Welding Leads

[Hoko]

Hi, I just bought a Miller Dialarc without leads. Most of my welding is steel fabrication and repair with 1/8" 7018 rods. What size wire would I need for 75 ft leads?

[walker]

Go into the resources and look up the owners manual for your machine. They all have a handy chart for lead size. Pick the size for the amps you are going to use. Bigger is better. Then use a set of quick connects, and get 10' or so of light cable for the stinger so you dont have to hoist heavy cable all the time. Personally, I wouldnt go less than 1/0, as that will get you to about 250 amps if you need it.

[Hoko]

Go into the resources and look up the owners manual for your machine. They all have a handy chart for lead size. Pick the size for the amps you are going to use. Bigger is better. Then use a set of quick connects, and get 10' or so of light cable for the stinger so you dont have to hoist heavy cable all the time. Personally, I wouldnt go less than 1/0, as that will get you to about 250 amps if you need it.

Thanks, I looked that up. That's great you have those manuals for download. After looking at that table, I think that is a good idea to go with 1ga. I'm going to see if there is a local electric supplier that handles that size wire. I thought about buying it on ebay but shipping that much weight is likely to be very expensive but I can compare with local prices. That duty cycle chart is handy too. Most of my welding is under 100 amps and I noticed that has a 100% duty cycle, that is great!
I am noticing that there are different cable strand sizes. I am assuming the smaller strand sizes are better because of flexibility, right? What is a good strand count to get?
Grainger has a 1248 x 30 cable that is 2ga and 100 ft long that is rated at 223 amps and other 2ga cable with less strands are rated at lower amp capacity. So it looks like as the strand count increases, so does amp capacity

[elvis]

The strands relate to conductivity. The best would be a solid wire but that wouldn't be very practical. The more tiny wires the less empty space within the cable and the more energy that can be efficiently pushed through the cable.

[Can You Weld This For Me?]

#1 will be good for you. Check out Electron Beam Technologies. Good prices and nice cable. I have their #1 and some 1/0. Really good stuff.

[johnnyg340]

Thanks, I looked that up. That's great you have those manuals for download. After looking at that table, I think that is a good idea to go with 1ga. I'm going to see if there is a local electric supplier that handles that size wire. I thought about buying it on ebay but shipping that much weight is likely to be very expensive but I can compare with local prices. That duty cycle chart is handy too. Most of my welding is under 100 amps and I noticed that has a 100% duty cycle, that is great!
I am noticing that there are different cable strand sizes. I am assuming the smaller strand sizes are better because of flexibility, right? What is a good strand count to get?
Grainger has a 1248 x 30 cable that is 2ga and 100 ft long that is rated at 223 amps and other 2ga cable with less strands are rated at lower amp capacity. So it looks like as the strand count increases, so does amp capacity

More strands will increase conductivity as electrons travel on the surface of the wire, not through it. So actually stranded wire is WAY more conductive and efficient than solid wire because there is more surface area for the electrons to travel!

[Hoko]

I am looking at the manual about electrical service connections. It is showing comparisons of connecting to service with power factor correction and to service without power factor correction which is less efficient. Can someone explain to me what this is talking about?

[Meltedmetal]

I am looking at the manual about electrical service connections. It is showing comparisons of connecting to service with power factor correction and to service without power factor correction which is less efficient. Can someone explain to me what this is talking about?

It depends on how you weld and how much you weld. Power Factor Correction is most valuable in a commercial environment where you will get penalized for poor power usage. In a residential setting it's not so important. Your power supplier would like you to power factor correct but at your home it may be detrimental to your bill to do so. If you look at the charts in the manual you will see that the machine will draw considerably less current with PFC WHILE THE ARC IS LIT, however when the machine is on but idling without out PFC draws much less current. For example the Dialarc at 200 amps out draws 50 amps with PFC versus 70 amps without PFC. However the idle current is much higher with PFC than it is without PFC. So if you are going to weld very steady most of the time your machine is turned on use the PFC. If you will spent a considerable amount of time with the welder on but not actually welding(this includes changing electrodes, repositioning, talking to some one, planning what to do next, etc...) don't use it.
The is a link to an explanation of Power Factor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor
Numbers quoted here from my Idealarc 250 on 240v idling with PFC-23 amps without PFC-6.2 amps
Inverter machines do not suffer from this like transformers do.
---Meltedmetal

[Hoko]

It depends on how you weld and how much you weld. Power Factor Correction is most valuable in a commercial environment where you will get penalized for poor power usage. In a residential setting it's not so important. Your power supplier would like you to power factor correct but at your home it may be detrimental to your bill to do so. If you look at the charts in the manual you will see that the machine will draw considerably less current with PFC WHILE THE ARC IS LIT, however when the machine is on but idling without out PFC draws much less current. For example the Dialarc at 200 amps out draws 50 amps with PFC versus 70 amps without PFC. However the idle current is much higher with PFC than it is without PFC. So if you are going to weld very steady most of the time your machine is turned on use the PFC. If you will spent a considerable amount of time with the welder on but not actually welding(this includes changing electrodes, repositioning, talking to some one, planning what to do next, etc...) don't use it.
The is a link to an explanation of Power Factor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor
Numbers quoted here from my Idealarc 250 on 240v idling with PFC-23 amps without PFC-6.2 amps
Inverter machines do not suffer from this like transformers do.
---Meltedmetal

Ah, ok I think I would be better off without it. Thx

[tommy2069]

it doesnt hurt to soak a rag with armor all and wipe down the leads when ever they get dusty or dirty . i have a set of leads that are 7 years old and look brand new . i'm picky about my leads too i get one people when i see them step on my leads . had one guy at a dock pull up the fork lift and was about to role over my leads . way to much money to just let them go. next to the machine your leads are the second biggest investment you'll have so take care of them.

[Bodybagger]

More strands will increase conductivity as electrons travel on the surface of the wire, not through it. So actually stranded wire is WAY more conductive and efficient than solid wire because there is more surface area for the electrons to travel!

This is called the "skin effect" and it is non-existent at DC and negligible at 60Hz for the wire sizes we're talking about. At radio frequencies, it's a big deal... you can carry as much RF current with a thinwall tube as you can with a solid conductor of the same diameter.

Stranded cables (where the strands are uninsulated) behave electrically as a solid conductor because current can flow between adjacent wires just as it can flow between adjacent finite elements in a solid wire - which is the cause of the skin effect. At higher frequencies, increasingly strong electromagnetic fields are generated by eddy currents which increase electrical resistance in the center of the wire or multistrand conductive cable. The exception is Litz cable which uses insulated wire bundles allowing AC to flow on the outermost conductive surface of multiple wires at once.

The reason the higher strand (thousand plus) cables have a higher ampacity has nothing to do with the skin effect and everything to do with more efficient heat dissipation.