Welder-inverter issue

[madlabs]

Hi All,

Well, I kicked down big time and bought myself a brand new Lincoln 140T mig welder. Haven't bought myself a fat new tool for a long time. The thing that sucks is that it is the first piece of equipment I have doesn't like my inverter, a Trace 2512. It welds poorly. The welder isn't pulling more than the inverter can provide, but the arc is erratic and difficult to control. It runs fine on a genny, so I can use it, but...

I have a giant variac (50A). I was wondering if I could run inverter-->variac-->welder and if it might smooth out the modified sine of the Trace. I can't see any way it would screw either piece of equipment to try, but I thought I'd ask here before trying.

Thanks!

Jonathan

[TomW]

If you have plenty of power head room you might try running some hefty motor driven device while welding?

A fan or something might help stabilize your output? A flywheel effect if you will.

Check all your connections, too.

Just where I would start.

Tom

[fabricator]

I know a guy who had the same problem, his welder is a smaller Hobart though, he uses Toms suggestion, he starts up his large vertical band saw and it welds great then.

[hayfarmer]

had the same problem,started a table saw and smoothed out the bumps on a MSW inverter.

[joestue]

if you can get your hands on a synchronous motor, those work even better.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_condenser

[madlabs]

Ok, I'll try running another load. But what about using the variac? Giess I'll just try it  and see.

Thanks!

Jonathan

[TomW]

Ok, I'll try running another load. But what about using the variac? Giess I'll just try it  and see.

Thanks!

Jonathan

The key here is a motor load.

I doubt the variac will help.

It makes a difference.

Tom

[madlabs]

Thanks for pointing out I need an inductive load. All of my big load devices are pretty much motors anyway. I'll start with a bench grinder. I have some overhead on the inverter, but not too much.

Thanks!

Jonathan

[joestue]

try boosting the voltage 10% with the varac.

[DamonHD]

It's not necessarily inductive that matters: I suspect it works because the rotational inertia is acting as storage smoothing out the power flows as seen by both the inverter and the welder.  Indeed 'flywheel' storage is quite a hot 'smart-grid' topic at the moment.

Rgds

Damon