ok first of all this is the first welder i ever bought so chill out.

mntuner2 was selling a mig welder from harbor freight for cheap so im like wtf...might as well buy and it and try to learn how to wire feed. so i get it...the stand is shatered into peices but im like thats no biggie so today i finally get to see if it works. i plug it into the outlet and hit the on/off button to on. it glows...ok thats a good sign but it doesnt make any noise. no motor comes on what so ever so im really confused. out garage puts out 250v and 30 amps...the welder requires to have 250v and 20 amps so why isnt it working? this is pissing me off...if anybody has any input on this...let me know.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rice a roni &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">harbor freight for cheap</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats your problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Thats your problem.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL! FUNNY ****. AHHAHAH

 

thats not very nice or construtive or helpful... alot of people buy harbor freight stuff and have tons of problems... some think they are ok. I havent had any problems with my HF stuff.

all I have to say is caveat emptor... hope you can figure out whats wrong with it.

 

caveat emptor? what does that mean?

well i let my buddy look at it, hes pretty crafty and has an eye for **** so i'll see if he can come up with something. umm...the on/off light button comes on...so does that mean im getting voltage to it but not getting enough to make it run? cmon help a little...im 18 and im poor...

 

you did clamp the ground to the piece or metal right?

 

yeah but the metal was kind of rusty...it doesnt spark when i touched the ground clamp and the peice where the wire comes out. the wire feeder doesnt even work when you press the trigger...

 

Sounds like either it was shipping damage if the box is smashed to bits, or the guy unloaded a crappy product onto the next guy in the line.

 

Bring it back to HF, and ask for an exhange? -=P BS your way into, "you just bought the thing!"

 

i dunno...i dont like bull shitting people. any more input?

 

pack it up and send it back

 

yeah i guess i should...still waiting for mntuner2 to respond to me...

 

HF are usually good with their warranties. So why not give it a try? never know they will just exhange for a new one. Most likely they will swap you a brand new one. Wont hurt?

 

yeah i'll give them a call too...but mntuner is not responding yet.

 

yeah the good thing about Harbor Freight is they know theire products are ****, and they are usually quick to exchange items because they pay so little for them. You can also haggle over prices at the register if you know how LOL

 

lol ok...my buddy said that some connection on the cable was half assed but he fixed it up...he also said i need a generator because i need way more power...thats my problem...so whats a good size generator that would produce 250 volts and 30 amps?

 

You are powering this off a GENERATOR? You need something in the 9000 watt range for that.

 

u sure its 9000 watts? thats a lot man...wasnt there an equation?

 

found one...
[QUOTE=some page]Converting Watts to Amps

The conversion of Watts to Amps is governed by the equation Amps = Watts/Volts

For example 12 watts/12 volts = 1 amp
Converting Amps to Watts

The conversion of Amps to Watts is governed by the equation Watts = Amps x Volts

For example 1 amp * 110 volts = 110 watts

Converting Watts to Volts

The conversion of Watts to Volts is governed by the equation Volts = Watts/Amps

For example 100 watts/10 amps = 10 volts

Converting Volts to Watts

The conversion of Volts to Watts is governed by the equation Watts = Amps x Volts

For example 1.5 amps * 12 volts = 18 watts
Converting Volts to Amps at fixed wattage

The conversion of Volts to Amps is governed by the equations Amps = Watts/Volts

For example 120 watts/110 volts = 1.09 amps

Converting Amps to Volts at fixed wattage

The conversion of Amps to Volts is governed by the equation Volts = Watts/Amps

For Example, 48 watts / 12 Amps = 4 VoltsQUOTE]

and this is the info about the welder...

Input: 230V, 60 Hz, single phase; Welding current range: 30-120 amps; Duty cycle: 15% @ 115 amps; Draws 15 amps @ 230V; Max. open circuit voltage: 36V; Weldable wires: .023", .030", and .035 steel or stainless steel; .030" and .035" aluminum; .030" flux core

so...what size generator?


Modified by rice a roni at 7:07 AM 4/18/2006

 

"Watts = Amps x Volts"

your range is 30-120 amps at 230V so your generator needs to be:

6900 watts at minimum and 27,600 watts maximum.

basically, you should be using one of those farm generators and be powering with your car for full load.

 

hmm...im trying to get my dads garage to put out 250 volts. how do you do that?? basically it is being run on two 30 amp fuses. there is a 125/250v thing written on it and i was wondering how i could combine both of the fuses and make it into a massive ouput.

 

you have to do the 220V thing back at the main breaker box.

basically, the wiring coming into a house is three wires:

one is a neutral or ground or whatever you want to call it.
one is +110 volts
one is -110 volts

the 220 volts is basically using both of the +110 and -110 volt connections so that the difference is a total 220 volts (+110 minus a negative 110). Basically think about standing on a road and two cars drag race in opposite directions for a 1/4 mile. the distance between the two traps will be a total of a 1/2 mile with you in the middle (+1/4 mile minus -1/4 mile = 1/2 mile).

you need to have the garage professionally wired or by someone who has done this on the side alot. you don't just pop open the box and start playing with wires unless you are suicidal.

you want some type of GFI too. if you don't know what a GFI is, it just means you need more help on the wiring. good luck.

 

hey actually i found a weird outlet that a previous person installed so i probed that with a multi meter and got 240 volts. i just took that outlet out because i dont think i could have used it and replaced it with a outlet i could use. so now i got 240 volts..woot. thanks guys.