003a vs the 'buzz box' welder...

[Polycop]

As the only power I have at the barn is my 003a, one of my buddies brought over his buzz box, some rods and some scrap metal to try welding with the 003a. Contrary to what some of the manufacturers say, it worked just fine.

Even with the welder set on 180 amps with a pretty good sized rod, the load meter never went above 50%. It's worth noting that it did creep up to 60% with the welder set at 110 amps (can't figure that out) and a smaller rod. With my Hardy Diesel meter plugged into the wall socket, the Hzs and volts didn't hardly change (2-3) and the 003a barely grunted.

All being said, I'm going to get a buzz box and weld away with the 003a...

 

[Carl_in_NH]

Should work just fine - I've used mine with my little 210A MIG welder without difficulty.

The MEP 003A is plenty robust to feed a welder.

You may not be able to trust what the load meter says because it doesn't respond quickly and indicate peak load - only an average due to its mechanical mass. The arc has to be very stable for the meter to work even reasonably well. An electronic load meter would be better suited for peak readings of power in this application.

 

[Stonepicker1]

I love my MEP003, it has powered up my house a few times(longest being 11 days) here in south Florida.
I have a Miller SRH-444, 3 phase welder that I run off the generator, it does grunt but works great.
You shouldn't have any problems running your buzz box.

 

[m16ty]

I might have to look into getting one if it will run a welder. I honestly didn't think it would. I've been looking at a portable gas welder but I've already got a spare buzz box so buying a 003 should be alot cheaper than the civilain package setup.

I do have a Lincoln 300/300 tig welder I don't think it would run though. That thing draws 100+ amps of 220v wide open. It will make the elecrtic meter spin so fast you'll think the metal disc is going to fly out of the meter.