Can I put on a longer cord?

[handirifle]

I have a Campbell Huasfeld (sp?) Mig welder, 85 amp, not a heavy duty beast, but it's what I have. My new shop has two seperate, dedicated 20 amp circuits for the welder, in different locations in the shop, but I still find the need for further reach. My delima is that at times the 8' welding cables are too short, and if working on something of size, that can't be moved, the 6' power chord will not allow the unit to be where I need it.

As far as I can tell (haven't pulled the panel off to look) the power chord is 14ga wire. Can I put on a longer power chord and still get full power from the machine? Haven't looked to see, first what ga the power cord is (pretty sure 14 though), and second, if a 12ga will fit through the cabinet.

How long could I go with existing ga wire before it gets detrimental to power?

 

[tommu56]

If you have the 20 amp Receptacle (one T shaped slot) I would look for a 20 amp extension cord 12 guage minimum 10 gauge better

NEMA 5-20R

tom

 

[LD1]

I agree, why not just use a 10ga extension cord and be done.

 

[kencunningham]

I have a 135 amp mig welder that i used to weld up angle iron for a building frame. I ran that off of a 100 ft 10 gauge extension cord and it worked just fine.

 

[kennyd]

I replaced the 6' 12/2 cord on my Miller 210 with 25' of 10/2 SO cord and a new plug the day after I got it home.

 

[captaincrab55]

I have a 135 amp mig welder that i used to weld up angle iron for a building frame. I ran that off of a 100 ft 10 gauge extension cord and it worked just fine.

OK, but just don't leave a 100' cord rolled up when you only need a few feet of cord... Using a portion of a cord with a load wrapped around ferrous/magnetic type metal may create a problem too...

 

[captaincrab55]

I replaced the 6' 12/2 cord on my Miller 210 with 25' of 10/2 SO cord and a new plug the day after I got it home.

That will work Great for home use, but in commercial use OSHA Frowns on it.. I know of a welder sent in for warranty repair where the owner replaced the OEM cord to a longer one. Welder was repaired under warranty, but the cord was replace to the OEM cord length as a billed item...

 

[Craig Clayton]

When you buy the Cabtire ( extension cord ) the green bonding wire is not counted in the conductor count. For example 10/2 Aromered Cable ( BX ) for wiring a welding machine has a bare bonding conductor ( Ground ) to the receptacle. When you plug in the cord and it has 10/3 hard usage cabtire, so always include the green.
The reason they can it cabtire is because the first rubber covered cords used the same rubber as horse drawn carriage tires.
If the new cable is larger use an approved cord grip connector not a romex or bx connector.
Craig Clayton

 

[lostcause]

i'd opt for the extension cord method myself. not knowing how big your shop is, i'd wonder whether maybe a 20' cord would allow you to reach anywhere from one of the two receptacles. i'd go as short as possible. the other good thing with an extension cord is that since it's running on 120v you'll be able to use the cord for all kinds of things. i'd expect a short 12/3 cord would work fine.

 

[Chilly807]

It's interesting how much an extension cord will drop the circuit voltage under load. I have an electric powered woodsplitter that I wanted to run at the end of a 100 foot cord. 14/3 cord showed 110 v with no load, then dropped to 75 volts measured at the splitter with it stalled in rock maple. Also the motor didn't sound happy starting.

I switched to 12/3, voltage dropped to slightly over 100 volts under full load, no more groan on startup either. 10/3 would have been better yet, but much more expensive and heavier to boot.

Sean