Is that 8Kwatt peak or continous?
Many of the generators appear to be very optimistically rated.
I ran a chop saw on a 4.5 Kwatt generator and it did not like it. The saw was rated to run off a 15 amp 120 V outlet which would be only about 1800 watts. But these two units did not like each other. Granted the startup current on the motor was much higher, but we are talking about half the generators rated load.
I bet your welder would work great off a 12 Kwatt generator. But then again it might be cheaper to pull power to the garage.
On of those generator/welder outfits would be ideal but the cost is ugly.
phred - my gen is 8K peak, 6600watt continuous but I was only running the welder at about 130 amps so I didn't think I would be drawing the full 30 amps?? It did seem like there just wasn't enough juice....... [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
I am not sure you can put a general number to it sense it depends on the motor design. But 2x would not suprise me for most motors. Its only for a very short period of time but can casue problems. I run that chop saw off a 20 amp breaker just due to that startup current. It will pop a 15 amp.
If so your putting out about 3250 watts from the welder.
Bad news is its not 100% efficient so its drawing more than that. A good estimate would be 70-80% efficient.
So your actually pulling about 4600 watts from the generator.
It would not be the full 30 amps at 240V, but apparently its to much for the generator.
My experince has been that many of these generators are not up to the "rated" figures.
You could find out for sure by using one of those clamp amp meters. I have one that measures current Ac voltage and has a continuity tester built in. Can be found at most home centers. You would need to isolate one of the hot wires take your pick the red or the black. Some where I have a plug short cord and then socket I made up that allows you to clamp around each wire seperately. This would tell you the current directly. Maybe your welder is less efficent and actually pulls more power from the generator.
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