Battery-Powered or Engine-driven? Evaluating Options for Field Welding

You can run marathon in steel-toe boots, but your time will suffer. Conversely, welding in running shoes is a recipe for pain, not to mention a safety violation. The point is that tools excel when used for their intended purpose. While an independent welding contractor, repair person, farmer or fleet manager may start with a simple rig for field repair, they reinvest profit in new equipment to expand their capabilities. Here’s where battery-powered welders such as the Renegade VOLT™ ES 200i fit into the mix compared to engine drives.

Defining the Job

For clarity, we need to differentiate between remote repair and light fabrication (a quick fix – perhaps 30 to 60 minutes of arc time) and a field fabrication projects that take hours, days or weeks. By remote, we mean off-the-grid situations where wall power isn’t available.

Quick remote welding jobs demands simplicity, which is where the Stick welding process shines. The logistics can amount to a handful of rods in your back pocket, your tool bucket, PPE and welding power source — and nothing speeds set-up faster than a battery welder. If a repair is to be done with a 3/32- or 1/8-in. electrode, a battery-powered welder should be considered. They weigh about 54 lbs. with batteries, everything can fit in regular car or utility vehicle, and you can hand carry everything to the work site. TIG adds a little more complexity, but a small “R” size argon cylinder is easily manageable. 

The question on everyone’s mind when it comes to battery welders is “How long does the battery last?” With fully charged 12 Ah batteries and set to an output of 80A, the Renegade VOLT provides the power to weld with up to 33 (E6013) electrodes or TIG weld for up to 45 minutes on a single charge in standard operating conditions (see video). Battery welders with a “hot-swappable” design enable swapping in fresh batteries in seconds so work can continue. 

However, the real question should be “What is the cost of lost productivity?” In a process industry, downtime is measured in thousands of dollars per hour (or even minutes). For a contractor, inoperable equipment can mean a blown production schedule, overtime and idle workers. For a mobile repair operator, getting more jobs done equates to more income at the end of the day. 

When a little downtime costs big money, battery welders provide a solid return on investment, especially when evaluated against the complex logistics of a welding generator (as we explain below). 

Generator Complexities

For remote welding, the only choice used to be a generator. Depending on the situation, this could be a gas-powered welding generator such as the Ruffian 150G EDW (150A Stick welding output at 60% duty cycle, 4.5 kW of generator power). Because small welding generators only weighs about 250 lbs., they can be manually lifted in and out of a truck. Industrial grade wheels make them easy to move around a job site, and they even fit into personnel hoists and elevators. 

Welding generators in this 150A/4.5 kW category have a retail price of around $2,500 (as of early 2024). The Ruffian uses the exact same award-winning inverter used in ESAB’s Rogue Stick/TIG welder, giving it excellent performance with all Stick electrode types. 

The Ruffian represents a newer class of lighter and more portable welding generators with a Stick output that is ideal for 

The next step up is a generator with 8 to 12 kW of generator power and 225 to 325A of welding power. These units weigh about 500 lbs. and retail for $5,000 - $7,500 or more. Diesel welding generators weigh half a ton or more and can cost $20,000 to $30,000. In addition, there are costs and logistics to consider beyond purchase price:

• Mobility: Does the welder require a work truck, trailer and/or crane?
• Logistics: Do you have a work truck, trailer or crane available?
• Proximity: How close to the work site can you get?
• Welding cables: How much cable will you need? A 100-ft. section 4/0 AWG welding cable weighs more than 80 lbs. and can cost $700 or more.
• Safety: Fewer cables mean fewer tripping hazards.
• Fuel: Do you need a hot work permit? What about fuel storage/safety regulations and logistics? 
• Fumes and noise: The noise and emissions of an generate may be incompatible with confined spaces or dense urban environments, where battery welders have no such issues.
• Maintenance: Generators require routine maintenance.

The upside of welding generators is that they are reliable workhorses with higher outputs (notably for carbon arc gouging). When a jobsite needs extended welding and generator power, they are the logical choice. When paired with a portable wire feeder such as the RobustFeed AVS or RobustFeed PRO, the larger gas and diesel models also offer MIG and fluxed cored welding capabilities for greater productivity. The RobustFeed U6 also offers gouging capabilities from the feeder, enable the use of the same cable set as used for welding.

Finally, remember that battery welders function just like a premium Stick/TIG welder when connected to 120V or 230V primary power, and they work great when connected to generator power (Renegade VOLT needs 2.7 kVA for 120V operation and 6.0 kVA for 230V operation). If an engine-driven welding generator with sufficient kVA becomes available, contractors can run the battery welder off generator power to create a two-arc welding station for even greater productivity. 

If you’d like to find out more, or locate a distributor, watch this video or visit our distributor locator page.