welder

[welderboy14]

hi

i have a 90amp wire feed welder and input is 120v at 20amps
but the breaker on the plug i use in my shop is only 15amp and i keep blowing it

and was woundering if i could just replace the 15amp with a 20amp

the welder is the only thing i use on that curcit

thanks
welderboy14

 

[wushaw]

I would not advise it because a breaker is there to protect the wiring and when you put a larger breaker than the wire is rated for you could cause the wire to melt then short then fire before the breaker may pop and at that point it is too late....then the insurance company may not pay for a burned down house or whatever it is....etc.

Run wire that is capable of carrying the rated amperage with the correct breaker.

 

[bobodu]

DON'T just change the breaker without making sure the wiring between the breaker and the outlet is sized appropriately!!!!
You need a 12 gauge wire. Often,people will run 14 gauge on a 15 amp circuit. So make sure you have 12 gauge or you could end up burning down the house.

 

[BXinNH]

Welderboy,

The short answer is "No". The longer answer is "Maybe, but I doubt it" You need to know what guage wire is used in that circuit. If, for some reason the original installer ran 12awg wire and protected it with a 15A breaker, then putting a 20A breaker in will be ok, as long as ALL the wire on that circuit is rated for 20A or greater. More likely, the wire in question is 14awg which is only rated for 15A, so putting a 20A breaker in place could overload the wire leading to wire failure, fire etc. IMHO your best bet would be to run a dedicated welder circuit, possibly even using 10awg (rated 30A) in case you upgrade your welder in the future. Good luck.

Matt.

 

[oldhippy]

I had a 110v mig welder and could not run much else on the circuit that I had it pluged into. When I would use the welder I would make sure that all things were off that were on the same line. You could use a smaller wire and less amps on machine. big dan

 

[kennyd]

DON'T just change the breaker without making sure the wiring between the breaker and the outlet is sized appropriately!!!!
You need a 12 gauge wire. Often,people will run 14 gauge on a 15 amp circuit. So make sure you have 12 gauge or you could end up burning down the house.

Welderboy,

The short answer is "No". The longer answer is "Maybe, but I doubt it" You need to know what guage wire is used in that circuit. If, for some reason the original installer ran 12awg wire and protected it with a 15A breaker, then putting a 20A breaker in will be ok, as long as ALL the wire on that circuit is rated for 20A or greater. More likely, the wire in question is 14awg which is only rated for 15A, so putting a 20A breaker in place could overload the wire leading to wire failure, fire etc. IMHO your best bet would be to run a dedicated welder circuit, possibly even using 10awg (rated 30A) in case you upgrade your welder in the future. Good luck.

Matt.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What they said. You need to verify the size/type wire that is installed.

 

[welderboy14]

i will put a new breaker in because the one in there now is 14-15 years old
but i will change it and see if it makes a diffrencs

 

[easygo]

DON'T just change the breaker without making sure the wiring between the breaker and the outlet is sized appropriately!!!!
You need a 12 gauge wire. Often,people will run 14 gauge on a 15 amp circuit. So make sure you have 12 gauge or you could end up burning down the house.

He said it right!!! Don't burn down the house!!!

 

[Soundguy]

i will put a new breaker in because the one in there now is 14-15 years old
but i will change it and see if it makes a diffrencs

older breakers do get weak sometimes.

don't swap up to 21a unles sthe wire is rated for it though.

( I ran a seperate dedicated line for my welder.. )

soundguy

 

[orezok]

I don't have my NEC book right now, but I believe that Article 630 of the NEC allows circuit wiring dedicated for welders to be derated. That is that you can put a 20a breaker on #14 wire and be legal (and safe). The down side to this is that the circuit MUST be dedicated to the welder with NO other outlets on the circuit. The second downside is that you probably will not own the property forever and if the following owner plugs in a 2,400 watt load and burns down the structure, he may coming looking for you with his attorney.

Is it legal? Probably. Would I do it, no.