Cable and Extension Cord Length

admin

I currently don't have a stick welder and am considering buying a 235A AC/DC Stickmate.  I noticed that it comes with a 5 ft power cord and a 15 ft work cable and 10 ft ground cable.  Is it ok for  me to make a 25-50 ft extension cord and use 25 ft rod and ground cables for this or am I just going to have to get the work that close to the welder?
Reply:sure, I made about a 50 ft ext cord to use with my welders. I think I made it out 6-3 or maybe it was 8-3 SO cord so it'd be flexible.
Reply:You can either makeup an extension cord for the power side of the machine, or you can extend the welding and ground leads.If you try using a piece of steel to extend the ground, use a very heavy piece of steel, like 1/4 x 2 flat.  If you only use something like 1/8 x 1 it will become a current control, and get VERY hot.Using a piece of flat for a current control so you don't have to walk back to the machine is an old weldor's trick, and if done properly will keep your coffy hot all morning, as long as you don't use a foam cup.Appreciation Gains You Recognition-
Reply:Just make sure you size your conductors appropriately, and you'll have no problems.  It's up to you what you like best - welder close to work or close to plug - either way, you'll be OK if the conductors are large enough.  For the supply side, 6/3 will get you plenty far away from the plug.  Be well.hanj
Reply:Number 6 will work,, but for a cord number 10 will work on that machine up to about 50 ft.www.urkafarms.com
Reply:I had a spool of wire.......#6? I bought a couple of garden hoses. I cut the ends off and pulled three conductors thru each 50 footer. I put a plug and socket on each one. Now I have two 50' entensions.
Reply:Mike,Great idea. Obviously, the 6ga wire is rated much higher than 50a. I think 65a. I thought "standard" plugs were only made to 50 amps. While anything above that was a special order type costing significantly more. Were you able to pick up a "standard" male and female plug to match? (If so, it was probably rated for about 70 amps I imagine.) Where did you find such a plug?Lance
Reply:I made 2 cords, one for the powermig 200 and one for the thermal cutmaster38 plasma.  They are about 30ft long and allow me to get anywhere in the garage and out onto the driveway. I used 6/3 SJ cord and 6-50P and 6-50O for the powermig and used 10/3 SJ cord to make the 20 amp/ 240volt cord for the plasma.Last edited by BSOK; 04-03-2004 at 06:31 PM.BrianLincoln Mig 215Miller 211Victor Torch SetMiller Maxstar 200SDMiller Syncrowave 250DX Tig runnerMiller Trailblazer 302 running on LPMiller Extreme 12 VS SuitcaseEllis 1600 BandsawMiller xmt350 CC/CVLincoln Vantage 300
Reply:I only pull 17 amps with my Hobart Betamig 200. I just use the common....50 amp plug.
Reply:Ok, looks like I'm getting a stickmate 235 amp maching today.I checked my wires on my fuse box and I have 6 gauge running to my welding plug and put a 50amp breaker on it.  Is it ok to use the 50 amp breaker for both the HH175 and the stickmate 235?  Just to verify what was already said.  I have about 50 ft of 10-3  extention cord that I use with my hobart handler 175, is it ok to use it with the 235 machine also.  I hope so because I priced some 6-3 cord and it was going to cost me about $1.20/ft to make a new cord.Thanks.
Reply:Yes you can use the number 10 as an extension for the 235.  But, I would use another circuit for the 175, it is sposed to be ran on a 20A breaker.  Back to the cord, the number 10 is fine for use on this 50A circuit as a WELDER cord for this type of welder.  Not to be used as a continious 50A extension cord.www.urkafarms.com
Reply:Thanks for the information.  I had a 30A breaker on that HH175, I didn't realize that it was sposed to be ran on a 20A breaker.  I thought I read a post a while back that said that the HH175 could be ran on a higher breaker because of some kinda internal protection built in the machine?  Anybody remember something like that?
Reply:Here is the thread I am thinking about. http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread...=HH175+breaker
Reply:Apparently it can, its just listed with a 20 in the manual.www.urkafarms.com
Reply:Both the HH-135 and HH175 have a circuit breaker in the transformer primary, in addition to the thermal switch.  It's located on the back of these units, near the gas input.  The 20 amp breaker recommendation for the shop supply wiring is a minimum.  Much less than that, and you'd have trips.  You could use a bigger breaker.  Consider, for example, you could safely run either one off a circuit with a 100 amp breaker, provided the primary breaker in the unit was always operating properly.  But nomally, it's a good thing to use the recommended breaker in the shop wiring just in case the breaker in the welding unit fails or a short develops ahead of it.  That way, you might avoid having a Chernobyl in your shop.
Reply:The breakers are designed to protect the conductors they are feeding.  If too much amperage is drawn, the breaker trips (protects the conductors from overheating - fire).Just make sure the cable / wire you use, has the correct current capacity for the breaker you use.David
Reply:OP,,, 20A is listed as the max breaker size for 175.  I know we have been over this before and there seems to be a common concensus that because it has its own internal thermal it can be ran on larger circuits,,,, but it isnt listed that way.www.urkafarms.com
Reply:Sberry,I was looking through my owners manual yesterday and also noticed that it said 20A "Max" breaker size.  I fully believe, as the others have said, that it can be run safely on bigger circuits but I agree that that is what causes all the confusion.  I guess it may be more appropriate if it said "Minimum"?
Reply:The 20 Amp breaker recommended by Hobart is the safe way to go so they recommend it for product liability purposes.  The HH-135 and 175 units have a breaker around 20 amp rating in the primary circuit as well as a thermal trip device that's supposed to auto reset.  But, as I noted before, as long as the breaker on the welder operates properly, and you have confidence in it, there is no reason you can't run either unit off a heavy duty circuit with 50 or 100 amp breakers and bus bars for wiring.  However, if you do this, realize that you lose the backup safety of having a supply circuit that will trip at about the max overload current the welder will draw, i.e. somwhat over 20 amps. Fortunately, most breakers fail open.  But in the unlikely event you were tied to a 50 or 100 amp circuit and an internal  short  developed concurrently with a breaker weld-over on your machine (that's two failures, not likely to happen together), then you are probably going to have a melt-down or at least suffer a lot more damage until the heavy duty breaker finally trips, if it ever does.  That's the rationale behind matching the supply and welder breakers closely, even if the supply circuit has heavy wiring  capable of greater current flow than needed.