New Welder-Voltage

[mrcubcadet]

To do a little wire welding in the shop, I ordered a Harbor Freight 90 amp flux wire welder. http://www.harborfreight.com/90-amp-...der-68887.html


I would have went for a little bigger welder, but we only have 110V standard house-hold plugs in our shop. Anything that this welder won't do, I can use the 220V stick welder at our other farm.




Now, after watching some YouTube videos on this welder, I have a worry that our power in the shop will not be enough for the 120V this needs (in the description). Other places, I have read that 110V, 115V, and 120V are all the same, you just might need a different amp breaker. Is this true?

[ol'George]

Originally Posted by mrcubcadet

To do a little wire welding in the shop, I ordered a Harbor Freight 90 amp flux wire welder. http://www.harborfreight.com/90-amp-...der-68887.html


I would have went for a little bigger welder, but we only have 110V standard house-hold plugs in our shop. Anything that this welder won't do, I can use the 220V stick welder at our other farm.




Now, after watching some YouTube videos on this welder, I have a worry that our power in the shop will not be enough for the 120V this needs (in the description). Other places, I have read that 110V, 115V, and 120V are all the same, you just might need a different amp breaker. Is this true?

110-125V is a range that it will operate on.
This is normal home voltages.

You will need a 20 amp duplex receptacle, 20A.breaker with 12 gauge wire from the fuse/breaker box to wall plug/receptacle, to run it @ full amp output.
A 15 amp circuit will not be suffice @ full load and it would be advisable that it is the only device operating on the circuit at one time, or the circuit will be overloaded.
It would be possible to operate it with a 15 amp circuit but only in the lower amp outputs as higher amprage will cause the breaker to do it's job and open the circuit or "blow" the breaker as it sometimes said.
it is always better to have excess amperage available than too little.

[mrcubcadet]

Originally Posted by ol'George

110-125V is a range that it will operate on.
This is normal home voltages.

You will need a 20 amp duplex receptacle, 20A.breaker with 12 gauge wire from the fuse/breaker box to wall plug/receptacle, to run it @ full amp output.
A 15 amp circuit will not be suffice @ full load and it would be advisable that it is the only device operating on the circuit at one time, or the circuit will be overloaded.
It would be possible to operate it with a 15 amp circuit but only in the lower amp outputs as higher amprage will cause the breaker to do it's job and open the circuit or "blow" the breaker as it sometimes said.
it is always better to have excess amperage available than too little.

Thanks for your help! Basically we have an outdoor breaker box, with a line and a 20 amp breaker running to our barn, pool, and outdoor receptacles. So, that should be enough to run it, as long as nothing else is pulling on the line...I would think.

[ol'George]

Originally Posted by mrcubcadet

Thanks for your help! Basically we have an outdoor breaker box, with a line and a 20 amp breaker running to our barn, pool, and outdoor receptacles. So, that should be enough to run it, as long as nothing else is pulling on the line...I would think.

You are correct, BUT,--- just remember, the longer the run the more you loose in voltage.----google voltage loss/foot.

[mrcubcadet]

Originally Posted by ol'George

You are correct, BUT,--- just remember, the longer the run the more you loose in voltage.----google voltage loss/foot.

Ok, I will look that up.


Thanks again for all your help! It has loosened my worries on this purchase!

[green 4 acres]

I have 2 HF welders 1st bought a 115amp then saw a 151 amp 240v that I use though I put flux core wire in the 115 and made it my portable welder
likes ; they are 1/2 price of most others and pretty easy to fix & get the parts that break or wear out
dislikes ; ground cable replace it with a good and longer one 4- 6 guage one and a strong clamp
most quallity migs have a variable voltage knob instead of switches
you need to keep the gun cable kind of straight to get good long welds
at 90 amp bet you have to use .023 wire or maybe you are going flux
if you can rig a small fan to cool the coils it helps

[mrcubcadet]

Thanks for the information!


I should be getting this by Wednesday...It's called a 90 amp welder, but it says it will go to 120 amps.