Quote Originally Posted by Rambozo View Post
Well UPS says my 140ST should be here today. Before it gets here I made up a few accessories to get started. Since I've heard here that these machines can be damaged by having the hot and neutral swapped when running on 120VAC, I made a special plug to let me know if the outlet is wired wrong. I hot glued in a small neon bulb that will make the plug glow when the wiring is good. It will alert me to a hot and neutral swap and/or an open ground. Since this will primarily be a portable welder, I'm sure I'll run into all manner of outlets, and I've seen so many wired backwards. This way I will always have a test before I power up the welder.

I also made this adapter to let me plug into 240VAC. Around here I almost never see NEMA 6-50 outlets. All the older buildings have 10-50 or 10-30 and any new construction after 2000 is almost always 14-50 or 14-30 as there was a local code change requiring a separate neutral line on 240 outlets. My shop is also wired with 14-50 One nice thing about this plug is that since I left the neutral blade out, it will fit in 14-30, 14-50, or even a 14-60. That works for most home stove and dryer plugs, too. I'm sure I'll have to make up a few other adapters, but this one will cover a lot, and should fit in the case. This way I can use standard heavy extension cords when running on 120 or 240. So I don't need to drag around a dedicated 240 cord.

Now I just need to find the perfect argon bottle. I have a few options, but I'll wait and see how things look once it's here. Once I test the function and give it a good burn-in, I have a few mods I want to do, too.
Those are great ideas, Rambozo. I really like your mod of the 240V plug. Really takes the concept of a short pigtail to the extreme! I might "borrow" your idea on the neon bulb. That is pure genius. Cheers.