On 1 Jan 2006 10:42:31 -0800, "Rancher Sam"
wrote:

I would like to start practicing with an arc welder on scrap metal so I
can move on to welding up metal buildings. The problem is, there is no
electric where I need to practice my welding. I do have a 5500 watt
generator with 9500 surge. I'd like to buy a buzz box to start arc
welding, but I don't want to destroy my generator either for drawing
too much current. Do you guys have any estimates as to how many amps I
can go up to on a buzz box and stay under 5500 watts from the
generator? I'm looking at the 225 amp AC buzz box.

Thanks,

Sam

Your genny is not nearly enough to run your buzzbox.

If you're talking about welding sheetmetal up to 5/16" steel, I'd
recommend that you consider a wirefeed welder. You can run fluxcore
outdoors. Wirefeed draws a lot less mains current for given welding
current than stick because it has considerably lower open circuit
voltage (and therefore higher transformation ratio) than a buzzbox.
For example, a Hobart Handler 180 draws 20 amps of 220, which your
genny should be able to deliver without any problem.