3000W surge of 3500W going off the basic rule of thumb the engine can power upto 3250W 6.5HP engine

now after the testing i did using my house 120V circuit's the other day i found the power Draw at various amperage settings on the welding and i found the max i can get out of my generator based on those is 115A this being a tad under the rated wattage of 3000W i think it comes out to be ~2976W or just under 25A 120V.. now i have about err 11 hours total doing this on the generator.. the first time i did it i did have the engine hunting a bit but the last two times it did not i think this was mostly due to having to run a bit of choke to keep it going on a like 0*F day and honestly i think i could of just opened that up once it got warmed up from welding..

with the last two days i had burned a total of maybe 4lbs of rods (6011, 7018 in both 3/32 and 1/8) and i used maybe 1.5 gallons of gas not really bad for having the engine running for 6 hours total.. alot of time spend just running waiting on crap to cool but i figured it was both a good test of fuel consumption and was better for the engine to just keep running..

what i could tell from running it was the 115A it was for sure underload but not struggling to keep up now i did have some rod start issues how ever this could totaly be due to the rods i was using were far from the best on the market.. i was using firepower E7018.. i think that is more of the issue then the generator as i usaly have the same kind weird start things with the 3/32 rods of the same make.. and anything below the 115A was evan better results..

what my thinking is i can handle anything upto 1/8 rods with the 3000W generator. part of the reason i chose the firepower rods is the are a bit happier if they are running more amps then the Lincoln 1/8 7018 and there alot cheaper for me to buy.. and at the end of the day for screwing around doing tests or practice cheaper is better.

why dose this matter so much to me to bother doing the testing.. well i want to know what this things limits are so i can better project what something larger can do.. i know i can do 115A with 3000 watts.. now if i go bigger to 5500W i predict i can do the full 160A from the welder plus have power left.. and it also lets me push 115A out for better results with 1/8 7018 i can only do 105A off the wall circuit continues over that it drops off rapidly 110A i only get maybe 2-3 full rods before i pop the braker and 115 i think 1.5 rods and 120A 1 rod and it pops but by using the generator i can in theory run 115A until i run out of gas lol.
Welder/Fitter
RM Fab & Products

Lincoln Invertec V300 pro
Miller 54D Wire Feeder
Miller 2E DC Welder Generator
Everlast Power IMIG 200
Everlast Power ARC 200ST
Klutch Plasma 275i Plasma Cutter
Hobard/Smith Oxy Torch using propane.
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