CIG Transarc Tradesman 230 amp

[Steve-F Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve-F]

Hi Fella's,
I have an old CIG Transarc Tradesman 230 amp stick welder that trips the 15 amp circuit breaker on a 240 vlt supply. I checked the current draw and it was 30 amps. The welder seems to weld fine until the circuit breaker trips. The previous owner had the same trouble. I was wondering if the welder may be wired incorrectly for 240 vlt and may be possibly wired for 480vlt single phase?. I'm not sure if this welder is a duel voltage type as there is no wiring details at the power connections . I can provide some more details of the wiring connections as it stands now if some one needs them to help me with the problem.

Steve

[DrIQ Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DrIQ]

Steve,

If this is a transformer type welder you are going to need to step up to a 50 amp service. In checking the Cigweld web site the Transarc 170 list a 15 amp input cable but under power requirements it list 8.5 KVA which is roughly 36 amps at max rated output. I did not find the 230 listed.

[Don52 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don52]

I have a 40 year old Miller Thunderbolt 230 volt 225 amp A/C welder. The recommended breaker size is 90 amp. If I had spent extra bucks, I could have purchased the model with power factor correction. This model adds capacitors to correct the power factor and allow the use of a smaller breakers and input wire size. I used a 60 amp breaker and have used 5/32" rods all the time. If I used a 3/16" rod I can only weld about 4 inches before tripping the breaker. As stated in the previous post I think that you need a larger breaker.

[Steve-F Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve-F]

Thanks for the Quick relpies,
From your replies I gather that this welder is way to big to be wired to a normal household 15amp 240 vlt and should never have been. The wiring at the supply will need to be checked out before I could draw 50 amps, I not sure If I would be allowed to draw 50amps from the 240vlt supply, If I can get it wired up for a 480vlt supply (which I have) this should halve the current draw at the fuse box. Would I be correct?
The good thing is it now appears that the welder may be ok. Thanks for the comments

Steve

[Don52 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don52]

If you want to use 5/32" rods with your welder, I'd like to see:
60 amps at 230 volts or 30 amps at 480 volts.