Hi from Brisbane Australia

[kurtthrun]

Hi I'm Kurt ,

I have been welding for some time now but always learning every day. I'm a fitter - machinist by trade. Most of my work has been with DC tig welding SS. Having worked in the dairy food industry I have worked with a lot of ss pipe - purge welding, fabrication- repair. Arc welding from time to time when it fits the job.

At home a have a little workshop, lathe, coldsaw, bench mill,and so on. I have a basic 140A DC Esseti scratch start Tig. I purchased the welder new about 10 years ago.. all I could afford at the time as inverter tigs were expensive back then. It's been a great little compact welder and has done a ton of work over the year's. Everything from light structural work on several home renovations to building a lot of SS outdoor furniture as a little side business - hobby. I built a few utility trailer's and a camper van. It's come in handy building SS internal - external balustrade's for my self and friends homes. I was into modified cars for some time so SS headers, custom engine mount's turbo manifolds you name it.

I have got my moneys worth out of the Esseti but Its time to treat myself to a welder upgrade

I have just purchased a new home and some land in the hills about 100km out of town. The home is completely off grid and all power is supply from 4000w worth of solar panels that feed into a large 60kwh battery bank -A 240v 6000w continuous - 10,000w peek inverter supply's clean power to the home and 1/2 finished workshop. the inverter can also automatically call on and start a kubota J 108 3cyl Diesel 8.8KW generator If need be. That can work together to supply 15,000w continues.Although the system has some balls and I have arc welded with the Esseti at max -140A no problem from just on the inverter alone. That said but I do need to pay some attention to power consumption when choosing a new welder. I am just in the processes of building a new 10m x 12m workshop at my new location (finally space a nice space to work) I hope to hope to have a Everlast welder to go in it to.

At this stage I have been looking at the new 210 EXT I have been told it should be available in Australia early July fingers crossed. Most of the work I am planing for the new tig will be building CM tubular frames for recumbent bikes- trikes. Though I would like to get back into making more SS furniture to. Both jobs a relatively light work at low amps. Having Ac isn't essential but I am sure once I have it I will find a stack of use for it. A plasma cutter is on the cards to

Anyhow its great to have the forum where everyone can share ideas.

Kurt

[Winky]

Welcome Kurt ... you'll find this is an absolutely great forum ... the members are very knowledgeable and always willing to give what they can whether it's advise, critique or what ever. I just ordered my first Everlast machine a Powertig 200DX and am really excited about it ... hope I don't have to wait to long ... at this point the only tig machine I've used is a little scratch start DC so the 200DX is going to be quit a step up.

Happy welding my friend,
Winky

[Rodsmachineshop]

hey from down under . sounds like you have cool place were you live . have 2 good friends from were you live always wanted to go to Australia neat country

[undercut]

Hi Kurt,

Fascinating environment you work in. I can attest to everything Winky said. This is a great forum and I'm sure you'll like your stay. I definitely like your shopping list!

Cheers!

[Scotty1]

Welcome Kurt ,
Greetings from Darwin NT Australia,
Not so far away.
Scotty

[SeanMurphy265]

That is awesome that your living off the grid! Where do you get your water supply from?

[performance]

Welcome Kurt... What appliances do you run soley with the panels?

[kurtthrun]

Welcome Kurt... What appliances do you run soley with the panels?

SeanMurphy265

That is awesome that your living off the grid! Where do you get your water supply from?

Water is collected from rainwater. Roughly 2000 - 3000mm PA rainfall keeps them full. 400m2 of roof catchment area feeds into two 20,000lt tanks and then a pressure pump feeds the home from the tanks. There is a spring fed dam on the property that's available for watering gardens if need be.




Appliances i can run what I like. I haven't had to use the generator at all. Its really just for backup and perhaps very heavy workshop loads. I run dishwasher, washing machine, fridge freezer,espresso machine, PC, Large Tv, 5.1 stereo receiver , Iron, ... really any appliance you would run in any modern home .In my garage I have run my lathe, drill press, cold saw, drop saw, angle grinders, Welder,

Basically 24 panels - 4000w of solar panels charge 60kw of battery's (48v system and A 6000w continuous - 10,000w peak 240v inverter feeds the home clean 240v power.

Kurt

[kurtthrun]

Just to add to the question regarding what I can run soley with the panels?

In peek sun the panels can provide 4kw of charge to the battery's. So if the battery's are 100% full and you have good sun in theory you can run something up to 4000w without taking anything from the battery's. Nothing is 100% efficient though so it would be less than that. That said if I wanted to do a high energy demand job like plasma cut a stack of thick aluminum it would be less taxing on the system to do it when the sun is out and let the solar panels take the brunt of the load rather than do it in the middle of the night as you would be running 100% directly off the battery's then. although the system is big and capable and I am not to restricted. Some common sense helps ensure the battery's aren't abused and have a easy - longer life.

Kurt

[pig75]

Looks like there are a few aussies on here