Compact arc welders for remote travels.
Submitted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 17:17
ThreadID:
69010
Views:
7000
Replies:
11
FollowUps:
16
This Thread has been Archived
Member - Ingo57 (NSW)
Gday all,
Just curious If anyone takes a compact portable Arc Welder on extended trips.
We are in the very early planning stages of the “Big lap with our kids” (still years away). We will be doing a lot of the more remote trips solo with a camper trailer which has not been not purchased yet.
I have never been a big fan of camper trailers but for a trip of this timeframe It will be necessary for the sanity of SWMBO and the kids, IMO The trailer now becomes the Achilles heel of our setup for the rougher tracks.
If something does break and needs to be welded I realise you can use a couple of batteries joined, however I would like to avoid this If the situation ever arises.
Recently I have seen some very small portable compact Arc Welders which would be suitable, but I have not investigated into power needs etc. This would be something that will be stored deep in the belly of the trailer and hopefully never gets used.
Does anyone pack an Arc welder for there travels, I assume It would need a generator to run?????
Any thoughts or comments to or for would be appreciated
Cheers
Reply By: Member - AJB (VIC) - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 17:59
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 17:59
The problem with running welding machines off generators is that you need a large generator to run the welding machine. The compact arc's you see may be inverter type and they need very clean power to run so you do not damage the welding machine. I have a couple of
inverters and the smallest requires 4.7 KVA to run. My 5.8 KVA work gererator does the job but I would be more comfortable if it were a 7 or 8 KVA. They are work generators, not camping ones. I have used a cheap arc on the 5.8 and it worked OK and I didn't really care if that one snuffed it.
My EU2 generator would have no hope running a welding machine and if I tried i'd probably bugger both the machine and the generator and if I linked 2 EU's together I may bugger 2 generators. They are too expensive to
test for me
The link mentioned above is the way to go to do the repairs IF they happen. Practice at
home first. The only other option, although expensive is the 24/36V MIG, Ready MIG or something. It still requires you connect to a couple of batteries but they are a neat piece of gear.
AnswerID:
365854