Off grid garage with a welder (120v Lincoln Weld-PAc 100) and garage door opener

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  • kenora
    Junior Member
    • May 2014
    • 2

    #1

    Off grid garage with a welder (120v Lincoln Weld-PAc 100) and garage door opener

    I have a detached garage about 100 ft away from my house in NW Ontario Canada. I currently have an extension cord (12g) running to it to power my lights (10 of 6 watt LED bulbs) and a garage door opener.

    I also have a 100 watt Coleman solar panel and a dual battery charge controller (10 amp PWM from fleabay and China). I use one battery output to keep a plow truck battery charged year round...I would like to find out if its feasible to...

    1- periodically (every two weeks for 10 minutes) use the welder (can't be more than 1500 watts as its 120v)
    2- power the garage door opener (??? watts Chamberlin DC motor with battery backup)
    3- run the lights (60 watts)

    without adding a generator.

    I assume I would need a battery bank fed from one of the CC outputs of sufficient capacity to run a invertor constantly to feed the door opener and supply the welder.

    Is this a pipe dream or should I buy a small generator to use when welding?
  • inetdog
    Super Moderator
    • May 2012
    • 9909

    #2
    Originally posted by kenora
    Is this a pipe dream or should I buy a small generator to use when welding?
    Both. It is a pipe dream and you should buy a generator.

    More seriously and in more depth, an inexpensive (Modified Square Wave) inverter will not play well with your inverter, and even a Pure Sine Wave inverter will have problems delivering the necessary reactive power and starting surges for a welder.
    There is enough energy in a single 12V battery to weld for a short time, but getting it effectively to the welder will be a problem.
    For 1500-2000 watts, a 12V system is really not the safest or most practical way to go. You should plan on 24V minimum.
    To run lights (particularly fluorescent and LED) you want a small inverter which does not consume as much power with no load compared to a larger inverter.
    If you need to power the opener receiver continuously 24/7 for wireless operation it may take more power than the panels produce just for that.
    SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

    Comment

    • Sunking
      Solar Fanatic
      • Feb 2010
      • 23301

      #3
      Originally posted by kenora
      Is this a pipe dream or should I buy a small generator to use when welding?
      Give up, not going to happen or work if you tried unless you are willing and foolish enough to spend 5 digit$.

      Learn how to weld with a battery charged up at home using AC power.
      MSEE, PE

      Comment

      • foo1bar
        Solar Fanatic
        • Aug 2014
        • 1833

        #4
        Originally posted by kenora
        I would like to find out if its feasible to...

        1- periodically (every two weeks for 10 minutes) use the welder (can't be more than 1500 watts as its 120v)
        2- power the garage door opener (??? watts Chamberlin DC motor with battery backup)
        3- run the lights (60 watts)

        without adding a generator.

        I assume I would need a battery bank fed from one of the CC outputs of sufficient capacity to run a invertor constantly to feed the door opener and supply the welder.

        Is this a pipe dream or should I buy a small generator to use when welding?
        The most economical solution is to dig the 100', 12"-24" deep trench from your house to the garage and put in a permanent power line.

        For under $500 you can even rent a small backhoe... Or a ditch-witch. Having the utility lines located for you should be free. (every state I know of they'll do that for free and it's a basic requirement when you're digging)

        Figure a few hundred for the electrician (varies greatly depending on where you live), and you're done. And you've added some value to your property.


        And I'd probably make sure to put some nice big wires in that trench - or at least make it easy to pull larger wires with big conduits. Because the last thing you want is to realize 2 years later that you should have done bigger wire because you want to now have a welder that can do higher duty cycle and/or thicker welds which take more power. Or you want to put in an EV charger (or your prospective buyer when you're selling wants to do that)

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