Extension Cord for welder
- Thread starter Sublifer
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undercut
Silver Member
I better get you to define "good power". I've got a multimeter if that is something that will help me with this determination. The plug is the dryer plug so it is about 40 feet away from the fuse box. All in all, about 100 feet from the fuse box to the welder. The dryer plug is connected to a 220v 30amp fuse. I won't be welding full throttle for any length of time - in fact, the welders I am looking at are no more than about 40% duty cycle at 30amp input. The human probably won't use more than 20amps at 30% duty cycle. :laughing:
Qapla
Veteran Member
We just used a 100' piece of lamp cord ... welder worked just fine ...
...............................until we turned it on and tried to use it ...
:laughing:
Just kidding ...
Make sure, if you put your own ends on your cord that you connect them properly and NEVER trim some of the wires off just to fit them into a smaller connector then the wire is designed for.
...............................until we turned it on and tried to use it ...
:laughing:
Just kidding ...
Make sure, if you put your own ends on your cord that you connect them properly and NEVER trim some of the wires off just to fit them into a smaller connector then the wire is designed for.
undercut
Silver Member
I almost had my jaw on the ground there for a moment .... :laughing:
Already looking for connectors with the proper amperage rating .... Thanks for all of your help but I gotta Google .... can't get a welder without some way to power the thing!
With the price of welder extensions cords, it might be worth finding a cheap engine-driven welder, with a bad engine, and adapting it to your tractor PTO, 3pt or trailer mounted
Bruce
From
http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=47087
More
Bruce
From
http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=47087
More
Last edited:
sandman2234
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What about adding longer welding leads to the welder? I went with 50' on my positive eletrode and 20' on the ground. Figured I could use a piece of angle iron (20') to extend the ground when work got to far from the tombstone welder. I think #4 copper welding leads can be squeezed into the face of a Lincoln welder. I have a bunch of two 00 welding leads but is too much to drag around for the buzzbox. I do use them with the bigger welder.
If you make up an extension cord for the welder, consider adding a 120v plug along with the 220v so you can run a grinder off the same cord, so you don't have to run an addition cord out to where your working (unless you have 120 in the shop closer)
David from jax
If you make up an extension cord for the welder, consider adding a 120v plug along with the 220v so you can run a grinder off the same cord, so you don't have to run an addition cord out to where your working (unless you have 120 in the shop closer)
David from jax
undercut
Silver Member
Extending the welding leads would be more expensive for me and I'm on a tight budget.
Yes, I've got 120v much closer so I'm OK there. I was thinking about that too!
Thanks for the ideas!
maybe a stupid idea, but I was thinking about throwing together some special ends that would use 2 110volt extension cords, unmodified to carry a higher amp 220volt power.
I imagine using hot 1 through both the hot and neutral of 1 cord, and hot 2 through the hot and neutral of the other cord, and grounds would be ground for both of them.
Id separate them like that instead of running both hots in each cord so you wouldn't fry anything if someone plugs a normal 120 volt tool into one of the cords on accident.
the best thing about this idea is you wouldn't be chopping up extension cords, and could still use them normally.
I imagine using hot 1 through both the hot and neutral of 1 cord, and hot 2 through the hot and neutral of the other cord, and grounds would be ground for both of them.
Id separate them like that instead of running both hots in each cord so you wouldn't fry anything if someone plugs a normal 120 volt tool into one of the cords on accident.
the best thing about this idea is you wouldn't be chopping up extension cords, and could still use them normally.
undercut
Silver Member
No idea should be labeled stupid if it is being presented for discussion. I hate the idea of chopping cords too. Interesting idea.
Thinking out loud here, haven't thought it out thoroughly but by combining two of the wires in a cable, you can get away from using a thicker wire by combining two thinner wires in each extension cord. You would need to make some custom pigtails that would eventually combine the two extension cords at each end, though.
I'm going to make a dedicated cord, myself. I don't want any more connector losses than necessary. If you are interested in what I plan do to, let me know - don't want to bore you unnecessarily.