Generator help

I just bought a "new" used generator. I purchased it for several reasons (emergency loss of household power, camping & possibly running my Lincoln stick "buzz box" welder. Which leads me to my question. It has 4 120v receptacles & 1 120/240v receptacle. Can I get some sort of adapter to plug into the 120/240v receptactle to run the welder?? It is a 5500 watt/8500 surge generator. Sorry for the dumb question, as I am FAR from being an electrician & don't understand.

First you need to know the amperage draw on the welder and the out put on the 120/220 outlet. If the welder has less amperage draw then you can get an adapter at any electrical outlet.
If its greater then get a bigger generator. Your plug type will tell what the amperage draw it by its shape.

Couldn't have said it better myself. lol Had to get adapters for my generator to. Have a good day!

Walt is correct. I assume by the way your question is worded the welder is 240V. Another way to tell is take the amp rating of the circuit breaker on the welder circuit. 8500/240=35 amps so I hope its less than 30 amp breaker or your genny is too small.
Walt is more correct anyway.

Walt,
Looking over everything, this is what I found. The welder is an AC-225. Either the owner's manual doesn't tell me much or I just don't know how to understand what it is telling me (more likely the case). So, I looked at labels on the welder & found TWO different illustrations. The fist one had a symbol of a male plug & next to it had: U1 230V, I1 50A & 60Hz. The SECOND illustration had a ~ symbol with Uo79V below it & next to it had U2 25V & I2 225A. WHAT THE HECK IS THIS TELLING ME as far as the amperage draw on the welder???

I then checked the owners manual on the generator & it said the 120/240V receptacle was 30 Amp. I also checked the circuit breaker (that I currently run the welder off of) & it was 30 Amp.

Once again, sorry to sound stupid, but I am trying to figure this all out. Please Help!

Your welder probably draws 30 amps and your gen wont carry that much unless you only weld with a 1/16 rod at low amperage.

5500W is only 23A resistive load (your welder will be inductive). The surge will be monentary not continuous and any continuous load above 23A may well burn it out - depends on the quality how much safety margin they give you. It may depend also on whether the set is windings or engine-power limited.

Like the others say it will probably strike a small rod. Also, small, undersized generators are notoriously poor for running welders.

Regards, RAB

The Lincoln can draw 50 amps at full output.12000 watts.

U1 230V, I1 50A & 60Hz: It draws a maximum of 50 amps at 230 Vrms, 60 cycle power.

~ Uo 79V: Maximum open-circuit output voltage is 79 Vrms.

U2 25V & I2 225A: Maximum output current is 225 amps at 25 Vrms.

Generator ratings are almost as inflated as air compressor ratings. The "5500 watt" rating of your generator is really 5500 volt-amps. (There is a difference between watts and volt-amps, but that's not worth going into right now.) You welder draws a maximum of 11500 volt-amps. So you are asking your generator to handle a load double that for which it was designed.

Now, under typical conditions, your welder isn't going to be operating at capacity, so let's say you need really need 30 amps, or 6900 volt-amps. That's still over your generator's rated capacity, but less than its "surge" rating. Will it work? Maybe. Would I try it myself? No.

The input voltage on the welder is 230 Volts (U1)

The max input current on the welder is 50 amps. (I1) The expectation is that the AC input frequency is 60 HZ.

The open circuit voltage of the welder OUTPUT (rod holder to ground clamp) is 79 volts (Uo)

The rated performance (current/voltage) of the welder OUTPUT (rod holder to ground) is 225 amps (I2) at an arc voltage of 25 Volts (U2). This is for alternating current output (the ~ symbol)

Thus, the welder draws 50 amps at 230 volts to obtain full rated performance.

Most actual use of these welders does not approach the full rated output. Smaller rods, lower "heat" settings, shorter arc lengths all reduce output power and hence required input current. So in typical practice you may be able to operate it off a 30 amp breaker even though it is too small for the welder at max performance.

The max duty cycle on these welders is 20%. (Weld one minute out of 5). Thus the 230 volt supply wires serving the welder can be smaller than the "50 amp" input requirement would otherwise suggest.

Will the welder work off the generator? Yes, at the lower settings, but not especially well. The sudden change of demand as the arc is struck (from mear zero to near max) is tough on the average cheap generator.

I've done this before when I have to weld something away from my shop. Works fine on the lower settings. You'll quickly hit your limits when a breader pops. Did this with an older 5kw Kholer generator for years.

Don't expect to weld with 5/32 rods at 200 amps.
1/8 rods at lower amp settings will work when your desperate.

Think of it this way - your shop has 50 amps 220v available and your generator has 20-30 amps at 220.

Cave Man Math says your welder can do 1/2 as much as it could before.

How do the cheep Chinese Generators hold up?

If you really want to do this go our and get a twist lock plug to match your generator, lincon welder recepticle to match the Welder and a foot of 8 gage copper wire - 3 conductor. You can't use anything larger as it won't fit the generator plug and the breaker is sized to the 10 gage wire.

The plugs will come with a scematic - follow them - Red and Black are hot (sometimes marked as line), White is netural and bare (or Green) is ground. Since the Lincon plug doesn't have a ground just trim back the bare or green wire as it isn't used.

Good Luck

You will need this to connect to your hydro service.
http://www.reliancecontrols.com/ProductDetail.aspx?TWB2012DR

The welder might work if you can round up about 6-8 amps worth of power factor correction capacitors. And fit them inside the welder's body and tie them to the 240V input.