I didn't mention this in the video, but it's important: Some cheap generators have some really sketchy breaker/outlet setups where they might have a 30a 240V plug (7,200 watt) despite not being able to support a legit 30 amp output. Just because a generator has a 30a breaker or plug doesn't mean it will handle a welder that requires 30a. In such cases of BS breaker/wiring you will likely have the welder shut off or go into protect mode as the voltage drops under a 30 amp load. Basically the breaker won't trip and the power output become poor. Also, some cheap generators may be say 6000 watt but they cant output all of that power to the 240v outlet. They might be able to output 3k watt per 120v outlet (25amp max) but only 20a to the 240 plug due to the breaker on the 240v. Its also important to remember that if you put anything else on the generator while welding that will lower your output available to the welder. Its not the best idea to weld and use a grinder at the same time. With generator/welder combos this is possible because some (mainly bigger ones) have both a welding generator and a 240v generator, so running a grinder doesn't affect the weld output. Edit: also please remember, many welder companies lie, or don’t properly explain the current draw of their machines. It’s very common for a welder to say “20a draw at rated output”. You might think that’s at its max output, say 140a. Yet they are actually referring to its rated output of say 110a at 25% duty cycle. In such case it draws 20a at 110 amp out, and it will load up the input at 27-30amp draw at 140a out. The cheaper the welder the more likely it is to overload a circuit and the more likely the company is going to “creatively mislabel” the current draw requirements. A lack of CSA or UL listings on a welder is a sure sign they probably lied about specs lol.

Amps × volts = watts. If the welder requires 20 amps at 120 volts, that's 2400 watts. Add another 30% or so to accommodate the surge load of striking an arc, and I'd suggest adding another 30-40% so that the generator isn't running at a high load percentage relative to output. I don't worry about it since I have engine drive welder/generators, both actual generator (DC output only) and alternator(AC and rectified DC) output. My area is different than everyone else's, but they're not hard to find here, or nearly as expensive as new. Anyone reasonably handy can build an engine driven welder from a car alternator and a lawnmower engine. Commercial versions are also available, though most are intended for use on a truck or off-road vehicle. Power factor correction, at least in the transformer welder days, was a factory option. The downside to PFC is that they draw more power when idle as compared to the same unit with no PFC....at least based on the data for those units I've seen. The inverse is also true, the PFC equipped version draws somewhat less when welding than the same machine without PFC. I know little about the inverter machines. The transformers are less efficient, but they'll still be functional in several decades, while inverter machines will be in a landfill. Mig settings... They can be a good starting point, or nearly worthless. The MIG I use at work is a 1982 model Hobart (before Miller ruined the brand), IIRC. It has voltage settings, but the wire feed(a separate unit, btw) setting is a potentiometer with a matked dial from 1 to 10. There is no correlation anywhere in the manual or on the feeder that correlates feed dial settings to actual wire feed. I have timed, measured, and marked several settings for the approximate wire speed, but it still requires trying, reading the bead, and adjusting to get it right. There is a downside to running a larger generator, and that is fuel consumption. This is MUCH less of an issue with inverter generators, but it is a very significant issue with conventional generators that scream along at 3600rpm regardless of load. My diesel Lincoln SA 250 cost me less than a new Outlaw from Harbor Fright, and will still be laying beads long after the Outlaw pukes...just like my old Onan generators and transformer machines. One thing that should be brought to attention with generators is load balancing. This isn't an issue when utilizing the 240v output, but if using the 120 outlets, it can potentially let the magic smoke out of the windings. Basically, you don't want a heavy load on one leg of the winding(120 + 120 = 240) and none on the other leg. Distribute the load evenly across the legs whenever possible. I haven't studied the operation of inverter generators enough to know if this still applies, but it certainly does with the older style.

This video seriously answered every question I’ve been losing my mind over the last few weeks. Thank you. Good luck finding a Vulcan outlaw

im staring a business for mobile weld repair and you just helped me out to much. I did find the right generator but, boy that poor welder is going to die. I just need it to last long enough to make enough money to buy a proper set up. Thank you and God bless you sir and remember all things for Gods glory!

How have you seen my internet search history?! I was looking for this exact information last week. 😂

So I start searching for a video like this one a week ago and haven’t found much good info and then you drop this video! Thank you!

Hey Greg I’m one of the requesters for this vid. I’ll watch it later because I’m at work but I didn’t want to forget to say thanks! Freeze’

Best info Ive seen on welder running on portable generator ! Thank you !!

Exactly what I needed and had been looking for. Thank you

This is so in-depth. Really appreciate this work, Greg.

Thank you for making this video,you have saved me so much time and aggravation. Please keep up the great work

This is great information Greg. Thank you for sharing.

Fantastic & informative video that has definitely increased my welding IQ - cheers.

Thank you for the information and clarification about running a welder on a generator. I have a better understanding about this ability. Many thanks.

Thanks I needed this video. I have a Miller 211 and I’ve been thinking about buying a generator so I can do work outside the home. The information that you have shown will come in so handy. Thank you sir keep up the good work God bless.🙏

Good concise description.

Excellent explanations! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for braking this down and putting it in simple English. Great explanation that I could understand. May have to change the route I’m going after seeing this, but now I know why what I was hoping to do may not work.

THANK YOU i was researching this needed this

Wow! My heads spinning! Seriously though, I think you did an outstanding job explaining what, on the surface, seems simple. Great stuff!

Banger video man - I think the takeaway I got was just like everything else in life - if you want to do it right it's going to cost more.... You put out some genuinely great content and I love the name of your channel. I think your channel will continue to grow.

Thank you for your time! Great video, a lot of useful information.

Very nice presentation, well thought out

Great video

Thanks for this. Nice job.

That’s a lot of good information thanks

Nice, I think i made a good purchase for my lite duty mig for off grid fab work. Both transformer gen and mig. The generator is a 6250 watt (5000w) and the welder is a Hobart 135. Intended use is flux core welding 1/16” (.065”) wall square steel tube fabrication with smallish wire. I’ll use it at the mid to upper range settings. I think that the flux core might actually be of a small benefit for the described use (generated heat?). I put this setup together over 6 months time and have all this stuff now and a sweet little project soon!:) However, when my needs increase/ change I will take everything to heart in this video. I’m right here watching your efforts. Now where’s my ginger beer I know I put it down around here somewhere, lol🙏👋’freezer

I'm off-grid, It sounds like Power factor correction is a must for me since I have minimal power, It also sounds like it's beneficial for wire gauge size as well I'm in the process of setting up my barn into a shop and I'm running a wire underground to power a welder. Thanks for the video this has been a great explanation of power consumption used by welders. I have my eye on the ESAB Rouge 130i pro which has power factor contraction, I was planning on a cheaper Amazon one to start with but I need the most power efficiency with everything I'm always buying. again thanks for the great video This really helps for someone who's living off grid.

Great video! You explained it very well. I currently run both a Titanium 225 stick welder, and the Titanium 125 Fluxcore welder, on a conventional Predator generator (9000/7200). The hottest I have ever had to run the stick welder at is 140A. From your chart, I calculate that I will most likely max out around 170A with this combination.

Hi again Greg! Wonderful information there! When I did that mine shaft sinking bucket weld job I mentioned on the last video you did, I had to do that on a generator. I live at my mine so I don't have AC power. My trailer I live in I have solar on plus I use a generator.. but the mine I can only use a generator for because the BLM doesn't allow anything powered over 10hp so I'm limited on what I can use thus I had to do that project using the generator I use for the mine. Anyways I did the welding job with one of those Campbell Hausfield 70 amp hi/lol settings welders that have the duty cycle auto shutoffs and the red light on it that shows when the welder is ready to run again. As for the generator, I ran the welder off a Champion 3500 continuous watt /4000 start watt 120/240 switchable volts 30 amp breaker generator and the welder did slag the generator down a bit during the welds but never tripped the breaker so with the info you just gave, I think the welder was pulling just under enough amps it took to not trip the breakers.

Well done sir. Awesome video. I owe you a beer.

Well your wrong on one point, I have a trailblazer 325 and looking to get the new trailblazer 330 air pak and I'm watching your videos because of how well and in depth you explain everything. Keep it up! enjoy your videos!

Man! Thank you! Most of this I know BUT I was going to go way to big with the Predator 9600 inverter but based on your math, I can go with the 7600! You just saved me some serious money! Fortunately all of my welders have PFC!

Been debating on upgrading my home electrical or getting a generator. They cost about the same but I can only take one on mobile work. Thank you for all the detailed explanations. All I knew was a regular generator would kill my machine and inverter = $$$$$.

Very good overview Greg, and I am sure helpful to many users. As a note, the Lincoln Power MIG 215 has a high power factor of >.98, quite good for generator usage.

Good info, thank you. Inverter generators have cleaner power. What would be a good low THD rating for a regular generator?

Another fascinating and informative video! Did you know that the power companies themselves have to be concerned about Power Factor on their service lines? Drive around an industrial area, where the load is mostly inductive motors. There will be poles with unusual can-looking things on them that are NOT transformers. These are capacitor banks. It's all about balancing the inductive and capacitive reactance their lines see. Too much inductive load is bad, so they have to add capacitance to the line to balance it out. I have to wonder if you can add capacitors to an older welder to make it more efficient in this regard. Probably not, that would be too easy...

Thank you for taking the time to explain all that information wow I’ve learned so much I’ve recently purchased a esab ruffian 150 with the hopes of running a tig setup off it as esab marketing as you can hope that real lol

Great video! In the manual my 285 amp multiprocess inverter welder power factor is listed at 0.73 and efficiency at 80%. Lol i was thinking of just getting a westinghouse 20000 running watts because i want to run other things also

Great video alot of information in this thank you!! Quick question I have a 9500W PEAK AND 7600W running (inverter generator with a 50A 240plug) (pulsar is the brand) and a inverter welding machine that’s rated at 50A at 230V do you think I would have any problems with that ? I haven’t actually tested it yet still trying to break in the generator

Thank you so much for in-lighting us . I guess if you weld railway rails , you got what it takes, but for us "farm welders" mobility is important . What is your views on Car/truck alternator welders? The new battery powered welders? or the good old story with 3 car batteries and you are good to go? Can any of these do decent reliable welding in the field?

Great video greg you’re really helping out the new generation with your unique knowledge I really appreciate it. So I’ve been wanting a dynasty 400 and I was wondering what are your thoughts if you hook it up to a miller big blue 500 generator???The generator supplies 20k of running watts on three phase using a 240v 50amp receptacle. On the dynasty 400 specification sheet 20k running watts is what is required. Do you think the breaker on the big blue 500 generator would trip???….On the dynasty 400 the (amps input for rated load output for 230v) using 3phase at 300amps is 33.

Great info! Im looking to power a 315amp inverter welder for ac tig welding with a generator. What can you recomend? I work in the marine industry and need to weld on the field.

man I just bought a predator 9500 for 1800ish from HF last weekend on sale and this is perfect

I remember doing this years ago, the generator itself have a signwave rating, i think mine has a 6 which is ok, i think the lower the number the dirtier the signwave is, a lot of the new generators have very dirty signwaves. Yeah inverters dont like generators, great vid well explained, thanks from Ireland.

I've been looking at whole house generator sets. Are they a possibility for running an inverter welder? I've seen some used ones for a reasonable price with higher KW ratings.

It should be noted that breakers are not there to protect your equipment. Breakers are there to prevent the wiring from overheating and starting electrical fires.

I have a 10kw generator with 50amp breaker 240 vac, and when running my cheap primeweld ct520dp multiprocess machine on stick at anywhere above 100amps when I strike an arc the generator will load up and its governor will increase its speed, but this results in a dip in current at my welding electrode and the arc will usually go out, it doesn't trip the breaker but it does make for a very frustrating welding experience. Any tips on ways I could correct this? I've thought about adjusting the running speed of the generator to run faster, but this likely throws off the output for other things and I depend on this generator for a lot of stuff as I live off grid and need it to run my well pump. I've corrected it in the past by using smaller electrodes and lowering the current output on the welder, but that makes a quick job a lot more difficult and takes a lot longer, thus consuming more fuel and costing more money. It's maddening. Any suggestions would be welcome, thanks for all your great videos!

My current “mobile” setup is a predator 4375 generator with an esab rogue 180i using a 50 amp welder plug adapter to the 4 prong adapter. With welding with 1/8 6011 on ~90 amps, would I be running out of juice on the generator? It bogs down the motor on startup, which I plan to solve with a high idle. Would I be able to run 1/8 7018 at 120 amps?

7:00 voltage drop on a generator from high load is corrected by spinning them faster... tho, 75Hz will blow up the little engine they use... need a bigger engine to drive them at the right speed. ... ether way the surge watts thru a 200amp service go right thru a 50amp braker for some time before it actually trips. just like a duty cycle, 50amp 250v is 100% but they can transfer 80amp to 140amp 250 volt for nearly 10 seconds as a thought... so if a generator has a 30amp 250v braker, it is expected to trip when using some larger current settings. one 3/16 E7018 trips a 30amp 250v braker after it is fully used. ... 30amp running 45amp for some time before it shuts off... so if you want it to trip at 50amp's ya need to install a 40amp braker... 200amp service will surge up to 350amp 250 volt, tho that 20 seconds or 90Kw/hr will absolutely tick off nearly everyone on the grid causing lights to go dim and other furnace motors to stall etc... nothing is built to all be used at the same time... would need nearly 8 train engines to power a 60watt light bulb for everyone in a city of 50'000. just one light bulb per population is enough to black out a station in most places... but if its cold outside, their just going to burn things to make heat so electrical power is a given byproduct of what they do regardless of what it is. required to turn things on, to get the power lines hot enough to prevent ice buildup. tho if the wire gauge in a generator is 12 gauge, it can output 40amp 250 volt for a long time... can run 3/16 E7018 thru a 100ft 14 gauge extension cable, the wire just gets hot and very flaccid. as long as the rpm stays up tho 75hz was... not safe for sensitive things, because the voltage goes up as they spin faster... 180v 45hz, 220v 50hz, 240v 60hz, 280v 75hz etc.

I have powerkraft 295 amp welder. Also a holbart 20 amp wire core welder. A 9300 wat peak firman genator. Can I weld?

Does anybody know whot multiprocess welder has pfc? I am not looking for top of the line, but instead buying something up to 200amps to practicing welding and mostly outside.

In my dads garage there is time delay fuses and as far as the manual on my hobart 210mvp it specifies having a 30amp time delay on 230v. So is a time delay fuse better than a traditional breaker? The garage is on a 50amp breaker that feeds the garage from the house panel. I wish i understood more about electricity lol i believe on a normal breaker it specifies 35 amp breaker for the 210mvp

So i just purchased a wen inverter generator with 4800 watts surging and 4000 watts running. I have an arccaptain 200 mig multiprocess welder and now im wondering if the generator will be suffice to run the welder doing hobby type work seldomly?

So if I have the generator in this video, can I run titanium 225 at say 120 amp 7018 and 6010 at 90 amps or so? How effective would this be?

What are the cheapest five PFC mig welders? the rogue isn't too crazy at $800-$900. Flux mainly for farm work and don't see geting a tank to haul around in my truck to fix a gate/fence/snow plow/ tractor implement/etc or something. Not stick plz ;) I have stick covered. I think you could make a lot of money running different machines on a generator, like project farm does with his channel. Do top 5 cheap machines, top 5 pfc machines, etc then sell the machines. I think the general non welder hobbie public would want to see cheap and doable/ reliable with numbers and a rating system. I would watch a ton of videos to see individual machines, esp with the data specs. I'm really curious about dual 240v and 120v machines. Wouldn't a 30a 240 welder draw = 60a at 120v so then why is it that my predator inverter 3800w can run my weldpro mig155hd at 133-ish/ 18.5v-ish to do 1/8th" plate in 120v mode? But thier 120v plug is 20amps so it doesn't make sense. But the weld was burning hot. Wierd

One upside to the transformer welders is that take will take dirty power all day without an issue. No need for a fancy inverter or low THD generator with them. So you can go big and dirty to feed them.

So I should be OK to run my Lincoln Mig 180 with a Champion 11250 Start 9000 Run watt Generator....YES???? and would it be better to plug into the 50 amp plug?????

Hey Greg. Your knowledge is impressive. I am just curious...do you have an engineering degree or did you just learn this stuff via your own research? Again, thank you for putting out content that helps us novices!

what are your thoughts on a running an invertor machine off a conventional generator that claims to have under 5% THD?

This is a lot of input but it's not elreally geared for those who are actually asking the question of "will a generator run a welder". The People asking have regular generators or inverter generators but want a harbor freight 110v 20a mig or mini 90a stick welder to do small repairs. People asking the question aren't buying $1500 generators and $700 welders. They are the people with $300 used generators and $150 welders.

Can someone give a good brands of rekiable generarors, american, german, japnese...

We live in a world where fraud is the standard model in all business transactions. To the uninitiated that 30 amp outlet means 30 amp available, right? My friends Predator has a 30 amp outlet, which is code correct for the 23 amp maximum output, but it is only good for 23 amp, not 30 as most looking at that outlet would expect.

the easy answer is 1/16" 6013 electrodes from Harbor Freight and you're golden 😁

I run my esab off an 8 k marithon genrrator and a lister engine . It works just fine but its a true a c non inverter 100 percent powerfactor generator i burned up a little lincoln mp 215 on a cheap 7k inverter generator i wont run a welder off a non industrial generator any more

We’ve been waiting for days for a new video. I know you have a life, but still…

Absolute blessing of a video, purchased the predator 9500 inverter to power my titanium flux and it was a disaster. Does anyone know of a good source where I can find welders with power factor correction?

What can you recommend to run a arccaptain 130a mig welder?

For anyone wanting a REALLY good quality generator for cheap look for an older Generac EXL series. They use generac specific engines with full pressure lubrication with oil filters and have overbuilt stator and rotor windings! I have an older 7550EXL and it has no problem running my 220 compressor AND stick welder at 150A output at the same time! I think i paid $400 for it, these new generators are for the most part all chineseum garbage!