Cheap Arc welder, which one?

[Nasher]

Oh, and be sure that your house electrics will take the current at full power on start up.

I've installed a seperate consumer unit in my garage with a dedicated socket for the welder beside the bench, that's on a seperate circuit breaker to the ring main I've installed for the other sockets.

Nasher.

[doggypaddle]

Originally Posted by Nasher

Oh, and be sure that your house electrics will take the current at full power on start up.

I've installed a seperate consumer unit in my garage with a dedicated socket for the welder beside the bench, that's on a seperate circuit breaker to the ring main I've installed for the other sockets.

Nasher.

so do you use copper 1/4 inch pipe as a fuse or the two neutral pins in the plug trick

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by chewy

So I've got it down to 180A gas Mig so far.

Watched the videos on the other site of gas and gas less and that made my mind up.

Just how much welding are you going to be doing ?

[chewy]

Very little.

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by chewy

Very little.

Can you not just get a local fabricator to do your bit and pieces for a few beer tokens when needed

[chewy]

I could but I would prefer to be able to do the work myself.
The last Land Rover I had needed a couple of days welding on it which equates to lots of beer tokens.

[mdt]

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

so do you use copper 1/4 inch pipe as a fuse or the two neutral pins in the plug trick

I bought a large air compressor, same one as my mates who ran it plugged in via a 13amp socket
The call went like this
Me: my compressor keeps blowing the fuse
Mate: oh pull the fuse and wrap some big fuse wire round the terminals
Me: ah right cool

Has been fine now for the past 6 years, mind you the house lights do dim a bit on start up….. is that bad

[chewy]

Originally Posted by mdt

I bought a large air compressor, same one as my mates who ran it plugged in via a 13amp socket
The call went like this
Me: my compressor keeps blowing the fuse
Mate: oh pull the fuse and wrap some big fuse wire round the terminals
Me: ah right cool

Has been fine now for the past 6 years, mind you the house lights do dim a bit on start up….. is that bad

Kit Kat wrappers....

[tinker]

Originally Posted by mdt

I bought a large air compressor, same one as my mates who ran it plugged in via a 13amp socket
The call went like this
Me: my compressor keeps blowing the fuse
Mate: oh pull the fuse and wrap some big fuse wire round the terminals
Me: ah right cool

Has been fine now for the past 6 years, mind you the house lights do dim a bit on start up….. is that bad

Will be bad if your house catches fire, your insurance would be void. Having no fuse or the wrong fuse is an unnecessarily added fire and shock risk and most fire investigation teams would find that fault with ease.

Always check your insurance when using this type equipment in your house, you may find it invalidates your policy.

[Jono]

Originally Posted by tinker

Will be bad if your house catches fire, your insurance would be void. Having no fuse or the wrong fuse is an unnecessarily added fire and shock risk and most fire investigation teams would find that fault with ease.

Always check your insurance when using this type equipment in your house, you may find it invalidates your policy.

Go on..I'm all ears... explain how a "wrong fuse" in this equipment will create a greater "shock risk"...only fractions of an amp are required to put a human heart into arrest.. from what I recall…and most "Fire investigation teams"...couldn't find there own arse with both hands.

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by chewy

I could but I would prefer to be able to do the work myself.
The last Land Rover I had needed a couple of days welding on it which equates to lots of beer tokens.

So can you weld ??

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

so do you use copper 1/4 inch pipe as a fuse or the two neutral pins in the plug trick

A bloke I knew used a pair of compasses - the type you draw with!!!

My MIG and 3hp compressor have always been fine on 13amp plugs but we have no silly trips etc - all proper fuse wire still..........

[tinker]

Any voltage over 50v is considered a shock risk. This is what protective devices are rated to, to prevent a greater voltage than 50v+. BS7671:2008.

If you increase the rating of the protective device it takes longer to cut out during an indirect fault condition, meaning the voltage will be greater than 50v

Have you been involved in many fire investigation?

[Jono]

Originally Posted by tinker

Any voltage over 50v is considered a shock risk. This is what protective devices are rated to, to prevent a greater voltage than 50v+. BS7671:2008.

If you increase the rating of the protective device it takes longer to cut out during an indirect fault condition, meaning the voltage will be greater than 50v

Have you been involved in many fire investigation?

Oh yes?..."fuses" as in the type fitted to the plug that they are talking about replacing are rated in "Amps" at a specific voltage..in this case 240V...and are designed to protect the wiring from excess current..they are not designed to prevent shock...we're not talking RCD's here...

...and now that you mention it...yes I have.

[tinker]

What happens in a system that has no RCD's only fuses?

[Jono]

Originally Posted by tinker

What happens in a system that has no RCD's only fuses?

What happens to what?

[tinker]

To your protection against electric shock via automatic disconnection of supply? You have non IYO

[nik]

Fuses and circuit breakers (not rcd`s), are there to protect the wiring from damage and overheating.
You can have a fault on an appliance which will kill you but not blow the fuse or circuit breaker.

Nick.

[Jono]

Originally Posted by tinker

To your protection against electric shock? You have non IYO

It's not "my opinion", Sunshine, I know what the difference is between an “earth leakage” and “overload” protection device. I'm not going to debate it with you. If you're interested, do some research..there's plenty of information out there..most of it free.

[chewy]

Originally Posted by bedajim

So can you weld ??

No. But thats the point of buying one I can practice so I can weld.
Regardless of whether I can weld or not or if it would be cheaper to take it to the fab shop my original question still stands.