Portable welders?

[Tim Good]

Does anyone carry a portable welder on their boat? My generate is rated at 6KW so recon I could carry a small unit. I've never done any welding before so happy to take advice. Ideally would like to be able to do both stainless and aluminium ?

 

[Heckler]

Does anyone carry a portable welder on their boat? My generate is rated at 6KW so recon I could carry a small unit. I've never done any welding before so happy to take advice. Ideally would like to be able to do both stainless and aluminium ?

Stick welding aluminium and stainless? As an amateur forget it, especially the aluminium job you have just been doing. TIG is the only way to go and as good as I used to be at stick and oxy acetylene I wouldnt try to do what you just needed doing.
Stu

 

[vyv_cox]

I agree totally with Stu. I can gas weld and arc weld carbon steel reasonably well, and arc welding stainless is more difficult although possible. But my efforts with a cheap TIG welder on stainless are far from great and I would not even attempt aluminium.

 

[PCUK]

Apart from that I don't think a standard generator would work with arc.

 

[DinghyMan]

Apart from that I don't think a standard generator would work with arc.

Generators will cope with arc & tig - depending on the quality of the welder bought and the generator; e.g. "Generator Friendly - Generator must be minimum of 5KVA 240V and fitted with AVR (auto voltage regulation)" for tig http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/tig-welder-240v-ac-dc-160amp/
and "Generator friendly - 6KVA Recommended" for arc http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/arc-welder-r-tech-pro-arc135/

Portable arc welding using cheap generators and cheap arc welders has been around a good while. The cheap generators dont tend to last for ages but for site welding are OK - bit different to welding on a boat though.

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

6KVA generator can run an inverter welder but: Only a tiny one. Probably too tiny to be much use on a boat.
The big problem with separate welder/ gen set is that the load goes from nowt to a bit over full in a gnats. The genny (that is not meant for this load) will just barf and stall.
Portable welding sets are designed to cope and accept such a sudden load.

 

[penberth3]

Does anyone carry a portable welder on their boat? My generate is rated at 6KW so recon I could carry a small unit. I've never done any welding before so happy to take advice. Ideally would like to be able to do both stainless and aluminium ?

So you've never done welding before. Why are you even thinking about doing it on a boat?

 

[steadyeddy]

Be careful when running a cheap inverter from a genny they tend to blow components on the pcb,dont ask how i know

 

[James Marinero]

I carry a Clarke MIG unit (now 10 years old) and an inverter unit which I bought 4 years ago in Malta. My genny is 7.5 kva (I went big so's I could run a MIG welder). I've stopped using the MIG (heavy and fiddly on a boat and I have to carry a lot of spares such as shields, feed liners etc) and use the inverter unit for both carbon steel and stainless, stick welding. Stainless stick welding results are passable for my purposes (including welding a rudder quadrant at sea). I've done hundreds of hours with carbon steel and the inverter unit in the last 4 years. I've had no voltage stabilisation issues with either unit.

I'll keep away from aluminium - there is a huge learning curve and you need to be doing it regularly to keep your hand in.

The Italian inverter welder unit (13A) is a fantastic bit of kit - I wish I'd bought one years ago (and I could have installed a smaller, lighter genny). TIG and MIG both require gas, CO2, and argon (for s/s). Stick to sticks is my advice - and invest in a good automatic welding mask (again, wish I'd bought one years ago) and a set of clamps. Oh, and long gauntlets.

 

[Helgi]

Hi! My Machine (stahlwerk-schweissexperten.com) is just not welding right, shows amperage/voltage at idle. Remote/panel amperage control seem to both do the same, sometimes goes down to a few amps sometimes won't go down below 60 or so. The other day ark wouldn't shut off when releasing peddle, later started working. The longer it's on the displayed amperage seems to go lower when checking preset. Welds on steel/aluminum are dirty looking and just don't seem right, peddle doesn't seem to control amperage, just seems to come on and stay where it wants. What's y'all thoughts?

 

[Laminar Flow]

Stick welding stainless steel is really not that difficult and on my old boat I used to carry a small inverter( though they were quite heavy back then). The boat had a 6kw diesel generator.
When our goose neck failed mid Atlantic I simply welded up a new one on the spot. Twenty years later the modified goose neck was still on the boat doing it's proper duty.
I have also used a 8kw gas Honda to successfully weld in new SS chain plates on a steel boat.

In this context I have never understood folk who head out with just a screwdriver in the cutlery drawer as a toolkit.

 

[Rappey]

There are cordless/ battery welders around nowadays!

 

[prv]

What's y'all thoughts?

That you should probably ask on a welding forum rather than a sailing one?

Pete

 

[GHA]

Stick welding stainless steel is really not that difficult and on my old boat I used to carry a small inverter( though they were quite heavy back then). The boat had a 6kw diesel generator.
When our goose neck failed mid Atlantic I simply welded up a new one on the spot. Twenty years later the modified goose neck was still on the boat doing it's proper duty.
I have also used a 8kw gas Honda to successfully weld in new SS chain plates on a steel boat.

In this context I have never understood folk who head out with just a screwdriver in the cutlery drawer as a toolkit.

Should be high up the list for any long distance cruising boat. Get some stainless rod & flat & rods then dream up a hundred and one additions for the boat on the next few weeks on passage then make a few of them

 

[Laminar Flow]

Should be high up the list for any long distance cruising boat. Get some stainless rod & flat & rods then dream up a hundred and one additions for the boat on the next few weeks on passage then make a few of them

Just to note, starting a fire onboard, mid-ocean, is not recommended practice and all suitable precautions should be taken.

 

[prv]

I think the idea was to do the dreaming-up while on passage, and then the fabrication while at anchor.

Pete

 

[TernVI]

If you've got a nice looking boat, you don't want anyone with a welder within 100 yards of it.
Welding and grinding and disputes over rust spots are a sore point in many a dock or boatyard.

I have seen the little inverter welders powered by a car battery, awesome bits of kit.
Modern welder inverters are controlled current so easier to use than the old buzz box.

Tacking a fitting to a deck on a steel boat is low tech, highly loaded bits of stainless need to be welded by skilled blokes or robots, in lab conditions.

 

[Graham376]

Should be high up the list for any long distance cruising boat. Get some stainless rod & flat & rods then dream up a hundred and one additions for the boat on the next few weeks on passage then make a few of them

But your boat is steel, you can weld bits on anywhere , much more limited use on grp. I did have an inverter stick/tig on board but sold it off. I weld so infrequently these days it's usually very untidy.

 

[LadyInBed]

I am going to have a go at some light weight welding / brazing at home using a 12v battery and a carbon rod from a AA battery. Not for any necessity, just for curiosity.

 

[John the kiwi]

My apprenticeship included gas welding, Manual arc(stick), Mig, tig, bronze welding etc.
I trained to certification level on stick welding and did a lot of stainless tig welding and a lot of mig.

I wouldn't take a welder to my boat if i could possibly take the job ashore. Welding inevitably is accompanied by cutting and grinding and all three produce spatter that can wreck adjacent surfaces, destroy insulation on electrics, put holes in sails and generally acknowledged as being a good way to start accidental fires.
Lots of engineering shops have a welding bay separate to everything else.

OTOH Being able to weld various things is great. Go to night classes and learn how and then you will be better equipped to decide.