Welding woes...frustrating!!

I just looked up my extension cord that I bought it's a 12 gauge 15 amp. I think my problem may be where I'm plugging it in at. I'm gonna have to get a outlet on a breaker by itself.
We never send out a 110v rental without a 10 gauge extension cord. The 12 gauge cord is not big enough to keep the voltage from dropping which is most likely why you are experiencing issues the longer you weld with it.
As for the 20 amp circuit, as long as you are not tripping the circuit breaker the plug you are using is sufficient.