Rosie:
to answer part of your question, yes it will weld, but at reduced open circuit voltage and a marked reduction in current
the engine being a gasoline unit does not have a flat a torque curve as a diesel, so the hp falls off rather quickly however.
we can determine from its 10k AC generator section, that it has enough power to provide for approx 10kwatt of power
so i would expect that it will weld up to about 333 amps at 30 volts in theory, but likely it will be well below that
but i would think it would still do a couple of hundred amps anyway
not many folks have a need to go much over 150amps anyway, unless you are welding with some heavy rod on some really heavy plate.
with the twin, if it is an onan,, i doubt it would ever get up to 350amps anyway,,
most of the onan twins were put on 225amp machines and ran at full rpm to do that as well.
to do 350amps real well would require about 25 to 30hp in my opinion
i have a small miller 1E that is about 40 years old, it has a single cylinder kohler 12hp and does 160amps tops
it is a dual rpm setup 1800 for AC generation 3500watts, and 3600rpm for welding
it will weld at 1800 but at a dramatically reduced ampacity and lower open circuit voltage, which makes striking the arc
difficult.
i gotta ask,, what do you plan on welding that would require that much ampacity?
bob g
Thank you, Bob.
That sounds logical to me, just looking for an educated opinion. The machine is rated at 20 hp, some 46 amps @ 220 VAC @1800 RPM.
I'll just disable the 2300 RPM throttle adjustment, leaving the 1800 RPM setting. My "fix" will be reversable, so trying will lose nothing but some time.
Striking an arc, that is no real big problem for me, Daddy taught me how to weld by using his old rod stubs and with rod that had the coating damaged or missing.
It was a real treat when he let me use "new" rod.
I do not expect to do much welding at all. I have never welded at settings above 125 amps except when Daddy showed me how to run 3/16" E7028 in a flat position only. Seems like it was around 375 amps or so and the welded metal warped very badly if it were not welded or clamped in position.
My personal choice is 3/32" E7014 at around 75 amps - makes an extremely pretty weld. I use 3/32" (80 amps)or 1/8" (110 amps) E7018 for some "out of position"or E6010 for some "dirty metal" welding.
Rosie