Hobart expands welder generator line

Diesel Progress North American Edition, August, 2004

Hobart Welders, a subsidiary of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW), has launched the Champion 4500 welder generator for homeowners, farmers, ranchers and contractors. The new unit provides 4 kW of continuous Vac power and 140 amps of Vac stick welding for light maintenance repair and fabrication welding.

"The Champion 450 comes in real handy during a power outage when you have to keep your appliances running until power is restored," said Doug Dorn, business manager at the Appleton, Wis.-based company. "If you need to go out in the field, you can throw it in the back of your pickup truck and work at a remote location."

Weighing in at 190 lb., the gen-set is powered by a 305 cc, single-cylinder, four-cycle, OHV air-cooled Briggs & Stratton Intek gasoline engine rated 8 hp at 3600 rpm. The engine has a recoil start and drives a Hobart wound generator for 4.5 kW peak and 4 kW continuous single phase power to supply hand tools, grinders, lights, battery chargers or operate as backup power source.

For welding, the Champion 4500 delivers 60 to 140 amps. The welder was designed to run electrodes up to 1/8 in. diameters with enough amperage to weld metals 1/4 in. thick. According to Hobart, the welder is compatible with any type of stick electrodes as long as it has a Vac designator. Duty cycle on the unit is 30% at 140 amps, 60% at 110 amps and 100% at 90 amps.

The unit's control panel features an engine switch to control the ignition circuit, choke control, receptacle circuit breaker and amperage control setting to determine the correct electrode size. "It's a real simple, straightforward machine that performs its tasks very well and with a great deal of reliability," said Dorn.

Constructed with a tubular built-in frame, dimensions of the welder generator are 20.75 in. high x 22.75 m. wide x 31.25 in. deep. The unit is featured with two 20 amp, 120 Vac and two 20 amp, 240 Vac receptacles, a 10 ft. electrode cable with holder and a 10 ft. work cable with clamp. Fuel tank capacity is 1 gal.

The Champion 4500 welder generator is manufactured by ITW under its Hobart brand. The wholly owned subsidiary also produces a line of industrial-grade stick, MIG, TIG and spot welders, plasma cutters and generator/welding power sources.

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