Advise

[storts]

Miller?????????

Yeah this is the situation I'm in. My breaker panel is located on the other side of the house as the garage. I currently only have one branch of 120V going to the garage and would like to run 240V. What's involved in doing this? I would like to avoid having to run an extension cord from the laundry room, and I think running external conduit is pretty expensive and ugly.

(getting garage ready for D200DX, hehehe)

Thanks!

What part of the country are u in, Im also a licenced home inspector, cause the welding buisness and manufacturing is going to china,,crawl space, frostline?attic?need to know this, I just never took the electrical inspectors test,,Ive done live cut overs 60 amp to 200 amp in the rain, electricty is to be RESPECTED, not afraid of,,,Jack

[Arcburn]

I guess I am going to go with the 210...In the future I will have a circut put out in the garage for it. Thanks for all the advise...it really helped me out

[TOMWELDS]

Remember--NO SPEAKER WIRE!....LOL

[hankj]

Spinner,

Ground and neutral are "bonded" at the main service entrance, and ONLY there! Sub-panels have an isolated (not connected to the panel frame) bus for neutrals, and a ground bus for the bare and green ground wires that IS bonded to the panel case.

The "neutral" is kinda mis-named. The term refers to the point on the transformer winding on the utility's pole, or underground vault, where that wire is connected. It is actually a current-carrying conductor for all 120V circuits in your house. There is just no "difference in potential" between the neutral and ground wires because they are connected to the same place, so if everything's working correctly, you don't get a shock if you get between neutral and ground.

Hank

[TOMWELDS]

When I wired my garage, I ran 4 (I think) wires; two (or maybe just one) hot, one neutral, one ground. The thing is, both the neutral and the ground were connected to the same bare ground wire going into the ground at the main box. I was told that this was correct, is this right?

In the MAIN panel, the ground and neutral are connected together. In SUB-PANELS, they must be seperated (2 seperate buses).

[TOMWELDS]

Im 22yrs licensed electrician. Every receptacle and plug has a voltage and amperage rating. DO NOT tamper with this! a dryer receptacle is normally 30amps 240volts. Connect accordingly. consult an electrician in your area.

[TheRealSpinner]

My comment about being better to have a new circuit, if possible, is that his ground would be a dedicated ground conductor and not using the neutral, which I "believe" is what will be the case if he plugs direct into his exisiting dryer receptacle. The manufacturer would rather see it grounded to a "real" ground, not a "neutral."
Thanks for the input.

When I wired my garage, I ran 4 (I think) wires; two (or maybe just one) hot, one neutral, one ground. The thing is, both the neutral and the ground were connected to the same bare ground wire going into the ground at the main box. I was told that this was correct, is this right?

[Sberry]

A 210 will run from 30A service just fine, but,,, since you have a cousin thats a sparky why fool around, run a new wire from the panel to the garage and then you are set. If I had cheap help I would run a number 6 and put a sub in, they are cheap, 20$ for a 6 space panel and then its easy to add a couple circuits if needed and one for an air comp maybe. A single long circuit to a garage like there is now is a piss poor welding circuit anyway.

[Arcburn]

Thanks for clearing that up!

[Bob Sigmon]

You would have to watch your top end amperage on your welder. It could cause your breaker to pop.

You could have your electrician relative check the wire gauge and make sure that you have the max breaker that the current wire can handle. I doubt that they put in heavier wire than they needed but it doesn't cost to check it out.

[Arcburn]

The dryer breaker I think is 30 amps because thats what it says on the breaker itself. I have been looking at the manuals and I think the 210 draws 35 or 40 amps I am not sure because I might be reading the wrong thing. If thats the case would I still be able to run it with out it triping the breaker all the time?

[Bob Sigmon]

Exactly! I totally agree about the dedicated ground.

[Bob Sigmon]

The three wire 240 has been around for ever and if that is what is running his dryer at XX amps, it will certainly run a welder at the same amps. It is just a matter of two hots and a ground. If he has a dryer plug with 4 wires(which I doubt since Arcburn has an older house, you would still use the ground and the two hots. I haven't seen a power cable from even my D200DX (that is brand new) that uses a four wire 240. The power cable is set up to use four wire three phase but that is a different story and not applicable here.

That's just my opinion, let me know if I wrong.

Arcburn, if you are at all uncomfortable with doing the wiring, for sure seek the help of a qualified person. If you have family available, it will save you a ton of cash.

Let us know what welder you end up with and what your projects are going to be, that's what really counts!

[Bob Sigmon]

Isn't this site just the best! !

[Arcburn]

Thanks for the help!!!