Hook the welder to a circuit in the house that only it is on. Then connect a clamp on Amp meter that can measure peak. Strike up an arc with the welder and you should measure that initial current rush. With a little Ohms Law you should be able to properly size the inverter surge value.
On your battery bank, my RV has a couple of basic "rv/marine" 12v batteries in parallel and it has the leads to the RV set so the NEG is from one battery and the POS is from the other battery. Maybe that will help spread your 4 Li batt power if you split the output cables to your inverter too?
Good video One suggestion for making the batteries last longer and not hurt them. Longer life Split the ends of the charging and the load ends up. Meaning positive end of both charger and load on one end of the 4 bank cells and the negative end of both of the opposite end. By doing this you will both discharge and charge the entire 4 bank equity. The way you have it. You will be putting both a charge on the one battery more the the rest as well as discharging the opposite end one more than the other ones in the set. Should be equally balanced to have the longest life out of any battery in a group like you have. Just my two cents and experience. Happy New Year and God Bless You and Your Family. John and Cathy Niagara Falls Ontario Canada
Those 20ah batteries are probably limited to providing 20 amps. Optimally the 4 in parallel could do 80 amps but parallel connections are seldom optimal. 80 amps at 12 volts is just under 1000 watts. Maybe a bit more surge depending on the BMS. Also in when paralleling batteries, charge and discharge diagonally. Ideally you want the length of wire from the charger or load to be the same to each battery. With two in parallel a simple diagonal does that. With 3 or 4 or more it gets more complicated, but in all cases a diagonal is better than from one end.
I'm watching this 10 months after you posted it, so you may have learned these things already, but here goes. 1) Your welder operates from a 120 volt ac 20 amp circuit. 2)Your inverter, no matter its quality, is going to waste energy. 3) If the inverter WAS 100% efficient, and it isn't, to get 20 amps from the AC side of your inverter you must deliver 200 amps from the battery. 4) Your battery bank can only deliver 80 amps, based on what I read on the side of the batteries. 5) Even if you were using a larger battery bank that COULD provide 200 amps to the inverter, your wires between batteries and the wires from the battery to the inverter are miserably undersized. 200 amps, and remember, you could require as much as 240 amps, depending on how hot you run the welder and how inefficient your inverter is, requires a 3/0 AWG multi-stranded, pure copper cable with properly attached ring terminals. Think very high quality welder lead cables. 6) That tiny maintenance charger is going to take a long time to recharge your battery bank at 2 amps and will take a lifetime to recharge the battery that you are going to end up having to use to get this system to work. What you're trying to do WILL work, but you need a single battery in the 200 amp/hour range to eliminate the wiring between batteries, then you need the 3/0 awg cables from the batteries to a good efficient pure sine wave inverter that can provide about 2500 watts continuous power, with a healthy surge capacity as well. It will be expensive, but you can cheap out some by using a couple of 100 amp/hour lead acid deep cycle batteries in parallel, provided that you realize that they require more maintenance and won't last like LiFePO4 batteries would or run the welder for as long of a welding session before needing to be recharged. I think most of your issues are with the size of your battery bank and the wiring to the inverter. That inverter may actually work with enough and properly wired batteries. No inverter will work with the batteries you're using, with the wires that you have. Sorry, just the way it is. Battery first, then invest in a new inverter if that doesn't work. Don't use the capacitor. Think about using your solar panels to do the recharging, especially in the field. They will put out much more current than that trickle charger. BTW, forget using TIG outdoors, if there is any wind at all. It will just blow your shielding gas away. That's why they invented MIG. Stick welding is the way to go if you know how. Hope this was of some help.
As others have suggested connecting the positive to one end and the negative to the other end of your battery bank will discharge the batteries more evenly. Coms guys do this with off grid Radio power banks
Alumna Acres got Grid Down Readout System . It is something Lions Energy and Grid Down worked together on. He is able to weld with it as it deals with pour surges amongst other things .
Hey man I got some info that will help u out. My cousin and myself ran a stick welder off of a 2750 watt inverter and it welded fine. Had a simular issue you had and decided to attach the inverter directly to the battery in the dodge cummins gen 2 pickup. What we used to connect the power inverter to the truck battery was 2 old welding leads which was able to keep the 2750 power inverter from kicking off. The wire length and size will make an insane difference on operating the system. Try installing larger power wires from batteries to welder sir. I think that will fix your issue
i have a harbor freight 5000 watt continuous 10000 peak modified inverter in my semi with four large truck batteries, and even with the truck running my welder unlike yours, will come on but will shut the inverter down once my mig welder tries to start to weld. that said i am using #2/0 copper wire to the inverter. and 175 amp alternator.
So im about a minute in, so i dont know if this is going to work or not, but I am already thinking about an old chrysler alternator converted, or the store bought version known as a premier power welder. Think this setup on the Kubota PTO or an old lawnmower engine would give you far more bang for your buck. Also if you are doing mig and tig, where do you keep your gas bottle?
So welding is the art of melting metal with the heat created by shorting out electricity. Keep in mind that you are trying to build something with high end inverters and batteries that don't like electrical shorts. You're also using a lot of energy converting AC to DC and then back to AC again. The technology to achieve this is definitely out there, but it is going to be cost prohibitive. I'm thinking the technology to do what you're trying to do will be bigger better and cheaper in 4-6 years. 110v welders aren't really that great to start with. I'd imagine that they're a lot less great when the battery voltage gets low. Welders use a lot of power, that voltage has got to get low pretty quickly.
Your battery bank is way to small. Each battery can only supply 20amp as shown on the label. 12.8 x 80amps =1024 watts. If you want an 3000 watt inverter ypu need 235 amp hours of battery bank 3000 / 12.8 = 235amps.
This comment is correct on one hand, your battery bank cannot supply enough current for 3000W of power. The second part isn’t correct though, amp hours has nothing to do with how much current can flow from the bank but rather how much is stored in the bank. A lot of LiFePO batteries have continuous supply numbers similar to the amp hour rating but not all.
inventors is that to hard to invent a simple, cheap battery bank to be conected to electricity all the time when we are using the battery bank to weld, meanwhile we weld, so we never be out of charge and the welding machine will be in operation all day! with out to be connect direct to my howse and aboid burn the breaker!
You have good quality brand welders on US. Why do you use that Chinese garbage brands ????? You must be proud of the brands that you have up there. Even here in Mexico I prefer use a Lincoln brand instead of a Chinese Vevor one.
Hook the welder to a circuit in the house that only it is on. Then connect a clamp on Amp meter that can measure peak. Strike up an arc with the welder and you should measure that initial current rush. With a little Ohms Law you should be able to properly size the inverter surge value.
Great upcycle/re-purpose of something you already have 😊
On your battery bank, my RV has a couple of basic "rv/marine" 12v batteries in parallel and it has the leads to the RV set so the NEG is from one battery and the POS is from the other battery. Maybe that will help spread your 4 Li batt power if you split the output cables to your inverter too?
Good video
One suggestion for making the batteries last longer and not hurt them. Longer life
Split the ends of the charging and the load ends up.
Meaning positive end of both charger and load on one end of the 4 bank cells and the negative end of both of the opposite end.
By doing this you will both discharge and charge the entire 4 bank equity.
The way you have it. You will be putting both a charge on the one battery more the the rest as well as discharging the opposite end one more than the other ones in the set.
Should be equally balanced to have the longest life out of any battery in a group like you have.
Just my two cents and experience.
Happy New Year and God Bless You and Your Family.
John and Cathy
Niagara Falls
Ontario Canada
If the battery's bms has a max Amp draw, splitting the positive to the other battery will draw the amps more consistently across all 4 batteries.
@@terryjohnson3100
That’s what I said.
Those 20ah batteries are probably limited to providing 20 amps. Optimally the 4 in parallel could do 80 amps but parallel connections are seldom optimal. 80 amps at 12 volts is just under 1000 watts. Maybe a bit more surge depending on the BMS.
Also in when paralleling batteries, charge and discharge diagonally. Ideally you want the length of wire from the charger or load to be the same to each battery. With two in parallel a simple diagonal does that. With 3 or 4 or more it gets more complicated, but in all cases a diagonal is better than from one end.
I'm watching this 10 months after you posted it, so you may have learned these things already, but here goes. 1) Your welder operates from a 120 volt ac 20 amp circuit. 2)Your inverter, no matter its quality, is going to waste energy. 3) If the inverter WAS 100% efficient, and it isn't, to get 20 amps from the AC side of your inverter you must deliver 200 amps from the battery. 4) Your battery bank can only deliver 80 amps, based on what I read on the side of the batteries. 5) Even if you were using a larger battery bank that COULD provide 200 amps to the inverter, your wires between batteries and the wires from the battery to the inverter are miserably undersized. 200 amps, and remember, you could require as much as 240 amps, depending on how hot you run the welder and how inefficient your inverter is, requires a 3/0 AWG multi-stranded, pure copper cable with properly attached ring terminals. Think very high quality welder lead cables. 6) That tiny maintenance charger is going to take a long time to recharge your battery bank at 2 amps and will take a lifetime to recharge the battery that you are going to end up having to use to get this system to work.
What you're trying to do WILL work, but you need a single battery in the 200 amp/hour range to eliminate the wiring between batteries, then you need the 3/0 awg cables from the batteries to a good efficient pure sine wave inverter that can provide about 2500 watts continuous power, with a healthy surge capacity as well. It will be expensive, but you can cheap out some by using a couple of 100 amp/hour lead acid deep cycle batteries in parallel, provided that you realize that they require more maintenance and won't last like LiFePO4 batteries would or run the welder for as long of a welding session before needing to be recharged.
I think most of your issues are with the size of your battery bank and the wiring to the inverter. That inverter may actually work with enough and properly wired batteries. No inverter will work with the batteries you're using, with the wires that you have. Sorry, just the way it is. Battery first, then invest in a new inverter if that doesn't work. Don't use the capacitor. Think about using your solar panels to do the recharging, especially in the field. They will put out much more current than that trickle charger. BTW, forget using TIG outdoors, if there is any wind at all. It will just blow your shielding gas away. That's why they invented MIG. Stick welding is the way to go if you know how.
Hope this was of some help.
Great video. Love that you are willing to MacGyver on video.
As others have suggested connecting the positive to one end and the negative to the other end of your battery bank will discharge the batteries more evenly. Coms guys do this with off grid Radio power banks
or short equal lenght cables to a busbar and then to the inverter again short and beefy..
5kw run inverter with 10kw burst maybe but barely on low weld setting know from experience
Alumna Acres got Grid Down Readout System . It is something Lions Energy and Grid Down worked together on. He is able to weld with it as it deals with pour surges amongst other things .
I don't know if it will cause any problems but in the EU we have 50Hz ac instead of your 60Hz so watch out for that if you want an 230v inverter.
Hey man I got some info that will help u out. My cousin and myself ran a stick welder off of a 2750 watt inverter and it welded fine. Had a simular issue you had and decided to attach the inverter directly to the battery in the dodge cummins gen 2 pickup. What we used to connect the power inverter to the truck battery was 2 old welding leads which was able to keep the 2750 power inverter from kicking off. The wire length and size will make an insane difference on operating the system. Try installing larger power wires from batteries to welder sir. I think that will fix your issue
Low frequency inverter toroidal type....it can power it up.... zamdon 3kw.... cost 400$
i have a harbor freight 5000 watt continuous 10000 peak modified inverter in my semi with four large truck batteries, and even with the truck running my welder unlike yours, will come on but will shut the inverter down once my mig welder tries to start to weld. that said i am using #2/0 copper wire to the inverter. and 175 amp alternator.
For that welder, u will need 7000 watt continue. inverter. 24v 290amp battery bank...!!!
So im about a minute in, so i dont know if this is going to work or not, but I am already thinking about an old chrysler alternator converted, or the store bought version known as a premier power welder. Think this setup on the Kubota PTO or an old lawnmower engine would give you far more bang for your buck.
Also if you are doing mig and tig, where do you keep your gas bottle?
So welding is the art of melting metal with the heat created by shorting out electricity.
Keep in mind that you are trying to build something with high end inverters and batteries that don't like electrical shorts. You're also using a lot of energy converting AC to DC and then back to AC again. The technology to achieve this is definitely out there, but it is going to be cost prohibitive. I'm thinking the technology to do what you're trying to do will be bigger better and cheaper in 4-6 years.
110v welders aren't really that great to start with. I'd imagine that they're a lot less great when the battery voltage gets low. Welders use a lot of power, that voltage has got to get low pretty quickly.
The Milwaukee battery pack can run it
Your battery bank is way to small. Each battery can only supply 20amp as shown on the label. 12.8 x 80amps =1024 watts. If you want an 3000 watt inverter ypu need 235 amp hours of battery bank 3000 / 12.8 = 235amps.
This comment is correct on one hand, your battery bank cannot supply enough current for 3000W of power.
The second part isn’t correct though, amp hours has nothing to do with how much current can flow from the bank but rather how much is stored in the bank. A lot of LiFePO batteries have continuous supply numbers similar to the amp hour rating but not all.
@@WizDJ Most Lifepo4 batteries are only rated for a 1C discharge rate. That is why I said he needs a 235amp battery bank at a minimum.
inventors is that to hard to invent a simple, cheap battery bank to be conected to electricity all the time when we are using the battery bank to weld, meanwhile we weld, so we never be out of charge and the welding machine will be in operation all day! with out to be connect direct to my howse and aboid burn the breaker!
You need bigger batteries and a pure sine wave inverter... modified sinewave will not work. (expierience talking here.)
audio ?
Seems to be ok on my end, was it bad for you?
okay on my end
Ok on my end
Ontario Canada
now ok will watch tomorrow gn
No more Bible verses?
So a video showing a failure instead of showing it working. Waste of the internet.
You have good quality brand welders on US. Why do you use that Chinese garbage brands ????? You must be proud of the brands that you have up there. Even here in Mexico I prefer use a Lincoln brand instead of a Chinese Vevor one.