220V wiring

tkeaton

tkeaton

Master Velocipede Alchemist
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Chattanooga
how much should i expect to spend to have 220v run (welding purposes) here in raleigh, also, any electricians i should consider over others in the area? thanks guys
 
I had to run an outlet this spring when I upgraded welders. I bought the materials locally and ran the wire myself. I have less than $75 in material and took an afternoon to do the work. My recepticle is about 15ft from my panel. One thing I can think of that may cost more is how much room do you have in your breaker box? You will need 2 spaces for the double pole breaker. If you don't you may have to pick up a 2 circiut single pole breaker to free up the space for the big breaker.
 
most residential house calls will run ya around $65/hr, and most will ding ya for a house call cost on top of that. If you can find a jack of all trades kinda guy, he will probably give you a better price. Or you can go to lowes/home depot and check out their contractors for an electrician. Your biggest expense will be the wire...as it can be pretty pricey, especially if you have a far span to run since youll need a higher guage.

Are you in Raleigh? I can come wire up a 220 for ya for a small fee. my brother is an eletrician/electrical engineer, I used to work w/ him for a few years as the grunt man.
 
its very easy. get a 10/3 romex (or whatever will handle the amps you plan to put on it) and connect your white and black leads to each terminal on the breaker. connect the bare copper wire (or green) to the ground bar. then run wire and hook up to the plug. make sure the ground is in the center on the plug and the white and black are on either side. You don't need a wire with 4 leads, thats for 220V appliances and is not needed for a welder. Look at the prices of wire. Some 4 lead wires are cheaper than 3 lead wires. You can use the 4 lead wire, just don't use one of the wires.

also, note what type of beaker you have (square D, simmons, etc) and the type of connection because you'll need to get the same at Lowes/Home Depot, etc.

It really doesn't matter what color goes where as long as you know where to connect them, but I'm trying to tell you standards so someone else down the line will generally know what you did and also to keep things simple. Your application may be different.

If the wire is not running inside a wall, I'd suggest running it in conduit if it is placed in a manner that is easily damaged, etc. Also, it may be easier to use the existing outlet, just make an extension cord to reach where you need to go.


Rob
 
rockcity said:
Also, it may be easier to use the existing outlet, just make an extension cord to reach where you need to go.


Rob
Click to expand...


this is the route i took, and works great for me, since my laundry room is close to the garage.
 
what about the difference in the outlet itself? the dryer uses a different type than the welder does......they make adapters? so i can just switch when i need to?
 
Nah, I just made an extension cord with the dryer plug on one end and a welder socket on the other. Unplug the dryer, plug in the welder.
 
i guess i could have figured that out

this summer school thing is killin brain cells

wait...maybe its the :beer:

thanks anyways guys
 
You don't need to use a dryer plug for 220.
For your welder you probably only need a 20amp dedicated circuit (EDIT: not necessarily. For MY welder it's all I need).

It took about 20 minutes to put mine in the wall. It's right under the panel in my shed. I just used about 3 feet of 10-3 wire, a 20a breaker, a pop-in wall box, and the cover & receptacle. It's a 20 amp version you can get a Lowe's or whatever.

edit, cuz there's better, less confusing info in other posts.
 

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kilby said:
You don't need to use a dryer plug for 220.
For your welder you probably only need a 20amp dedicated circuit (ie - ALL you will run off the circuit is the welder by itself). It took about 20 minutes to put mine in the wall. It's right under the panel in my shed. I just used about 3 feet of 10-3 wire, a 20a breaker, a pop-in wall box, and the cover & receptacle. It's a 20 amp version you can get a Lowe's or whatever.

This is the type of receptacle I use. My welder has a standard 3 prong plug, but some may have the cross plug which is why the 20a recept. has the hole w/ the extra shape on the left (whatever you call that). No reason for the different shaped plug... It's just to prevent you from plugging a dedicated 220 plug into a standard wall outlet, and blowing a breaker.
Click to expand...

So you have a 220 volt circuit wired into a 110 volt outlet? yeah, it'll work, but holy shit, first time someone plugs a shop vac into that outlet it's gonna suck their skin off!

If you're gonna go that route, I'd put "220 volt!" on a BIG fawkin sign right above the outlet. It'll never poass code though, should you ever sell the house, or gawdforbid have a fire, and the inspector comes lookin...you're fawked.

Those dryer style plugs are pricy as hell though... I can understand the temptation for doing what Kilby did.
 
Yeah, they make 220V plugs like the 110V plug you have shown... but the flat should be on the right side.
 
That funny looking wall socket looks confusing. Plus, with MOST welders, you want a minimum of 20-30 amps, which would max this funny looking 220V outlet out. Might as well make it so you can run a full 50 amps or so. May be a little more $$$ now, but you won't have to do it twice if you ever get a larger welder. Plus, you'll never have to keep walking back to the breaker box to reset the breaker.

If you make an extension cord, don't use romex. Use that insulated black wire, which has all the leads protected by the black insulation, paper cord, and lead insulation. Very similar to a standard 110V extension cord, but much larger. Its not very expensive, maybe $.50-.75/foot at a local electrical supply. Local electrical supplies usually have "drops" that range up to about 50' for cheap.

Rob
 
Use a 3 blade prong (50 amp) dryer plug. Its the cheapest (bout $10) and the outlet is a little cheaper than the others as well. also, sometimes its cheaper to buy a dryer plug and wire combo and re-wire the welder. Just look all of your options and look at amp ratings on the plugs and outlets.

I'm no electrician, I'm just speaking from doing it many times before.


Rob
 
the 220 that uses a standard 110 outlet is whats called a 220/110. Its 220v but uses a 110v socket. The only difference is its real low amperage. Normally it should just look like its winking so other normal 110 plugs couldnt be plugged into it.

IMO, dont cut corners and half ass it. Wire the thing up with a dedicated 220v 3 prong receptacle and get the right amperage breaker.
 
I used 6/3 for 35ft, drier plug/welder plug. I run an older Lincoln stick welder on it. The whole thing cost about $150 but i will never worry about any problems. I am also going run it through a garden hose with the ends cut off for some cut protection.

It might be over will but i can weld it by breeze way between the house or in drive way behind the garage with no problems.
 
StudNuts said:
the 220 that uses a standard 110 outlet is whats called a 220/110. Its 220v but uses a 110v socket. The only difference is its real low amperage. Normally it should just look like its winking so other normal 110 plugs couldnt be plugged into it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I've got going on...



I put it in that way based on the specs for my welder. It's not very big. In fact, I used it all the time on a 110/15 circuit and never blew it. This breaker is rated up to 20a 220v. The outlet is rated to the same. I don't think I'll be using the full draw, but I wanted it on its own circuit.

If you're likely to have a major welding apparatus hooked up, my solution isn't for you.

And, no, the shop vac doesn't suck my skin off. :flipoff2:
 
The first thing you need to do is look on your welder and find the amp draw. Some of these jackleg ideas might work if you have a small buzz box. My welder is on a 40 amp breaker and I pop the breaker after some extended welding.
 
I used a 50amp recptacle. The wire was 6/2 conductor romex with a ground and connected to a 50amp breaker. This circiut is plenty big enough to run anything I need at home. If you are going to make a drop cord the romex is too stiff, I believe they refer to the style cord as "SO" cord.
 
my buzz box used to be on a 30 amp breaker and I kept tripping all the time. Now I got it on a 50 amp and never any worries. Sometimes I use it at a buddy's house and we plug it into the dryer plug and trip the breaker sometimes when TIG welding.

Don't do it half ass. go with the right stuff the first time if you even think you'll need a larger welder in the future.

Rob
 
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