Ok
My welding has gone up a notch and I'm into projects that i would feel a lot better about if I used a 175 instead of my weldpak 110 (a great little welder to learn on).

I am not sure what I need to do.
I checked our dryer, but it is gas and has a normal outlet.
I checked the Central air and it had it's own box (Pictures Here) that looked to have 220 service to it.

I then checked the main box with my mulitmeter and it read 120 on both positives comining in and going to the circuit board.

I then checked the wire coming in and it looks to be 0 ga stranded aluminum, it had no markings, but it was thicker than some 2 ga stranded I had laying around.

Not sure what my next step is to run the welder.

Just run a 220 50 amp box and outlet that matched the MM175 plug?
Do I need upgraded service from the power company, if so, is this expensive? I have burried cables, but I would assume stranded 0 ga should do the trick.

Any help/advice would be a great help.

Thanks

Josh

BTW, I live in NJ (PSEG is our power Co if that matters).

 

I would do just as you suggested. Run a new circuit for the welder.
6/2 NM off a 2 pole 50 amp breaker to a location for the receptacle.
I assume the receptacle/plug is a 50 amp/250 volt.

 

Thanks

Not sure, but it kind of looked like that in the picture of the extention cord for it, don't have the welder yet.
Wanted to get the plan in place before I start getting the parts together.

 

Don't try to use any of the existing circuits in your house. That isn't practical. Instead, install a new breaker and a new circuit. The electrical specifications of your welder will tell you exactly what size circuit you need.

To determine if you need to upgrade your service, you will need a demand load calculation. That calculation depends on the square footage of your house and what appliances you currently have. We can help you with that calculation if you're willing to answer 15 or 20 questions about your house.

If a service upgrade is required, then only the power company can decide if those underground wires need replacing. And only the power company can replace them. They may not charge you if they think the service upgrade will allow them to sell you more energy.

 

Actually John here in NY the customer is responsible for underground laterals. Even transformer pads and primary. I believe there is an allowance for a certain amount.

 

Not sure if I can answer the questions, but I'll give it a go.
Do you have a link to the questions?

 

[list=1][*]How many square feet is your house?[*]Gas or electric home heat? If electric, how many KW?[*]Gas or electric water heat? If electric, how many water heaters?[*]Gas or electric clothes drying? If electric, how many dryers?[*]Gas or electric cooking? If electric, how many appliances, not counting microwaves (range, oven, etc)?[*]How many kitchens?[*]How many refrigerators?[*]How many garbage disposals?[*]How many dishwashers?[*]How many microwaves?[*]Hot tub? If so, how many KW is the heating?[*]How many jacuzzi bathroom tubs?[*]How many tons of air conditioning, if any?[*]Kiln?[*]Swimming pool?[/list=1]

 

1 - 2250
2 - Gas
3 - Gas
4 - Gas
5 - Gas
6 - 1
7 - 3 refrigorators 1 freezer
8 - 1 Garbage disposal, but I'll never use while i'm welding ;-)
9 - 1
10 - 1
11 - no
12 - none
13 - not sure, one big sucker though, installed 2 years ago. Lenox HS26
14 - fireplace, no kiln
15 - No swimming pool

 

Miller allows a number 14 wire and a 20A breaker for the 175, however the 14 is too light for my tastes. Use the 12 20 setup. And the amount of aditional load applied is negligable unless you are a fine line to start with and that would probably be obvious. The 20A breaker is max for this machine no matter what wire you put on it. I think thats what you were after.

 

Depending on the A/C, your current pre-welder demand load is approximately:

2 ton: 84 amps
3 ton: 89 amps
4 ton: 97 amps
5 ton: 110 amps

A large welder will add about 37 amps to the demand.

 

But he doesnt have a large one, he has one that pulls 20, intermitantly. It is going to take a 6-50-R recept,, not sure if it comes with it or not. If you ran a 10 wire you wouldnt need to change wire if you upgrade to a MM210. You will love the difference in your new machine and old one,, 2 different classes. Personally I like 030 solid wire ( get the Hobart Weld It, I tend to like ER70S-6) 10# spool for that machine and C25 shielding gas. It will run 035 wire but it needs to run wide open to run it well.

 

Thanks for the input folks

I'll post back when I get this thing done.

Josh

 

Update to what I picked up and some more questions.
Picks

50 amp circuit breaker
50 amp 2-pole 3 wire grounding outlet

in the pictures run 3 wires total

run one hot (black) from one of the breaker holes to one of the verticals

run one hot (red or white) from the other one of the breaker holes to the other one of the verticals (mark black)

run the other wire to the ground (the one in the middle)

wire should be 8 awg, but I think I'll run 6 awg

Now, does it matter which hot wire is which?
I see no +/- signs anywhere and everything I've read dosen't mention it, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Thanks again

Josh

 

Thanks folks

It is all installed and working great.
Total expense
less than $75

and I learned something new.

Total install took about 1 hour

6 awg is not the easiest stuff to work with.
really doesn't like tight bends.

next step is to go to the electrical supply house and have them run me enough wire for a 50' extension cord.
I am thinking 2 awg will do the trick, but I'll talk it over with them.

It won't be the lightest or most flexible cord I ever used

Thanks Again.

 

greasyjeep

The advice sberry27 gave you was right on, for the Millermatic 175 mig 240volt model welder .

It comes with a 50amp plug and the 6-50R ,receptacle cant be any less than the breaker,hence a 50amp breaker .

The circuit wiring for a 20 percent duty cycle welder ,which is off for 8 minutes of every 10 mins,can be, and is designed to be 14 AWG to match this 19.5 amp welder at 240v. and a DC of 20 percent.
I agree that 12AWG is a better choice if the run is not too long and you can push the DC some more.

You have asked for more trouble than was neccessary by installing 6AWG circuit wiring,as per speedopeteo good grief!

If you ran 6AWG with 4 wires ,you may as well go ahead and install a 50amp subpanel at the end of it and not only supply this 175 welder out of it ,but some more things.

Too bad you did not install the receptacle where it was needed,where you would not need a 50 foot extension cord.

The cord on your welder will likely not be any larger than 14 AWG and definitley no larger than 12AWG.

Why an extension cord?

Why not remove the existing cord and replace with a 12AWG type SO hard service cord and a 6-50P plug on the end?
Go one size up from what the welder has originally.

2AWG is out of the question good grief!

That is 80 amp stuff,or did you inherit some money!

DL

 

When I get my new compressor I will install a second breaker box and run 3-4 outlests out of it.
Welder
Compressor
Plasma Cutter
Some other big toy.

The reason for the extension cord is that my little jeep barely fits in the garage.
TJ with 4.5 springs on 35s
My big jeep (83 Cherokee SJ) doesn't stand a chance at getting in.

I'd have to drive in on the wheels.

I'm going to have to run a cord out to it and use flux core wire when doing frame and suspention work on it.

Thanks again