Thanks for everyones input on welder options, I am going with the 180 amp model. My buddy that does electrical work told me he would wire a 220 outlet in my garage. I plan to keep it about 4 feet from the box and since my garage is 25ft long I plan to make a 35ft cord. I am making my own 220 extension cord and he suggest I get 10/3, I just wanted others opinions before I go to Lowes and buy the cord.
Thanks in Advance
why not just get your electrician to make it up for you. He probably gets the cord cheaper than you would at lowes.
Although he is a certified electrician he is no longer in the business. He is just doing the outlet for me as a favor. He told me to go to Lowes and get the 10/3, although I did find an electrical place locally that sells it for .69 a ft compared to Lowes
$1.24 a ft..................................
That cord will work just fine, listen to your man. Yes, the jobber can usually beat Lowes and HD on electrical parts except for 1 thing. They cant beat them on Romex as they buy so much of it and sell near cost figuring you will buy the rest of your wiring supplies there too. One other thing, at that price there isnt going to be much difference between the 10 and a 12. That machine will run from a 12 also, but I like 10 as there certainly wont be any voltage drop. Although I am not intimately familiar with Clark welders I would read the manual that comes with it. I would almost bet it will be limited to a 20A breaker. If it has its own internal thermal protection then its not such an issue about plugging it in to heavier circuits. When there is no thermal it is more sensitive about breaker size as the breaker provides the overcurrent protection for the machine and not merely for short circuit interuption. I am not real nuts about some of the small stick machines that allow a 50A breaker on a number 12 wire that dont have thermal. Let us know what the manual says about minimum allowable wire size if you would please.
Thanks for the input. I will give you more details as soon as I get my welder. I am just learning to weld, so this Clarke will be fine for me, it has the 10/2 warranty and the tech guy answerd the 5 times I have called the 800#. It is not one of the big 3's, but for around $300.00 it will be a good learning machine for me.
Here is a few specs if this helps
Weight: 64 lbs
Max Amps: 180
Circuit Breaker: Min 25 amps
Input voltage / phase: 220 / single
Wire sizes .023 - .035.
Heat Settings: Six
Duty Cycle: 20% at max output/30% at 160 amps
Max Metal Thickness: 1/4
10/2 - Year Limited Welder Warranty
The welder does not have a plug on it so I will add a 3 prong plug,
I think I will also go to a 40 amp breaker since I plan on building a small powder coating oven (one of my weld projects), and I know they suck a lot of power...........
Thanks again all...............
You will only find breakers in 20 and 30. The welder usually lists a maximum breaker size instead of a min. Being made overseas there may be some things lost in translation. American machines for example state the circuit ampacity, for example, 50A, then will list the minimum wire size and the max breaker size. (my explanation may leave something to be desired also) If you run a 10 wire you should use a 30 breaker. Sometimes breaker to wire relationships sound kind of funny for welding machines,,, but they only apply when running circuits dedicated to these machines. If you plan on using this same circuit for an oven you cannot run the 40 on a 10 wire. You may be able to use 8 wire in the circuit in the building protected by a 40 and you may be able to plug the welder in with the 10 cord,,, depending on the max breaker rating of the machine. You may find it benificial, especially if you have help, so the only cost is the materials to run 2 circuits, one for oven and one for welder. Many companies, especially cheaper type manufacturers tend to be generous with machine ratings, especially outputs. A HH175 for example lists its max output as 175A but its rated output at its duty cycle is 130. I think I would try to run 030 welding wire in it if you are running solid. Talking to Clarkes tech people,, You may want to take what they say with some caution till you can see it in writing, they are not specifically welding machine manufacturers, they make a vast line of equipment and I would tend to believe who you would be talking to would be quickly reciting from a manual. Of course, this is just some assumption on my part. It will be interesting to see, for that money it certainly could be a good thing, I see the weight is only 1# less than the 175 and its output ratings are certainly better.
Good call on the 2 outlets my friend just built a 7200 sq ft custom built house and ran 12 throughout He said he had plenty of material to run a 220 outlet for me, I am sure he could come up with 2....................:-0
I will keep you posted on the welder.............
Regards,
Kevin
you should consider buying wire that is stranded, not solid.
most romex wire from lowes, etc, is solid, and that makes
a crappy extension cord, IMHO.
you can get nice durable and very flexible heavy wire
cable from your local welding supply store. Get the outlet
box and plug from lowes.
I'd also get more like 50', so you can loop it all around your
garage and out to the driveway if you need to. Trust me on
that one
True true thanks.............
Tags: making, your, extension, cord, opinions, breaker size, extension cord, from lowes, size breaker, wire size
