Off grid welding

[UK4X4]

dear All, long time since I posted, after selling the cabin in CO we invested the proceeds locally and have added to my project portfolio.

One of them is an old donkey shed and garage attached to the rear of a town house in my village, basicly I have bought the rear half of the property and have to brick up the entrance to the house, will add pics as its probably interesting for you.But to the point,

the property does not have its own water or electrical supply, so rather than bend over and have mains connected I want to do it with solar.

Thats no real issue for lights fridge and the normal household goods.

But I have a faithfull older model millermatic 211 welder that i want to run at the property..

To get a suitable power from solar alone seems a waste as it won't be used regularly, so was thinking about a generator to power the welder.

its 220V single phase--I can't really find the actual current required on line, it seems to be a hidden number.

On Youtube theres someone with a 6k honda running it and only has issues on the highest range...
so took that as a guideline.

So for example I'm thinking of a 3kva invertor 220v and some agm batteries for the solar, its only going to be my man cave/ party shack for the moment.

So the Q is- can I paralell the generator and the solar and only buy a 3kva genny rather than the dificult to find 6000-7000w.

ie using 1/2 the power from each system ?

Frequency is a concern can you sync them, I know the little hondas can parallel, but not sure on this.

I know a few of you are line welders and solar system fans, just wanted some feedback

[JRR]

I would be inclined to match the generator to the "usual" maximum load "required".  That is, pare down the expected household loads in an effort to make running the generator an affordable venture.  That leaves no capacity for welding perhaps, unless welding is rare, and you can shut everything else off.  If you can get some bucks for your current welder, you might consider selling and buying a new(er) gas powered unit.  I used to use a Miller gas powered mounted on a trailer.  Mighty handy.  Just hard to manage friends and neighbors who want to borrow the machine and you.

Good luck in your planning.

[MountainDon]

The frequency of the two units would need to be synced.  I do not know how this is done. I wonder if it is even possible to sync a generator and an inverter. Some inverters, just like some generators have the ability to parallel sync.

At this link is a copy of a manual for a Millermatic 211. Pge 10 states that on 240VAC it may use up to 4.0 KVA.


Good to hear from you. Take care, stay safe.

[UK4X4]

Hi Don, my bad its a 212- anyway found the manua from your link
worst case 28amps at 230V so thats about 6500w.

I'm not planning to pay for that much solar- for my man cave, for the house its self maybe.

So looks like getting a 7000w generator is my only option (to cover manufacturers exageration factor), not a bad thing to have lying arround, but don't think I can push the wallet to the honda!

[MikeC]

Latecomer here, I bought a Lincoln 250 gas powered welder for back up electric as well as welding. For the power output it was MUCH less expensive than say a comparable Honda generator only.  So the welder part was much of a bonus.  Downside (maybe), is that it is very heavy and so not portable unless truck or trailer mounted - but then again the neighbors won't be borrowing...