Detached garage ~110 Ft. away. Dynasty 200dx Voltage drop a issue with SOOW cord?

[Outdoort]

Hey everyone. I need a question answered. I called Miller today and asked my questions, but , the guy didn't seem like much help (first time I called miller for anything, I know ya all say their customer service is great).

So I explained to the guy that I have a detached garage approx. 110 Ft away from my breaker panel in my basement and that I just bought my first welder, a 200 Dx. I need to get power up to the garage for this welder ( I currently have 115v there now wired to a 15amp fuse in the basement panel).

My situation is also limited by the fact that I rent and not sure how much longer I will stay at this current apartment. I talked to my landlord and he said he would help me intall a 240v plug in the garage with running line etc to the basement panel. He said that the cord/wire he found to use would cost over 100 bucks and that its pretty much left up to me to buy the cord and materials if I want power to the garage for this thing.

My thing is, If I'm going to spend over 100 dollars on getting power up there, then i might as well use SOOW cord that I can take with me and use as a extension cord for when I move out of this apartment. My research tells me that SOOW cord is fine to hang in the air from the apartment to the garage (not 110Ft, prob only 25Ft in the air) . This leads me to my main Q:

The guy from Miller said he would not recommend a extension cord of any kind over 66Ft I think he said. No matter what gauge wire used. He said voltage drop would be a problem and that it would give the welder poor performance. I pressed him on what he meant by "poor performance" and he couldn't answer and just said he cant recommend any solution for me.

Now: ins't the dynasty 200 dx auto sensing for voltage? So what if there is Voltage drop if I can use any voltage from 110 to 400 something?
And can I use a 110Ft 8 guage SOOW cord to give me power to my welder?

Thanks so much for anyone who can clairify some things. I have had this welder for over a week now and haven't even used it
P.S. : The current line running to the garage providing 115v isn't a option to mess with.

[raferguson]

Voltage drop calculations

The web site below provides voltage drop calculations based on the length of cable, current draw, etc.

http://www.southwire.com/support/voltage-drop-calculator.htm

I cranked in 110 Ft, 240 volts, and 30 amps, and it said 10 ga cable would be a 2.89% voltage drop.

3% voltage drop is a common rule of thumb. I have no specific information related to the Dynasty. The National Electrical code requirement is generally 5% at full load, but that takes into account the entire system, including the feed to the house and the breakers.

Based on the above, I would say 8ga should be good, and you could probably get away with 10ga. However, see the disclaimer below.

Disclaimer: I tried three different voltage drop calculators, and they all gave very different answers! One of them was obviously screwy, I changed the wire size from 10 to 8 awg and the voltage drop changed by almost a factor of ten. I suggest that you go to a more authoritative source than the internet, and cross check that source.

[bigtow30t]

I know that would be a lot of money, but what is safety worth.
You can buy 50ft 8ga cords, but you're talking about over 2 times that.
You could use 8 ga solid wire or 6 ga stranded, so it depends on cost.
As far as hanging it you could run a steel cable (3/13"-1/4") between the house and garage and wrap the power cable around it as you go

[Outdoort]

Raferguson:

Thanks for the reply. Ya I completely agree with what you said. And thank you very much for looking that up for me. I know that I have read the other day from someone on this forum that said that he likes to keep the voltage drop to 3% or less.
Since I already called miller and didn't get any specific answer I was hoping to get someone on here to give me first hand experience that owns a dynasty 200 dx (I know a lot of people own them here) on if he/she has done such a long extension cord.

As far as "performace drop" , the guy from miller wouldn't give me specifics on what he meant. Anyone know ??
Also I mainly just want to make sure that doing this on this extension wont damage the machine. Anyone know this???

[Outdoort]

I know that would be a lot of money, but what is safety worth.
You can buy 50ft 8ga cords, but you're talking about over 2 times that.
You could use 8 ga solid wire or 6 ga stranded, so it depends on cost.
As far as hanging it you could run a steel cable (3/13"-1/4") between the house and garage and wrap the power cable around it as you go

Ya thats what I'm thinking. I'm thinking the weight would be too heavy to have the SOOW cord support itself without to much low hang.

[Broccoli1]

Just make sure the Landlord wires up the 6-50 receptacle in the basement with 6g wire.

From there you could run your cord to the geeerage.

Poor performance means that the machine will not operate at listed settings.

Look for SJO cord- should be a little cheaper J= Junior 300v rating

SO is rated for 600v

still gonna put a dent in yer wallet

[Outdoort]

Just make sure the Landlord wires up the 6-50 receptacle in the basement with 6g wire.

From there you could run your cord to the geeerage.

Poor performance means that the machine will not operate at listed settings.

Look for SJO cord- should be a little cheaper J= Junior 300v rating

SO is rated for 600v

still gonna put a dent in yer wallet

Lol Ya. I this whole hobby/future profession is putting a dent in my wallet! I barely afforded the dynasty and was sooo close to buying the Everlast but just couldn't do it. I don't support a company that is as active as they are in these forums (let alone all the forum members that "work for" them. And all the Deleted threads that are talked about whether that is their fault or not, just seems like something is being hidden.

Anyway. Why the 6-50r in the basement? and can I not just have the 8 gauge SOOW wired directly into the panel?? Thats what the plan was I think.

I already have a drier plug down there, but without getting into too much side talk, it could be wired to the neighbors panel (meaning they would be paying for my electricity use Ha Ha)

[Outdoort]

By the way. Seems like a good group of folks here, but, Do we not have sub forums here???

[Broccoli1]

By the way. Seems like a good group of folks here, but, Do we not have sub forums here???

Nope- just the 3- keeps it clean and tidy

[Broccoli1]

Lol Ya. I this whole hobby/future profession is putting a dent in my wallet! I barely afforded the dynasty and was sooo close to buying the Everlast but just couldn't do it. I don't support a company that is as active as they are in these forums (let alone all the forum members that "work for" them. And all the Deleted threads that are talked about whether that is their fault or not, just seems like something is being hidden.

Anyway. Why the 6-50r in the basement? and can I not just have the 8 gauge SOOW wired directly into the panel?? Thats what the plan was I think.

I already have a drier plug down there, but without getting into too much side talk, it could be wired to the neighbors panel (meaning they would be paying for my electricity use Ha Ha)

I thought the landlord was going to pay for the receptacle in the basement??

Anyhoo- code violation to run that SO cord in to the panel. And technically if it WAS wired direct, it belongs to the landlord If he want to be a d*ck about it when you moved out.

[FusionKing]

I have run 100+ ft with 10ga SO cord with 3 different Dynasties for YEARS [email protected] !!! (with no problem whatsoever)
I wouldn't hesitate on the cord. Now the hanging part, and the permanent wiring etc...
The drier is looking better, just watch out for lawnmowers!!
Talking 240v here not 120v

[GlenC]

I have used my Dynasty 200DX at 200A on a 240V 20A breaker .... For 100+ feet, I would want to run #8 @30A... #10 @25A .... You could roll it out when you are going to use the welder and when you move, you can take it with you!

[Outdoort]

Also. I'm planning on buying a miller 211 mig welder and a hypotherm 45 in the future. Both those machines will draw 30 amps or less I'm pretty sure, so I don't think that changes much for me?

Alright I guess I might just buy some 10 gauge SJ00W cord and save some bucks. The price on this stuff really increases jumping up to 8 gauge.

[WillieB]

NEC prohibits extension cords for permanent use for safety reasons. People do stupid things to extension cords. Voltage loss is less a concern to auto line welders, but remember that as voltage falls, amperage rises. Very soon your #8 isn't heavy enough. Many thousands of people toggle something together that works. Occasionally this ends in tragedy. I urge you to talk to a REAL electrician chosen for knowledge not price, and get his advice. You have the best welder in the world, it wasn't cheap. Why limit its usefulness with a [email protected]#%)d up power supply?

[wroughtnharv]

A couple of questions.

The 110 feet? is that finished measurement or building to building?

Will your landloard install a dedicated 30 amp plug for you beside the breaker box?

Does anyone know if low voltage will have a severe negative effect on the DX?

How much trouble is it to lay out and retrieve the power cord? obstacles etc?

I understand the passion and I appreciate the budget constraints, that's life. But if it was me I think I would consider the cord but I would go bigger. The logic on that is I could then use the cord at my place when I get it. You can pull the cord in conduit for multiple locations for welder plugs in your shop when the ship comes in.