Message for glennster

Let us know what you find out about the controls on that Hanson welder if you get a manual or find out some other way. Just curious.

All the best, Stan

Have you ever used wire feed above 300 amps or so? It's quite an experience if you're not used to it. There are four Miller multi-function welders set up for dual-shield at the community college welding shop. They can put out 600 amps, more of less. I've used one at its max setting, just to see what it was like. You have to remember to turn your auto-darkening helmet to a higher setting, and be wearing plenty of protection from the heat. I did those things, but within five minutes my gloves were smoking and my Harbor Freight helmet started flickering. (It will also do that at lower heat settings if you get real close and stay there for awhile.)

Once you've got enough top end so that you've got a high duty cycle at 200 or 250 amps, you shouldn't need much more unless you decide to start repairing mining equipment, or something similar.

All the best, Stan

That's mind-boggling stuff. I'd love to get a chance to see some of that kind of work being done.

I wasn't trying to tell glennster that nobody has any use for more than 250 amps with a wire feed welder, only that most of what a person would expect to need a welder for on a farm could be handled at that level or less. It was my roundabout way of saying that there are probably a lot of ways a person's time could be better spent than to go to the trouble of getting a 3-phase 400 amp welder operational for general purpose repair---as much fun as that might be.

All the best, Stan