Welder Popping breaker switch

By turbolaser (**)

Date 05-26-2007 12:30

Is the breaker dedicated to the welder or is there other things running off that same breaker?

By mdu

Date 05-26-2007 12:32 Edited 05-26-2007 12:35

Other stuff is connected to the breaker. It is the house breaker. The welder is the only thing connected to that outlet though.

By turbolaser (**)

Date 05-26-2007 15:55

Your breaker is rated at 20 amps of draw. That is a draw from everything connected to that breaker, not 20 amps per outlet. The only way that breaker can handle your welder is if that breaker was wired so that the only outlet wired to it was the welder outlet. Don't try putting a bigger breaker in to replace that 20 amp one either. The amperage of the breaker is relative to the wire size running to your outlets/lights connected to it. It is not to difficult to wire up a dedicated outlet/breaker 120v for your welder. Other option is just make sure everything else hooked to your current breaker is turned off so the only load on the breaker is your welder.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 05-26-2007 18:35 Edited 05-26-2007 18:39

If its the amps, is it possible to get some kind of adapter to let me use the dry outlet which is 220v/30amp?

You could make up a cord from a dryer cord to do this....HOWEVER you need to know enough about wiring to do it correctly and safely. Basically you would be leaving one leg of the 220 out of the circut and only using one "hot" leg, a netrual, and earth ground. "Black + Red or black+black will be the hot legs if it is wired correctly in the house...white will be netrual and the bare wire is your earth ground....if you do not have an earth ground to use in your house circut to your dryer DO NOT DO THIS."   If your dryer connection is not four prong if its only three prong then it does not have an earth ground.

Another thing to consider is a rule of thumb on circut breakers is that it should be about 20% higher than the actual load you expect to carry on the circut. Your wiring must be of capacity/size to properly carry the load of the current(amps) as well. Lots of house wiring is 12ga which is only going to handle about 23 amps continuosly....that means it will be close or at its overheating state. When the wire overheats its resistance to current increases dramatically...this will impose more of a load on the circut thus causing the breaker to trip as well as having too much load on it to begin with.

You really need a dedicated circut for your welder....I would recommend a 10ga romex (three wire with sheath) connected to a 30 amp breaker.   A qualified electrician would not charge too much to do this for you if you just want an outdoor plugin near your homes outside disconnect switch. You can do it yourself as well but you need to be familiar with dealing with electricity and simple house wiring before I can say you would be safe. There are a lot of websites that give detailed explanation on adding circuts to your home and how to go about doing it. And doing it yourself is not a bad way to go as long as you are well armed with information and you carefully apply it.

By mdu

Date 05-26-2007 19:54 Edited 05-26-2007 19:56

Thanks for all the replies. The breaker states that there is 125 amps max, just that outlet is labeled at 20amps. I will try shutting off some stuff first, if that doesn't work then will go the electrician route.