(quoted from post at 17:01:15 05/05/22) Bret, to help make sense of it all you have to consider the inefficiencies and heat losses of the various
components. Once you take an INEFFICIENT small gasoline engine,,,,,,,, use it to drive an INEFFICIENT
generator, then use it to power an INEFFICIENT welder, which is a highly inductive transformer, add them
all up and you realize much of the power generated gets lost/converted to heat !!!!!!!!!
Contrast that to if you plug a welder, which is basically a transformer, direct into the utility, that's
ONLY ONE inefficiency, between the power plug and the weld.
A cheap built big box store genset which is LABELED at say 5000 Watts may or may NOT be capable of
producing that continuous !!!!!! It may represent more of a max short term rating in the real world. On
top of that a motor or a welder/transformer is a highly inductive load versus say a pure resistance
electric heater. A relevant formula regarding Watts and Power factor.....
Power Factor = Active Power (Watts) / Apparent Power (Volt Amps)
A pure resistive load such as an electric strip heater has a unity one PF yet an inductive load (such as
welder/transformer or motor) is less then one. BOTTOM LINE it takes a bigger generator to power a welder
or motor than an electric heater
Clear as mud Im sure lol but hope this helps
John T