[TheForge] Inverters & MIG Welders

[Paul]

While I don't have any direct experience trying to do this, but since no 
one else has offered any advice, I'll take a shot at it.

Some of these points may be obvious, but since you asked, I'll throw out 
everything that I'd consider.

I'm deliberately being imprecise here, just rough numbers to evaluate if 
it's reasonable...

Even at 130 amps, your truck will turn out less than 2 kilowatts of 
sustained electrical power. Since you'll lose some power in the 
inverter, your 115V output will probably be less than 15 amps.

Your battery can probably provide enough additional power for surges, so 
you may get more, but exactly how much, I don't know. Managing your 
welding duty cycle may make this useable, but I'd add a fuse to the 
battery connection so you don't fry your battery.

Next point, you will likely have to connect an inverter this big 
directly to your battery, and use some #6 or heavier wire, ala heavy 
jumper cables.

I'd also expect an inverter this size to be pretty expensive (at least 
by my definition of expensive) so it won't be a cheap experiment.

I think this would be really taxing your truck's electrical system. 
Let's face it, arc welding is pretty close to a dead short, albeit a 
current limited short.  I've been considering a portable setup, but I 
have a 3500 watt generator (4300 kw peak) and I'm hoping that will work...


Paul N.


Washington, Aubrey O. wrote:
> Now that I've got my 115V MIG welder ordered (Millermatic 140), I have another related line of questions for the group.
>  
> I have a new Toyota Tacoma with the 130A alternator on it.  I've been considering installing a power inverter on the truck so I can run power tools, etc.  Here are my questions:
>  
> Are there any cautions or dangers involved in installing or using inverters?  Can they damage my truck's electrical system in any way?
> Inverters come in lots of different wattages.  Is bigger always better?  
> Is it practical to consider running the MIG welder off the inverter?
>  
> Thanks for any advice or information.
>  
> Aubrey
> 
> 
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