Hello I just cant come up with an the way to wire my welder a new circuit my uncle started and didnt finish for a dryer. I purchased a welder and noticed it would work on this circuit for intermittent not full power use 50amp welder but 30 amp circuit its wired up 2 30/amp breakers and 10/3 wire has been run The bare wire is grounded to the case and the red and black and white are left, this is in my basement and have been told that all grounds and neutrals connect to the same box in the main panel and its only listed as 60/amp I know its an old house anyway I have read about grounding to water pipes but dont get that so that means the 3rd round prong intended to ground gets run right to any good earth with a long pole or pipe? I am confused of were the recept. ground come from and goes to as I dont want to mess with neutral if it will cause problems with rf noise and ground loops please help thanks David
Hello I just cant come up with an the way to wire my welder a new circuit my uncle started and didnt finish for a dryer. I purchased a welder and noticed it would work on this circuit for intermittent not full power use 50amp welder but 30 amp circuit its wired up 2 30/amp breakers and 10/3 wire has been run The bare wire is grounded to the case and the red and black and white are left, this is in my basement and have been told that all grounds and neutrals connect to the same box in the main panel and its only listed as 60/amp I know its an old house anyway I have read about grounding to water pipes but dont get that so that means the 3rd round prong intended to ground gets run right to any good earth with a long pole or pipe? I am confused of were the recept. ground come from and goes to as I dont want to mess with neutral if it will cause problems with rf noise and ground loops please help thanks David
Hello I just cant come up with an the way to wire my welder a new circuit my uncle started and didnt finish for a dryer. I purchased a welder and noticed it would work on this circuit for intermittent not full power use 50amp welder but 30 amp circuit its wired up 2 30/amp breakers and 10/3 wire has been run The bare wire is grounded to the case and the red and black and white are left, this is in my basement and have been told that all grounds and neutrals connect to the same box in the main panel and its only listed as 60/amp I know its an old house anyway I have read about grounding to water pipes but dont get that so that means the 3rd round prong intended to ground gets run right to any good earth with a long pole or pipe? I am confused of were the recept. ground come from and goes to as I dont want to mess with neutral if it will cause problems with rf noise and ground loops please help thanks David
Hello I just cant come up with an the way to wire my welder a new circuit my uncle started and didnt finish for a dryer. I purchased a welder and noticed it would work on this circuit for intermittent not full power use 50amp welder but 30 amp circuit its wired up 2 30/amp breakers and 10/3 wire has been run The bare wire is grounded to the case and the red and black and white are left, this is in my basement and have been told that all grounds and neutrals connect to the same box in the main panel and its only listed as 60/amp I know its an old house anyway I have read about grounding to water pipes but dont get that so that means the 3rd round prong intended to ground gets run right to any good earth with a long pole or pipe? I am confused of were the recept. ground come from and goes to as I dont want to mess with neutral if it will cause problems with rf noise and ground loops please help thanks David
The neutral (white wire) is bonded to the safety ground (bare or green wires) inside the breaker panel or fusebox with the main breaker/fuses. This also bonds the metal conduits that connect to the box and run through the house.
The only reason they want to split the duties between the neutral and ground wires is, they don't want anyone deliberately running any
120-volt-load return current through the ground (bare or green wires or the conduit) like the oven or dryer light or timer, the ground wire is meant for emergencies only. On old dryer and range receptacles they allow it to be 'grandfathered', but not on new ones.
Inside the main panel only, the neutral bar is also the ground bar, and you can land all white, green, and bare wires there. If there is another breaker panel in the house as a sub-panel, that sub-panel needs two separate bars - one for the neutral wires that is NOT bonded to the breaker box can, and one for the ground wires that is bonded to the can. You run separate ground and neutral wires from the main panel to the sub-panel.
There is supposed to be a grounding conductor (wire) going from the main panel to a ground rod or the reinforcing steel in the concrete foundation, and a bond to the cold water pipes where they come into the house. Newer houses also bond the natural gas pipes to the power panel ground.
All you have to do is run the ground from your welder receptacle (the bare wire in Romex cable, or a green wire in conduit) to the neutral/ground bar in the Main Panel.
The ground bonding that is already in the main panel will take it from there - but you should look to make sure they installed it when the house was built, and all the connections are tight. Some old houses slipped through the cracks in the permit & inspection system, and not having it properly bonded & grounded can be dangerous.
It sounds like you have a bigger problem - if the house only has a
60-amp main service and is bigger than a one-bedroom apartment it's probably due for an upgraded main service panel. I'll bet you can't spit without blowing the breaker. ;-)
Your welder has two hot wires - which go to the two hot wires in the box where the dryer recptacle would have gone. Typically those are red, and black.
The ground wire from the welder should go to the ground wire at the receptacle.
The white wire in the receptacle box will be unused. Tape it off.
"daveseshop" wrote in news:1103252468.866138.37290 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:
Do not connect your welder to this circuit. If the welder is rated 50 amps, you need a 50 amp circuit. Anything short of that is asking for a fire. While the wire is rated for the breaker size, and the breaker *should* trip, you are creating heat in the wiring every time you trip the breaker. If the house only has a 60 amp service, it needs upgraded. Most modern homes have a 200 amp service, larger homes a 3-400 amp service.
If the home is that old, the wiring may need replaced anyway, as they used to use paper wrapped wiring that is subject to overheat, cracking and fire.
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