> I just went out and looked at my breakers and I'm running my 5hp
> compressor on a 30amp breaker. My Lincoln SquareWave 175
> is running off a 125amp breaker. Can't tell you what the wire size
> is but it's bigger than anything other than the mains.
> 300A input? Really? I wouldn't have thought you could get a 300A input
> welder into the back of a pickup... :-) Does it have a plug on it? If
> so, post a picture somewhere! :-)
> Like others, I suspect you're talking about the output, not the input.
> There should be input power requirements somewhere. The manufacturer is
> certainly the place to ask questions about what happens if you run the
> welder on less power than its rated for... I suspect it won't matter at
> all. Miller & Lincoln both have good websites, you can probably download
> the manual. It'll have a section on how to install.
I wrote this reply the other day and then decided not to bore everyone.
However, since the thread isn't dead yet and there's still lots of
speculation out there that Steve Shipley is wrong about his Lincoln Square
Wave 175's breaker being 125 amps, here goes.
Bottom line is that what he says is true and there's something really
strange (to me anyway) about Lincoln's s Square Wave 175 electrical
requirement specs, as posted on their website.
For AC TIG Lincoln does indeed call for a 125-amp "super lag" breaker, and
they specify 8-gauge 75 degree C copper wire. But 75 degree C insulated,
8-gauge copper (3 wires in a cable or conduit) is not supposed to carry more
than 45 amps. Then Lincoln says the "input ampere rating" is 65 or 72 amps
at 230 or 208 volts. Maybe that's just inrush, with a running load way way
less?
That's what Lincoln says - 45-amp wire feeding a machine that pulls up to 65
or 72 amps, protected by a slow-blow 125-amp breaker. Whaaaaat???
I sure hope someone can explain this -- I'm really curious how these specs
can be right.
FWIW - my Miller Challenger 172-amp MIG welder takes a 30-amp breaker and
specifies an actual current draw of 19.4 amps at 230 volts. TIG, either AC
or DC, has somewhat different power requirements, but it's generally in the
same ballpark as MIG.
Karl
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