Wiring my new 220 stick welder in my shop

Sounds right to me, I believe that I wired my welder using 8 ga with neutral (most welders have only three connections, not four), and a 50 amp breaker. I believe my welder manual recommended 8 ga wire. Going heavier wire (6 ga) is not a problem, just a little less voltage drop, so a slightly better installation. With the heavier wire, you could use a larger breaker if you wished, but I have never popped my 50 amp breaker.

Richard

Bruce wrote:

Thanks Richard.....And there is nothing quite as exciting as getting a taste of 220 volts running through your body. Did that last night...next time I think I should pull the main breaker from my panel, and not wave my hands around when I am talking to my son......Welder works great, as does my new auto darkening helmet......

Bruce

Just wondering - can you properly connect an applicance to a breaker rated larger than the applicance rating??

Laurie Forbes

Sure. The breaker is sized to protect the *wire* feeding the outlet. The appliance is on its own. It can have internal fuses, or not, as the appliance designer (and UL) chooses. For example, you can plug a radio or TV into an outlet protected by a

15 amp breaker, even though the radio may only draw a fraction of an amp. If the designer so chose, the radio would have an internal fuse to protect it, or it might be impedance protected in some other way to prevent it from drawing excessive current in case of an internal fault.

Now if the appliance is *hard wired* into a dedicated circuit, the rules are a little different. The breaker still has to be sized to protect the wire, but it may also be required to be sized to protect the appliance. But as long as there's an outlet and a plug involved, that rule doesn't apply.

Gary

Gary's comments are right on.

I noticed in the owner's manual to my welder that they recomended a maximum 100 amp breaker, so apparently anywhere in the 50 to 100 amp range would be fine. As Gary said, the breaker protects the wire, so a larger breaker requires larger wire, which only makes common sense.

Richard

Laurie Forbes wrote:

I see what you mean Gary and it makes sense but I'm trying to recall an counter example I saw a few years ago. It may have had to do with certain appliances designed to be supplied by 15 amp circuits (as in Canada) being used in the US where household receptacles are typically fused at 20 amps (IIRC). May have had something to do with the devices power cords which were only rated for 15 amps. OTOH maybe what I'm trying to recall *did* have to do with hard wired devices.

Laurie Forbes

AFAIK, NFPA 70 does not distinguish between permanently connected and plug-connected flexible cords for the purpose of determining the required overcurrent protection. See section 240-4.

Ned Simmons

Sounds right to me, I believe that I wired my welder using 8 ga with neutral (most welders have only three connections, not four), and a 50 amp breaker.

For the usual 20 percent duty-cycle welder, 8-2+G and a 50 amp breaker is appropriate.