12 volt power inverter for powering welder

oil pan 4

Not asking how or which one. I already figured it out. I have seen this asked before.

The welder is my power factor corrected Lincoln SP-135T, .025'' L-56 wire, CO2. It draws 1700 watts going full tilt with that wire and gas. Flux core self shielded wire in a welder like mine uses a lot more power than my thin wire and CO2 setup. You are vaporizing about half the wires mass to produce your own shielding gas, that takes a lot of power.

The inverter is a Samlex SSW 2000, a 2000 watt true sine power inverter, rated for 2,000w continuous and up to 4000 watt surge. These types of inverters do produce a pure sine wave, I tested it on my flue 123a scope meter. Compared to utility power the inverter "pure sine wave" is a little bumpy, but it is an AC sine wave, not that stepped garbage you get on the cheap inverters.

And it works.

The only problems I had is it didn't like the inrush current on my skill saw, which is more likely a battery problem than an inverter problem. I had to bump start the skill saw.

The manual doesn't say anything about using the samlex 2000w inverter on a welder or with LiFePO4 batteries. But it seems to work.

Photowhit

I don't see a question in there, but your skill saw should start with no load, so you might look at replacing brushes and/or bearings on it....

BB.

And possibly use a 50' (or whatever) extension cord vs plugging directly into the inverter--The extra resistance from the extension cord can keep surge current down.

Also, as always, double check the DC input voltage on the inverter terminals. A battery bank incapable of supplying surge current, no heavy enough DC cable, etc. can also limit the inverter's surge current capabilities.

Neat to read that you can run a MIG welder on the off grid power system.

-Bill

oil pan 4

My old trick for powering the skill saw for with a 900 to 1000 watt inverter was to put the skill saw on a varrac turn down to around 90 volts and bump start it. But cutting had to be slow and easy. I have no doubt that the inverter shut down was due to the battery and not the inverter.

The battery is my 40 amp hour LiFePO4. I have the parts and cells to expand my 40 ah battery to 60 ah but have not yet. Then I will also add in my 27 ah LiFePO4 too. The inverter will reside atop my to be 60 ah battery where it will be hard wired in, then I will also be able to plug in my 27 ah battery with a Anderson SB175 connector. Then I may add in my 2.4 farad to help with inrush current.

I have analyzed the input current of inverters, no surprise, its heavily pulsed.