Wiring the garage for a welder...

[TKingsbury]

An electrician I know said DO NOT use aluminum wire! He said the aluminum will corrode and the connections get bad fast. Bad connection=high heat=fire risk. Buy copper.

Travis. .

 

[rbattelle]

An electrician I know said DO NOT use aluminum wire! He said the aluminum will corrode and the connections get bad fast. Bad connection=high heat=fire risk. Buy copper.

Travis. .

As far as I know this was true many years ago but no longer on small-gage feeder wire as long as NOALOX (or equivalent) is used on the connections.



-Ryan

 

[pcarlson]

John,



When I built my shop I ran 8 gauge on a 40 amp circuit for my future welder. I would recommend nothing smaller even if you don't need NOW. You never know, you might get a bigger welder someday.



Pat

 

[Bigsaint]

I just wired in a 6-50r with a twin 50 amp breaker and 6 gauge wire for my Miller 251 today. Man that 6 gauge is a PITA to work with.

 

[starkmr]

jaderhold,



Did I read your post correctly? You used #10 wire on a 50 amp breaker? If that is so, NEC requires that you use a #6 wire at a minimum (copper). This is important if you ever decide to sell your place and your buyer has a home inspection done. #10 wire will get hot if it doesn't trip the breaker and thus becomes a fire hazard. I understand that your machine has it's maximum requirements and you probably won't overload while using it. However if you ever use the outlet for something else that has a higher current requirement, you are going to have problems



I hope I just misunderstood your post.



Big saint; yes the larger the wire size, the harder it is to work with. That is why your junction box has size requirements as well. Try working with 500kcmil or larger sometime, that'll try your patience.



pcarlson; you are correct about the #8 for a 40 amp breaker, that is the minimum required wire size for that situation.





Mike

 

[JAderhold]

Starkmr

Yes when i first ran the wiring for my welder i did the minimum required to get the circut up and running using what i had on hand, since then the 50 amp breaker has been swapped out for a 30 amp breaker and the 50 amp breaker no powers a circut ran with #6/2 w/ground power cable, which is rated 55 amps.

Maybe this clears up the oringal statements. And as far my place ever being for sale... ... ... . NEVER i wiill not sale my little corner of the world... especially since it is paid for.

Thanks for the input

Eddie

 

[starkmr]

Well alrighty then!!! I was just concerned that you had a fire hazard going there and I'm glad you got it taken care of!!!



Don't blame you on not selling!! It would be hard to start over again!!





Mike

 

[WVanHemert]

Please also understand bigger is not always better, larger wire in a box built for 6 guage might end up being a hazard, there needs to be room in the box to bend and fold the wire as required when putting in the plug.



If you decide to use a larger wire, upsize the box and plug appropriately.



Never, Never, Never put a larger breaker than what the wire is rated for, if you have a fire from this your insurance will not cover it, even if the size of wire is not the culprit.



Number 6 and a 50 amp breaker is what the device is calling for, that is what you should run. You will need a double pole breaker because you need 220v and a single pole breaker cannot provide this.