On 14 Oct 2005 20:07:45 -0700, "monkers" wrote:

I have had a recent increase in my electric bill (two actually) and was
curious how to find out the amount of electric used for various types
of welders. I have a Lincoln 110v Mig, Lincoln Ideal Arc 250 220v arc
welder, and a Lincoln Square Wave 175 Tig welder, also 220v.
I would like to know how much elec. is used when the machines
are welding at about 50-75% of their duty cycle. Im trying to figure
out how much to charge to make up for the increase.
Thanks, Craig

If you need an exact figure, it's simple and usually inexpensive to
rig up a sub-meter on the welder outlet. Call your local power utility
and ask if they have any old surplus "A-Base" power meters and sockets
they have removed from service, a KWH meter can easily be wired up in
series with your welder receptacle.

This is commonly done in commercial buildings where a tenant wants
to run a load from the House power or another tenant's feed (like a
billboard or sign out near the front of the complex) without
installing yet another power service, or running a very long power
lead from their unit in the back. They can settle their portion of
the bill with the landlord monthly, or for small amounts just total it
up once a year.

(In your case, you might wire it with a cord and cap that matches
the existing welder receptacle, and another cord with a receptacle, so
your welder just plugs in. The meter needs to be mounted vertically,
so make a little portable stand for it.)

One note: if it's a 120/240V KWH meter as most are, you do have to
hook up 240V power to both sides, then you can hook up a 120V
receptacle to one side. If you just run 120V in and out on one side
and leave the other dead, you may not get an accurate reading.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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