Advice for wiring new welder

[Bo Duke]

Hey ya'll. Got a new welder the other day. Uncle gave it to me for free. Problem I have is my garage does not have its own power service, its detached and the current power supply comes from the house underground. I have a dedicated 10/2 220v wire for my air compressor. I'm sure I need to go bigger, how big? its 116ft from the panel in the house to the garage. Any advice is appreciated.

[lilred]

How are you getting 220 out of 10/2? Do you have a separate breaker box? I Ran 6/3 to the garage off of a 220 breaker in the basement. Judging by the amperage of the welder you probably need 2/3 copper. How far from the breaker box is it?

[Bo Duke]

Hey ya'll. Got a new welder the other day. Uncle gave it to me for free. Problem I have is my garage does not have its own power service, its detached and the current power supply comes from the house underground. I have a dedicated 10/2 220v wire for my air compressor. I'm sure I need to go bigger, how big? its 116ft from the panel in the house to the garage. Any advice is appreciated.

116ft

10/2 actually has 3 wires. Breaker box is in the house and currently the 10/2 is ran directly to the 220v outlet in the garage.

[lilred]

With 3 wires you are still missing a wire. Should be 2 power a ground and a neutral.
I'd definitely go atleast 6 gauge. Maybe even 4 to a breaker box in the garage and then to the welder.

[Bo Duke]

With 3 wires you are still missing a wire. Should be 2 power a ground and a neutral.
I'd definitely go atleast 6 gauge. Maybe even 4 to a breaker box in the garage and then to the welder.

You dont really need that extra wire lol. But yeah I"ve been shopping around, gunna be about $300 for a 4ga 4 strand service entrance wire.

[old school truck dude]

116 ft is a long ways for a unit requiring this much current. Very easy to get a heck of a fire started in a hurry. Also it will severely damage the welding machine by running it with insufficient voltage and amperage. Theres quite a bit of voltage drop on 116 ft especially at that current rate, thats pretty high. At 200 volts it needs 138 amps continuous to run!! Thats nearly 3 times as much as a regular stick machine buzzbox, they run on 45-50 amps. If you can get 230 volts to it, that still needs at least 120 amps continuous available - see what I mean? You need to have a 200 amp service to the house 1st of all, if you only have 100 that wont work at all, just be kickin breakers and gettin wires hot. Its a lot more than you might think, especially when youre dealing with very high amperage units like this welding machine.

Example:

240 volt Single-Phase Example: What is the operating voltage of a 44 ampere, 240 volt, single-phase load located 160 feet from the panelboard, if it is wired with No. 6 conductors, Figure 5?

(a) 233.1 volts              (b) 230.8 volts              (c) 228.4 volts              (d) 233.4 volts

Answer: (a) 233.1 volts

Voltage Drop = I x R

"I" is equal to 44 amperes

"R" is equal to 0.157 ohms (Chapter 9, Table 9: (.49 ohm/1,000 feet) x 320 feet

Voltage Drop = 44 amperes x 0.157 ohms

Voltage Drop = 6.9 volts, (6.9 volts/240 volts = 2.9% volts drop)

Operating Voltage = 240 volts – 6.9 volts

Operating Voltage = 233.1 volts

Its fairly complicated, and if you dont do the math, you may regret it  

[Bo Duke]

Got it. I understand all that. The 130amp draw would only be if I have the welder maxed out which will never happen. What I figured out was I'll be running a 2-2-2-4 service wire to a 125amp sub panel in my garage then wire the welder into the panel along with my air compressor.

[lilred]

Didn't even think of the service amperage, never had that issue lol. Sounds like a pricey job. Wonder what they would charge to run 200a service to the garage. My neighbor has 2 services, gets a bill for the house and the garage separate lol

[old school truck dude]

Didn't even think of the service amperage, never had that issue lol. Sounds like a pricey job. Wonder what they would charge to run 200a service to the garage. My neighbor has 2 services, gets a bill for the house and the garage separate lol

By the time you buy the box and all the cable, big money..  Separate service is best way to go, that way accidents in the shop dont involve the house

[old school truck dude]

Got it. I understand all that. The 130amp draw would only be if I have the welder maxed out which will never happen. What I figured out was I'll be running a 2-2-2-4 service wire to a 125amp sub panel in my garage then wire the welder into the panel along with my air compressor.

If you accidentally short your work lead to the work, the machine will peak out, sometimes the work lead will get stuck to the work, and then there you are running to the machine to shut it off before something happens

[Bo Duke]

Got it. I understand all that. The 130amp draw would only be if I have the welder maxed out which will never happen. What I figured out was I'll be running a 2-2-2-4 service wire to a 125amp sub panel in my garage then wire the welder into the panel along with my air compressor.

If you accidentally short your work lead to the work, the machine will peak out, sometimes the work lead will get stuck to the work, and then there you are running to the machine to shut it off before something happens

Yeah, I'm going to check on the second service but that will probably be pricey to since there isnt a service panel at all in the garage. Im sure i would need a licensed electrician to come out and install a panel and have it inspected before the power company would hook a service to it. I'll most likely do the sub panel. Run a 125amp breaker in the house and put the welder on a 75-100 amp breaker in the sub panel.

[J.C.]

I would suggest separate service also.

[Bo Duke]

I would suggest separate service also.

I don't have that kinda money dude. Wish I could.