Power for welder

[lafever25]

Just bought a Miller econotig that runs off 240volts. I am having trouble finding away to power it up. Searched the forums but cant find any info. I had a Miller 135 that ran off a house hold 120v outlet. I read i can use a dryer recepticle but where can i find a extention cable to power it. Lowes and Home Depot only have 6', i need about 12'. Any help would be great

[SkidSteerSteve]

I don't want to sound rude, but for your own safety I'm going to make a very direct comment. If you don't already know how to tackle a basic wire problem such as building up an extension cord from a dryer plug down to a 20A plug (I'm guessing 20A, I don't have that machines specs), then I HIGHLY suggest you have an electrician come out and install a dedicated outlet for your equipment. I say this because electricity is a wonderful thing, but it can KILL you in 1/60 of a second and not even say excuse me. At best it can burn your house down, or fry your new gear. I think I can speak for a lot of folks on here that we want you around long enough to show off some of your TIG projects!! I say this because a friend of mine did $75,000 worth of fire damage to their house because of similar rigging on his electric hot water tank that was in the garage. A couple hundred bucks for an electrician is very cheap insurance if you arn't 100% sure of what you are doing. Just my two cent. SSS

[MAC702]

What SSS said is sound advice. But if you don't mind using the dryer receptacle, it's a simple matter to build your own adapting extension cord, all with parts from HD. Buy 12/3 SJOOW cord by the foot, however long you need it from the dryer receptacle to the locations you'll need to use the welder. You may use 10/3 cord if you wish to have the full ampacity of the circuit. Your welder will work fine on 12/3, however.

For the plug, use a NEMA 10-30P (3-hole) or NEMA 14-30P (4-hole) on one end of the cord, depending on your dryer. If you have 4-hole, you will not need to attach anything to the middle flat, just the outside flats (hots) and the round ground.

For the other end, use a NEMA 6-50R.

Take extra care when installing these ends, following the instructions carefully. If you don't get a good, tight clamp against the copper, strip twice as much and double it over under the terminal. Most importantly, only strip the jacket as far as you need to. Make sure the jacket clamp gets a good grip on the jacket, NOT on the insulated conductors within. Do not nick the insulation of the conductors when stripping back the jacket. Use a sharp razor knife and cut mostly through it, but not all the way, then bend it sharply and press the knife against the cut until it only cuts the jacket through without nicking the insulated conductors.

[lafever25]

Thanks MAC702. That seems pretty simple. I live an an apartment so i cant just have an electrian come over and modify some recepticles for me.

[MAC702]

Since you'll be using a 3-wire cord, recolor the white wire at both ends to something other than white, grey, or green, because you will be using it as a hot, and not as a neutral.

[harcosparky]

Yeah as others said .... get some SO cable.

I'd use 10/3, I know that the NEMA codes allow a " fudge factor" for Welders with thier duty cycles but I am old school.

If a device says it uses 20 Amps, than I use a cable that can carry 20 Amps all day long. Otherwise you have created an extension cord useful on only that device. Who knows you may purchase another 220 V device in the future and could use that same cord.

It just make sense safety wise.

I had to install a breaker and wiring for my MM210. It only eats 28 amps. Well we installed wire capable of 50 Amps and a 40 amp " normal " breaker as per Miller advice.

A little overkill? Perhaps.... however I am eyeing some devices that at full load can hit 50 amps.


in any case, get an outlet to match the welder, a plug to match the drier outlet and some 3 conductor SO cable.

Recolor the WHITE wire as it wont be used for Neutral.

In any case we made the WHITE wire RED That way " Red and Black " went to the hot terminals and GREEN went to ground.

[SkidSteerSteve]

lafever25,

Goodluck with the project. If I come accross a little coarse, it's because I've been in and around the trades most of my life and have seen a lot of equipment torn up and people get hurt because of short-cuts on stuff. I work with electricty almost everday, but received third degree burns one time simply because I made a decision to save a few minutes on an equipment callibration process. I recovered just fine, but that always lives with me and I try pass it on whenever I can. I realize this board has a wide range of backgrounds among it's diverse membership. Sometimes I read stuff about projects and advice and bite my tounge. It's one thing to have to grind off some metal because it didn't work out right on a BBQ grill, but some things have much more significant reprocussions than others. Just know your abilities and more importantly know when to back out of something. Good luck and happy welding! SSS

[lafever25]

Thanks a bunch MAC702 and Harcosparky. Your simple advice worked out perfectly. Heres some pics from this weekend.

Supply cable kit from LOWES:

Kit put together:

Pic of my new Miller Econotig:

Pic of aluminum tig: