IMIG-200 with flux core, running on generator

[chadford]

Dad snapped the picture so you can not see all the trailers surrounding us or the generator. I fix their golf carts, gator mules, trailers, and more. I need the cash to fix my new truck. Lift tires rims. Normally we haul a couple at a time and weld them. Last trip and this trip we loaded up my truck and did them there and saved a lot of time.

I am using an IMIG-200 with a porter cable 5500 watt generator and flux core .030. Using flux core since it is outside

I am posting this since people ask about Everlast MIGs and flux core and generators.

We do not run the TIGS on generators since they are small generators but the MIG-200 and smaller unit work fine. Plus a TIG would not work well outside and take too long.

[zoama]

Something went wrong with the pics, they're not showing.

[DaveO]

I'd appreciate a discussion of generators: the spec web page for the IMIG talks about working with "clean power generators". When I look up "clean power" there's never a good definition. Does clean power mean "steady consistent delivery" of power? So a graph of the generator's power delivery would show a flat delivery line without peaks and valleys?

[parkour]

You do not want flat, that would be DC. You want a well formed AC sinewave. Here is a site comparing the waveform of various things. http://www.jkovach.net/projects/powerquality/ The top pic is the what you get out of the wall, farther down the page shows a honda inverter generator, and a junkey synchronous generator (the generator directly produces the output rather than using an inverter to produce a pure sinewave like the honda does.)

Everlast is vague on this point because there are too many variables and unknowns to make a clear statement of what is OK and what is not. Even the engineer of a circuit (the welder), doesn't know for sure how the circuit will act with bad power without testing. Electronics generally don't like bad power, and tend to behave in unpredictable ways. The designer also has no idea about the power quality from one generator to the next. Often the sensitivity is so high then even when you think you have good power, something will add noise to the power, and filtering must be added to get the circuit to function reliably.

I have heard of a number of people running Everlast products off of *cheap* generators. The following is my semi-educated guess, and I am clearly not in a position to make any official statement since I am not affiliated with Everlast. I would presume that clean power would be most certainly be satisfied by a quality inverter generator, and possibly also by a synchronous generator with an electronic voltage regulator rather than being "self regulating" as *cheap* generators are.

[SeanMurphy265]

The majority of the generators on the market today produce clean power. All the Honda powered ones are clean (and they should $$$!). I've ran my Imig200 from my Powerhorse 7000 without any issues.

[parkour]

The majority of the generators on the market today produce clean power. All the Honda powered ones are clean (and they should $$$!). I've ran my Imig200 from my Powerhorse 7000 without any issues.

I don't think that's correct. One would first have to define what "clean power" is, and if it happens to be a "sine wave" with some small maximum total harmonic distortion; then I think the answer is a definite no.

I just checked out your generator at northern tool. It looks like a fine unit, and includes a key phrase in the description "Auto voltage regulation and less than 5% total harmonic distortion" The AVR and low THD are the key points. Lesser units that do not use an inverter or AVR, will be "self 'regulating'" and produce rather poor output.

[everlastsupport]

Parkour is on the money.

But trying to shed a little more light, after stating we do not recommend running our units on generators. There are a lot of generators out there, generally the good ones cost a lot.

This thread is about the Everlast IMIG units (IMIG-200). Not our TIG or larger MIG units.

I'm not real sure why I would run a TIG on a generator unless I had a remote barn and no power to it (and I would probably be using a MIG in this case). Maybe working in a commercial kitchen that did not have 220vac, but I was inside. Most kitchen will have 220 for hot water and electric heating type machines.

Plenty of power and good regulation are about the same as long as you have a clean sine wave (a "sine" wave locked in at a fixed frequency between 50-60Hz). You do not want a generator that will DIP (drop in power or phase shift) when a load hits it.

On MIG units, it's a lot like stick welding and forgiving and 30 amps at 220vac is normally plenty for a small inverter MIG or stick unit (inverters welders only). If you have a much higher powered generator, say 220vac/50 amps and a nice stable "sign" wave out, you are probably in good shape with most of our units as it will look like what the power company provides. But you can not see this or know this is the case, why we say no to generators.

We can not recommend any generator and our engineers will say NO, no matter what, even if you have the specs..

In this case it's a low cost self regulating generator running a low power IMIG unit. That will work fine with enough power.

Most Generac generators have all that (power and AVR) but they have a high price tag. The Honda's are not bad either and have the high price tag, they are strong generators if you have the right watts for the jobs. In this case, the Porter Cable has enough power to power this smaller MIG.

If I needed to run a welder on a generator and wanted to take the chance. Total harmonic distortion being low, AVR and a lot of power would be my choice.

Also, our MIG power supplies and internal functions are nothing as complex as what goes on inside our TIG units.

The thing to take from this thread, "IMIGs" will run flux core wire. IMIGs will run on some less than stellar generators in this case.