Invertec V350 ?

[David R]

I am thinking....OK, going to buy a v350. My only question is how much does it draw when gouging with a 3/16 carbon. I have a demand meter and the instructions say to put it on 425 amps to gouge. It will then use what it needs. One second of 425 amps would kill my electric bill for the month. I am going to use it on single phase 230v. With the advanced panel you can set the gouge amps. I usually use 220 amps.

Anybody know?

David

[weldersales]

Check with your power company. I believe your meter, if it is a 'demand' meter, has a 15 minute timer that records continuously and then resets at the end of the 15 minute period. During the recording period, the 'demand' timer averages total current draw and the only thing that is remembered is the average and only the highest is kept as your 'demand' for that month. So a few seconds will have little effect, but several minutes will since it will raise your average especially if you are using heavy draw at peak time - likely in the daytime. The real killer is that the demand figure will raise your bill for six months after the 'sin' if your provider is the same configuration as we have here in Texas. Obviously it is to your advantage to do heavy welding/gouging in the evening if that can be arranged. weldersales
BTW, those Lincoln V350 Pro's can be had for 2000 to 2400 in our area if that is of any interest to you.

[David R]

I totally understand the demand meter. The v350 has an ampmeter when it is running, I want to know if anybody uses one with a 3/16 carbon gouge and how much the meter on the machine reads. I might just put it on a 50 or 60 amp breaker to see what it does. My Wirematic 250 gives a power factor of 2.6 which is kind of cool. My TA 185 won't even take it up to that. I can buy the V350 with the fancy dashboard, but it costs a lot more. If I get that, I can set the max gouge current. I only use about 220 amps on my Ranger 250 to do what I need.

Thanks for the only response

David

[David R]

Weldersales,

I did call the power company. They told me if I have less than a 5 Kw demand for a year, they will take out the Demand Meter. Its only been 2.4Kw for the last 10 months, so If I use my head for another 2 months, I can get rid of it.

I emailed Lincoln and asked the same question. The response was "sure you can turn it down to gouge.

David

[chopper5]

the power in put and power out put are to different things
just because it's putting out 425 amps don't mean it's pulling 425 amps

[David R]

the power in put and power out put are to different things
just because it's putting out 425 amps don't mean it's pulling 425 amps

Daym, I hope not. It "Pulls" 85 or so amps single phase at max output. I pay $8.85 per KW. At 220 v, That would come to 18 KW. This would add $159 to my monthly electric bill. This does NOT count usage. Plan A, ditch the demand meter. I can't afford the invertec 350 for a couple of months anyhow.

I did find another LN-25 reasonable, so I will have a nice wire feed to go with it. One on the truck and one in the shop.

David

[David R]

BTW, those Lincoln V350 Pro's can be had for 2000 to 2400 in our area if that is of any interest to you.

PM sent

David