Question about power cord lenght

I was wondering what the max lenght is for the power cord before I have to worry about a drop in amps. My shop is 24' by 24' and I couldnt say that Ill be in just one place welding. The attached cord looks to be roughly 6'. How much longer can I run a 220 extension cord?


Thanks

This is more of an electrical question than a welding question and I'm sorry for the delay on the answer.

We have so many topics all on the same page in the forums it was off my screen and I simply did not see it, as I check here daily. Our fault for having too much on one page. I will see if we can not shorten the list in the future and scroll down for now, or see if the forum can mail support when there are new posts here.

The welders cord is design to work from the outlet. So you need to use a large enough gauge wire from the outlet to your new outlet on your extension cord. You can go with 6 gauge and be safe though 10 is good for 30 amps. You didn't mention which welder but most of ours work with 30 amps?

There are electrical rules on the current (15, 20, 30, 50 amps, etc) and wire size and length. You can google for more information if this is not enough or check with an electrical friend.

Northern Tool sells a real nice 25ft cord they say is good for 50A. It is 8 AWG and has 6-50 NEMA plugs molded on. They sell it for ~$99. I don't think you could buy the parts for that much. US Code does list 6 AWG for 50A.

I too was thinking about replacing the original power cord on my PP256 with something larger and longer, but didn't want to create a warranty issue. So I made this extension cord. I know it will incur the wrath of some of our electrician members or be a "Trip Hazard", but I like to use stuff I have on hand. I saved this 30' length of type SE, XHHW CDRS 3 #6awg from our kitchen remodel. That XHHW is tuff stuff. The only cost was the male and female plugs and a square box. I haven't used it yet, but since my welder outlet is at the end of my shop, by the big doors, this would allow to reach past the center area and outside also. The yellow wire, 12awg XHHW, is for the High Frequency ground connection. Yes I know, by another thread, bigger would be better.

Hammered, Mike made some good points and I'm guessing you will be fine with 10 AWG since your distance is relatively short - though it is hard to tell without knowing the welders current draw.

dirtyfarmer, your cord looks good to me especially since the ground connection internal to the welder is chassis mounted, so the combination of the 6 AWG and 12 AWG should make a more than adequate HF ground.

:)

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Originally Posted by kenwhite

dirtyfarmer, your cord looks good to me especially since the ground connection internal to the welder is chassis mounted, so the combination of the 6 AWG and 12 AWG should make a more than adequate HF ground.

:)

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I just thought there might be some NEC taboo about a portable extension cord made from SE cable instead of SO or SOW or the like.

I know I'm not going to win any awards from the Underwriter's Laboratory for this either, but I bought a 25' 12GA extension cord, cut off the ends off of it, and spliced it permanently onto the end of my Super200P's power cable. I recall 12GA was at least as large (I think might have even been one step up in thickness) than the conductors in the machine's original cable.

I made the splice by prepping the ends of the conductors in a "staggered" manner, to add some insurance they will never directly touch each other. I soldered them together, and slipped some shrink wrap tubing over the connections. Then I slipped a tight-fitting length of extra extension cable jacket material over the entire spliced joint, overlapping each ends, and secured it with small zipties. It was a tight fit, but it might even be slightly waterproof, or at least water resistant.

This is not as nice as having a continuous length of cable all the way, but I figure its better than having a 30 amp plug/receptable in the middle to have to drag around and possibly trip over. I figured I'd rather have a neat, tidy splice so I could still coil up the wire and handle it easily.

If its not too much trouble could you list me as a beneficiary on your insurance policies? Heck I'll even pay the premiums...:D

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Originally Posted by jakeru

I know I'm not going to win any awards from the NEC for this either, but I bought a 25' 12GA extension cord, cut off the ends off of it, and spliced it permanently onto the end of my Super200P's power cable. I recall 12GA was at least as large (I think might have even been one step up in thickness) than the conductors in the machine's original cable.

I figured I'd rather have a neat, tidy splice so I could still coil up the wire and handle it easily, than have a bulky box in the middle of the cable if I had extended it by plugging in an extra extension cable (with a 30-AMP rated plug/receptacle in the middle.)

I made the splice by prepping the ends of the conductors in a "staggered" manner, to add some insurance they will never directly touch each other. I soldered them together, and slipped some shrink wrap tubing over the connections. Then I slipped a tight-fitting length of extra extension cable jacket material over the entire spliced joint, overlapping each ends, and secured it with small zipties. It was a tight fit, but it might even be slightly waterproof, or at least water resistant.

This is not as nice as having a continuous length of cable all the way, but I figure its better than having a 30 amp plug/receptable in the middle to have to drag around.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by jakeru

I know I'm not going to win any awards from the Underwriter's Laboratory for this either, but I bought a 25' 12GA extension cord, cut off the ends off of it, and spliced it permanently onto the end of my Super200P's power cable. I recall 12GA was at least as large (I think might have even been one step up in thickness) than the conductors in the machine's original cable.

I made the splice by prepping the ends of the conductors in a "staggered" manner, to add some insurance they will never directly touch each other. I soldered them together, and slipped some shrink wrap tubing over the connections. Then I slipped a tight-fitting length of extra extension cable jacket material over the entire spliced joint, overlapping each ends, and secured it with small zipties. It was a tight fit, but it might even be slightly waterproof, or at least water resistant.

This is not as nice as having a continuous length of cable all the way, but I figure its better than having a 30 amp plug/receptable in the middle to have to drag around and possibly trip over. I figured I'd rather have a neat, tidy splice so I could still coil up the wire and handle it easily.

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Looks like a nice clean connection - I was kind of thinking the same thing. I ma going to be doing a lot of boat fab so the machine will have to travel all over the the shop. I did opt for a sperate cord fo use when I need to move from the work desk. I already have 75' run from the pannel to the outlet, then adding another 30' seemed like too much wire. So I built up an extention wire out of 6 awg hots and 10 guage groud. So now I can hook up the long cord if I need it other wise I will just use the factory cord to the outlet at the desk

For my stick welder I just got longer cables. Is that not possible with these machines?

If your going to put a long cord on your machine at least take the cover off and make your connections inside the machine (no splices in the middle). Just a pet peve of mine.... and L&I... OSHA... NEC. I've been on a job site where contractors have been fined for electrical tape on there damaged tool cords rather than replacing them.