Forum:
Ive just been bought a welder for doing up my fourtrak and Ive come to a brick wall already and ive not even plugged it in yet.
This may sound stupid but here goes : The instruction to connect my welder to an electrical supply goes something like this "connect the mains lead, through a suitably fused isolator switch , to a 230volt (50hz) electrical supply, with a 15amp fuse rating. A standard 13 amp plug must not be used with these welders" The welder is a Clarke mig 151-te
Can anyone translate the above as I dont know what the heck all this means and nor does the missus.
Migs
My single phase Mig just plugs into a domestic supply using a 13amp plug. Why dont you telephone the suppliers and ask their advice. Hopefully you didnt buy a 3phase Mig - if you did dont plug it in!
PS The 'isolator' is probably a power breaker.
New wiring i think
I think you'll need to wire up a new 15 amp fused socket directly from the consumer unit/fuse box, just like an electric cooker or a power shower. You should use heavy duty cabling and those round blue sockets and plug.
My clarke 150 goes straight i
My clarke 150 goes straight into a normal socket. Mines an older house, with substantul wiring though. In a more modern house you may find that the required surge to start the welder may trip out your mains. There's only one way to find out. You shouldn't be able to do any harm. Other than having to re-set the clock on the front of the video when you've switched the power back on.
Also all these questions about welding. Important advice (if no ones told you already). If your welding on a car you need to disconect the battery, unless you have a flash suppresor (which looks like a box with two wires that end in cocodile clipes comming out of it. This is becouse you can fry your alternator, or you batery otherwise.
Any veiws expresed in this thread by me are purely from my own experience, and (sometimes) falible memory. Hope my comments help, but please don't take them as gospel.
welder
I have been told I can plug it in a normal socket but I cannot go over the 60% duty cycle, what does that mean?
Thanks again
Sorry, my self tought knolage
Sorry, my self tought knolage runes out on that one. But as I said befor, I don't think you'll do any damage by just trying it. At worst you'll blow a fuse/trip out the house electrics.
Any veiws expresed in this thread by me are purely from my own experience, and (sometimes) falible memory. Hope my comments help, but please don't take them as gospel.
60% of the time on and 40% of the time off
Duty cycle is the ratio of work time to rest time, to allow the transformer to cool down after welding.
This isn't normally a limitation because you aren't welding continuously, so it allows the manufacturer to supply a cheaper transformer which will do your job adequately. A big transformer which would run at 150 Amps continuously could well be twice as heavy and expensive, but not necessary for the work you are asking of it.
RF man ( Chartered Electrical Engineer .... normally at much higher frequencies than 50Hz, and funnily enough, rather higher power levels than a mere few kilowatts )
New Welder
All domestic electric supply to the plug sockets is 15amp as for a standard 13amp plug this means u nead an heavy duty 13amp plug like the rubber ones or heavy use ones, these can be bought anywere and should already be fitted to your welder this statement is for if you change the plug telling you not to get the cheapest one you find that is for use in your home, if it is 3 phase it would have a different plug and 4 wires to it I use a 150 sip and a old 230amp lincoln mig the latter has to be used throught the 30amp system in the house other wise it trips the house supply no other problems and I have used both of these for a number of years and must be miles of welding, hope this helps and as it says in computer language plug and play
Hey Spjonesuk, This is exa
Hey Spjonesuk,
This is exactly what happened to me, I was expecting to just plug it into the mains and to start welding immediately. My uncle who is an electrician told me otherwise.
You will have to have have a socket wired directly into your fuse box to a 15amp fuse. I used the industrial style blue three prong round plug and socket fitting. I'm sure they have a name but haven't a clue what it is.
Ignore the guy who said stick a "heavy duty plug" straight into a standard mains socket.