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ATL ZJ
05-11-2005, 12:57 AM
Went to Home Depot tonight to try and find an adapter to convert the NEMA plug on my welder's power cord to the old-style dryer plug pattern. I ended up just getting parts for an extention cord.. But I forgot what guage wire I needed and brought home 25 feet of 10/3... Should I replace it with 8/3? It's a Hobart 180 that I'll be running. The wire is rated for 30A, but the plug for the dryer hookup is also rated only for 30A. That will have to stay, regardless of the wire I use. The female NEMA plug at the welder end is rated for 50A.

OverkillZJ
05-11-2005, 02:24 AM
I'd recommend 8/3. The 10/3 might work, but with lots of welding odds are it'll be a bottle neck and get a bit hot. The real factor is how long of a run it is?

ATL ZJ
05-11-2005, 07:47 AM
25 feet. I'm leaning towards not using it, or maybe making a HD 110v cord out of it.

OverkillZJ
05-11-2005, 10:23 AM
25 feet. I'm leaning towards not using it, or maybe making a HD 110v cord out of it.

10/3 is what I made my two good 120v extension cords out of :)

AprilzWarrior
05-11-2005, 10:32 AM
Run with 8/3 I have a 40' and a 100'

Both work Excellent !


AW

norton
05-12-2005, 05:06 PM
i just did the same thing (but i got 30 ft). called up my dads friend whos an engineer/electrician. he said i should upgrade to a 50amp outlet or its prolly gonna throw the breaker. but being the cheap/lazy fuck i am i asked what if i dont wanna. he said just keep the amperage low on the welder and shit should be fine.

I have yet to finish making the extension and fire that shit up though. have you? i wanna know if your shit fucks up before i try it :finga:

DND
05-12-2005, 10:45 PM
I used 30ft of 10/3 plus a 3ft dryer to welder adapter at a friends place this past weekend to power my Miller 175 with no problems. No breaker issues or cable heating up. Granted that wasn't pushing the duty cycle too hard either.

OverkillZJ
05-12-2005, 10:52 PM
I used 30ft of 10/3 plus a 3ft dryer to welder adapter at a friends place this past weekend to power my Miller 175 with no problems. No breaker issues or cable heating up. Granted that wasn't pushing the duty cycle too hard either.

That'll do for lighter duty, but once you start to draw more it'll heat up. I'd say you're ok with it as an extension if you keep an eye on it, but no way I'd pull that through wood studs where arc can burn your place down :weedman:

DND
05-12-2005, 10:59 PM
I used 30ft of 10/3 plus a 3ft dryer to welder adapter at a friends place this past weekend to power my Miller 175 with no problems. No breaker issues or cable heating up. Granted that wasn't pushing the duty cycle too hard either.

That'll do for lighter duty, but once you start to draw more it'll heat up. I'd say you're ok with it as an extension if you keep an eye on it, but no way I'd pull that through wood studs where arc can burn your place down :weedman:

I agree completely, we weren't working it too hard so I didn't see a problem. The cable was run outdoors where we kept an eye on it as well. Anything heavier or further away would need 8/3 for sure.