Got a 125/250 Volt stick welder .. switchable

Now problem is this ... housing I'm living in is like this ... VERY low amp outlet in the garage ... I believe it's a 15 amp outlet

Best 125 Volt outlet is inside the house (right by the fuse box) ... the one for the dryer .. extension cord.. run it.. works hmm ok



I'm trying to hook up 250 Volt ... Problem is this ... outlet behind the dryer .. is a 4 prong one ... power cord from the welder is a 3 prong

Can't really hook up a 250 Volt outlet in the garage .. let's say uhmm tough housing rules here ... doubt any electrician would do it


So ... what do I do ? .. I'm having problems even finding 250 Volt extension cords ... which would work for me.. run it from the house .. backyard.. into garage ... but.. 3 prong... and 4 prong ?

 

Make an extension cord yourself. Everything you need should be at Home Depot. SOOW P-7K-123033 MSHA 12/3 wire is sold by the foot. Most likely the welder uses a NEMA 6-20P plug, you'll need the mating NEMA 6-20R female plug. The plug on the other end you'll have to figure out. it could be a NEMA 18-30R or NEMA 18-50R, but without seeing it I can't tell. I had to make up a short adaptor to run a new piece of equipment myself. In my case I had to make an adapter from NEMA 6-20P to NEMA L6-20 twist-lock plug. Wiring instructions are often included with the plug or receptical, if not pick up a basic electrical wiring book.

Lon

 

I'll look into it .... was kinda wondering whether I have to make the wire myself

Already had problems when I first bought it due to the color coding lol ... it's coded according to European specs .. brown=hot blue=neutral gren/yellow=ground .. lol

 

forgot lol .. the welder ... I had to make a plug myself lol .. came with just wires hanging out lol

 

Well, if it were me I’d use 10ga if you can get it over the 12ga, basically, the heavier the better there.

As far as actual wiring, past the proper receptacles/plug (not going to go and double check the PN’s, they should be pretty straight forward, they either look like what you have or not), the 4 prong drier plug is most likely a 2 hots (one off of each leg), a neutral and a ground. The welder side shouldn’t use the neutral (2 hot and the ground).

What I would really do if I was going to make this extension cord would be to go to the appliance section of a home store (or any good electrical outlet) and get the proper cord/plug assembly for the drier (plug and wiring done), and then a 2 gang box with a matching steel cover plate (like they use on industrial wall mounts) and a 220V plug and a 110v plug (both for the correct amperage. Wire the 220 V plug to the 2 hots and the ground, wire the 110 to one of the hots, neutral and ground (split the circuit). That way you have an extension cord that will work for the 220 and also give you a high amp 110v outlet (nice if you ever need to use one of the better 110V welders, some 110 compressors, even some shop vacs will trip a normal 15A circuit).

BTW, the plug layout for the 110 and 220 v outlets is different so you can’t accidentally plug something in the wrong hole unless someone has already messed up the plugs on the item, if it makes you feel better you can always get the plugs in different colors, paint half the box a different color, a big label…

What’s the deal with running wiring being a problem? In most cases it’s easier and cheaper then building the extension cord that we’re talking about…

 

I mis-read the original post. I THOUGHT he was in a rental. If he owns the home, then having an electrician run a new circuit into the garage it the best solution. I'll be in the same situation shortly. I need to run a second 220v circuit into my garage.

Lon

 

yea, when I built my house I debated just running a sub pannel out to the garage as my plans outraced my original ideas, but instead I ran a high amp 220 line out there, split it off to a 220 and 110 circuit just like I described and have been happy with that, it lets me power everythign that I need (I also made the box with something like a 50' 8ga extension chord...)

 

Military housing .... real tough rules here

 

Now .. the color codes for the wires however.. if one looks it up.. claim that the three wires are as follows .. according to Euro specs"


Green/yellow = Ground

Brown = Hot

Blue = Neutral


So I can treat the blue as hot no.2 in this case ?


What you guys are talking about is basically an "adapter box" with four wires going in .. and two outlets .. 110 and 220 going out .. correct ?

 

The way your saying it can't be 220v. You need 2 hots.

Take the welder apart and look at the wiring diagram.

 

Trust me .. I lived in Europe for 23 years .. and did some basic wiring in school there ..... three wires .. and throughout Europe you use 220 Volt


I've been told I can hook it up to a four prong plug .. and just use one hot... that way I'll have a high amp 115 Volt .... and just leave one of the prongs "blank" .. "not used"


OK that sounds fine but ... I'd really like to have a 220 Volt option as well


So I'll look into the option of building the box

 

True in europe they use 220. But this is the usa we use 110. I'm not sure but if you attach two positive 110's to that single wire in a box, you might have something. Otherwise your going to need a transformer.

Open up the damn thing and look look at the wiring diagrams.

What welder is it anyway?

 

with 3 conductor 220v you usually use what would be the N with 110 as the second hot.

 

I know it's the US .. lol


What I was pointing out is ... 220 can be done using three wires ... actually like I already said this welder's wires are color coded according to Euro specs ... not US specs
I had to look it up online .. .since I expected US color coding when I received the welder

 

I live in Sweden and know the european spec.

We use a 3 phase 240 Volt (used to be 220) system.

It is usually 5 wires.

Green/yellow = Protective Ground. You should NEVER have any current thru this unless something is faulty.
Blue = Neutral
Black = Hot1
Brown = Hot2
White = Hot3

Blue can be used as a hot wire, but you should avoid it if you can.

You get 400 Volt between one hot and any of the other.
You get 240 Volt between one hot and the Neutral.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From what I understand USA normally uses a 2 phase system.

It is 220 Volts from one hot to the other.
It is 110 Volts from one hot to neutral.

I suspect that the '4 prong' outlet has ground, neutral, hot1 and hot2.

Run a '4 prong' extension to the garage. Then you build a short '4 prong' to '3 prong' adapter cable. You skip the neutral cable in the '4 prong'.

That way you already have a '4 prong' outlet in the garage if you ever need it in the future.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the welder, connect hot1 to brown, hot2 to Blue and Green/yellow to ground.

 

The euro single phase 220 should be compatible with US dual phase 220 from a dryer outlet... dual phase US 220 is two 110v circuits in phase. The 3 phase euro voltage is completly different though, thats 220 leg to ground but 380 leg to leg (we call it 380 here in Germany). The phases on this type of circuit are out of phase 120 degrees. The other difference is the frequency, euro is 50hz US is 60hz.

 

I lived in Sweden for 16 years lol .. heck all my schooling from preschool to college was there hahaah

 

ok .. thanks guys