plugging MIG into portable?

[bugdust]

I need to do some welding on a barge for a buddy of mine. There is no power available to it. He has a Miller Bobcat 225, a few years old. It's a 8000w generator. I will use it to weld some of the stuff I have to weld, but I want to use my Lincoln PowerMig 255 to weld as much as possible because I'm a better Mig welder than I am stick. I used to be alright with stick but haven't done much in about 10 years.

My questions are: Will the Bobcat run the Lincoln? I want to use it in welding the 1/4" & 3/8" plate to the I-beams and pontoons. I'll use the Bobcat to weld the I-beams to the pontoons. I haven't actually seen the barge yet so I'm just going off a phone conversationn as to what needs to be done. I don't know the draw of the Lincoln or the continuous power of the Miller. I figure maybe 6500 watts out of the Miller??? Any ideas on where to find the info? I'll try Lincoln & Miller's websites in a minute.

The Miller has a 4-prong receptacle and my Lincoln has a three prong plug. Can I change the plug or make an adapter cord or is there a reason I can't? I'm not real knowledgable about electricity (wrong field then, huh? ) but I did just buy the Miller Instructor series books but haven't had time to get through them yet.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[zapster]

could'nt tell ya...
but i'm sure someone will float by with the info in hand soon...

...zap!

[MAC702]

You need to make an adapting extension cord. You can make it as long as you like. You'll want at least #10 wire, 3-conductor (including ground) SOOW (or similar) cord. #8 will be better, but not necessary.

Use a NEMA 14-50P plug on one end of the extension cord (with the center neutral prong not wired or installed) and a NEMA 6-50R or C on the other end to plug in the MIG.

The generator will supply about 33 amps on that circuit, enough to power your welder at somewhere about 60% of maximum output, which should be sufficient for many jobs. You'll be able to do a lot, but be prepared to hit a limit that is still well under that machine's capability.

[bugdust]

Thanks. I was thinking 30' would be long enough because with the length of the welder and whip would put me anywhere on the barge easily. I figured it would work but thanks for the specifics.

*edit* Thanks again. That's pretty much what I was thinking, that it would work but not up to max.

[Dipper Welder64]

I have run a 850 hypertherm plasma on my bobcat.

[mcgirrt]

I did an experiment with my Ranger 10,000 and a Power Mig that I just bought. I used a 10 foot piece of #6 cable. The Mig would run, but I could never strike an arc. Even on low settings.

[chopper5]

if you got a 225 bobcat why not just stick weld it?

[DDA52]

Or get a VS feeder and run some dual shield? or regular F/C??

[bugdust]

Originally Posted by chopper5

if you got a 225 bobcat why not just stick weld it?

Like I said in my first post, I'm a little rusty with stick. But the main reason is because there is a lot of smaller welds on 1/4" plate that would go much faster with the mig. I'm going to have very limited time to get this done once I start on it later this month, basically part of about 4-5 weekends. I may end up having the owner of the bobcat and the barge (same guy) just buy a wire feeder for the bobcat.