Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 01-09-2008, 12:12 AM   #1
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Northeastern CO
Posts: 247
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: International
Generators

Hoping to pick one up soon to work on the bus without having to move it around..since its at a storage place and we have no place to park it where we live.. whats the smallest I should look at with the idea of being able to run one of those small mig welders? I figure thats the biggest thing I would plan on using it with any time soon..oh, any ideas on what to look for in a mig welder when I go to look at those? the last time I did any welding it was a old fashioned stick welder.

Demonknight is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2008, 12:42 AM   #2
Bus Crazy
 
timbuk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: vancouver island bc
Posts: 1,028
Year: 1965
Coachwork: thomas
Chassis: chevy
Engine: 350
Re: Generators

well i can say this you will like the wire feed over the stick you can use a flux core wire which does not use gas or use a straight wire which uses gas of course gas is a pain to pack around but it is alot nicer than flux core its cleaner and less fumey. i am not sure what size genny you will need to run the wire feed, but a small wire feed will do a lot if yer welding sheet metal the most they usually weld up to is angle iron me i want a little honda,ive already blown a chinese one up
timbuk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2008, 03:23 AM   #3
Bus Nut
 
KC10Chief's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Edmond, OK
Posts: 529
Year: 1993
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: 7.3 International diesel
Rated Cap: 60
Re: Generators

I bought my welder at the Home Depot. It's the Lincoln 175HD. It's awesome. It's 220 volts though. You can also get the 3200HD which is a 115V model. Both are wire feed. Mine is super simple to use. I've never taken any kind of classes or anything. After 10 minutes of practice, I was welding up stuff for my bus! I welded up a mount for a new drivers seat in my bus! Works great! With the 3200HD, you could easily weld metal that is 1/4" thick. I can't imagine that you would ever need to weld anything thicker for your bus. Check out http://www.weldingweb.com. It's a forum like this one. For the hobbyist like you and me, I think you'll find that they recommend the Lincoln welders. I am extremely pleased with mine. It's fun to use! The 175HD runs about $600. The 3200HD runs about $460. I've given thought to picking up the 3200HD because it's 115V. I could use it in a lot more places. As far as generators, I don't know what it would take to run one. I think a 2000W generator would do it, but you still might want to find out for sure. I have a couple of Honda EU2000i generators. They are absolutely fantastic and blow away any other generator on the market. They have LOTS of skoolie uses!
__________________
Matt
1993 International Carpenter 10 Window bus
7.3L diesel w/AT545
https://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...DSC02426-1.jpg
KC10Chief is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2008, 06:05 AM   #4
Skoolie
 
reprobate's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 226
Re: Generators

I bought a cheap flux core wire feed welder on sale @ Harbor Freight for $119. Ran it on a 15amp house circuit for all my welding. Did a LOT of welding and never tripped the breaker. It's the 90amp model. Would run fine on a small generator. KC10 is right, it is easy to weld with these things. I too had never welded with a wire feed. My girlfriend who had never welded learned quickly and ended up doing a lot of our welding!
reprobate is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2008, 09:06 AM   #5
Bus Nut
 
Roasting8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Posts: 382
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: Crown
Engine: 671 DD
Send a message via MSN to Roasting8 Send a message via Yahoo to Roasting8
Re: Generators

If you're running a welder, on regular house current (120v at 15 amps), you should be able to run a welder on a 2000 watt generator (continuous power).

If you do the calculations: 120v X 15 amps= 1800 wattts

To be on the safe side, I'd go with a little bit bigger generator.

Robert
Roasting8 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2008, 06:03 PM   #6
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Northeastern CO
Posts: 247
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: International
Re: Generators

thanks for the reply's...one of the gensets we are looking at has a built in 30amp plug(female)...that would make plugging into the power dead simple as the one I'll be stripping out of here (camper) has the 30amp male end. http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...goryCode=3483C
while its not a "big" name make, its not a big price one either. But you never know..refund hasn't gotten here yet and someone may run special I can't pass up.
Demonknight is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2008, 03:01 AM   #7
Bus Geek
 
Elliot Naess's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,505
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
Re: Generators


I swear by my Honda EU3000 generator. It costs $1.700 and weighs 140 lbs, but it is so quiet, and has a huge tank with a gauge and electric start. And Honda quality. Did I mention that it is quiet?

If you are sure that 2000 W is enough, and you need to move it by yourself, the EU2000 is the ticket -- for something like $900.
__________________

Elliot Naess is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2008, 04:00 AM   #8
Bus Geek
 
lapeer20m's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: near flint michigan
Posts: 2,657
Re: Generators

i have a middle of the road lincoln wire feed welder, 110 volt. It's all my little honda eu2000 can do to run it on it's coolest heat setting, but it does run it.
__________________
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes (who will watch the watchmen?)
lapeer20m is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Let's talk about generators willhitch Conversion General Discussions 7 09-15-2014 03:56 PM
Onan generators chev49 Electrical, Charging and Solar 4 05-04-2012 05:43 AM
DC generators.... jkindt Conversion General Discussions 4 02-20-2010 10:27 AM
generators lapeer20m Everything Else | General Skoolie Discussions 8 03-30-2005 07:43 PM
generators lapeer20m Conversion General Discussions 1 08-18-2004 04:32 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:03 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.