OP
All things welding
- Thread starter AirborneTexasRanger
- Start date
The problem with having #10 wire on a 70 amp breaker is now the wire becomes the fuse. I understand down stream you have 30 a breakers but still not proper protection for wire in use
OP
That's true & I may have misremembered. I'll check when I get home to make sure.
Edit: I was wrong, it's a 60 amp breaker.
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I got to this point before having to quit for the nuggets game
OP
No time at all with a Diablo spade bit, my milwaukee 1/2" drill and 12ah battery
OP
I checked the breaker & it's a 60 amp, then I remembered why I set it up this way. This is a lot so bear with me.
The 60 amp breaker on the main panel feeds a 100 amp sub panel through 10/3 wire. I went with 100 amp only because I needed the 8 slots & this was readily available. 2 single pole 20 amp breakers for the lights, garage door openers, outlets & fans. Then 2 double pole 30 amp breakers for my air compressor & welder.
None of these things are constantly drawing power. I'm really only using 30 amps at a time if that. On the off chance that the air compressor kicks on (typically lasts about 30sec) while I'm welding, the 60 amp won't trip. The 10/3 can handle it only for a very short amount of time & that rarely occurs.
If I was constantly drawing the full 60 or 100 amps through the 10/3 wire then yes it would definitely fail.
Edit: I just realized I replied to my own message
No sparks, smoke or weird noises...
OP
If anyone is interested, here's my setup for welding. I got some 10 ga extension cord wire from my Dad & hard wired the wall junction box to a junction box on my welding cart which splits into 2 outlets, one for each machine.
The welding cart is from a Lincoln Power Wave that my last employer was throwing out which I modified to hold 4 bottles. I used some Lincoln wire spools to store all the hoses, leads, torches, etc. Another company I worked for laser cut a bunch of bottle hooks & I had asked for 4 sets of there were extras. I made some tungsten and Tig rod canister holders from some aluminum drops. I added the front handle & a bunch of other little things from scrap parts I found over the years.
The welding cart is from a Lincoln Power Wave that my last employer was throwing out which I modified to hold 4 bottles. I used some Lincoln wire spools to store all the hoses, leads, torches, etc. Another company I worked for laser cut a bunch of bottle hooks & I had asked for 4 sets of there were extras. I made some tungsten and Tig rod canister holders from some aluminum drops. I added the front handle & a bunch of other little things from scrap parts I found over the years.
Mine didn’t start sparking and losing power until after I used my plasma for a couple days.
My breaker panel went bad and I had to replace it.