I have found a guy that refurbishes welders in Helena. I'm going to see what kinds of units he has and I will shoot for a miller wire feed, thats 220v. My house isn't wired with an extra 220 but I do have a gas generator that will power it.
As far as the house being wired for an extra 220, I have gotten around that. Do you have any 220 at all ??
I have used the clothes dryer outlet in my garage... check the AMP draw on the welder and see if the dryer circuit will hold it. Mine have never had any problems. I made a short pig-tail adaptor cord to conver the welder male to the same as the dryer female.
You can then make an appropriate gauge extension cord to get you where you can weld if you can't weld in the garage, provided the drop in current isn't too great over the lenght of your cord.
Running a generator every time you want to weld get's old...
K-808 I've gone down that road. My wife doesn't really appreciate a large black cable running through our living room. I don't think I'll mind the generator for a while but we are turning half of my shop into a master bed and bath (yes, all my buddies all think I'm crazy too) , so when the electrician comes I think I'll just have him wire in another 220 and run wires to the shop through the attic and walls.
K-808 I've gone down that road. My wife doesn't really appreciate a large black cable running through our living room. I don't think I'll mind the generator for a while but we are turning half of my shop into a master bed and bath (yes, all my buddies all think I'm crazy too) , so when the electrician comes I think I'll just have him wire in another 220 and run wires to the shop through the attic and walls.
Installing a 230v circuit is not that big of deal if the panel is not too far away.
I'd would get 2 230v circuits installed if you have space in the panel for 2 double pole breakers. This will allow you to run a 230v air compressor and/or cutting torch in the future.
