Got Welder need wiring Advice ASAP!

[bnixon]

Just bought a Lincoln AC/DC Buzz Box. Now I am wiring up the plug that is supplied and need some reassurance that all is well.

Attached is a pick of how the fuse box is wired to my main service. This was here when I bought the house. The previous owner built race cars and had a welder on this circuit so I am pretty confident that it is good.

This is the Black and Red wires going into the circuit breakers.

 

[bnixon]

here is the white wire. It is wired to the buss the grounding rod is on.

 

[bnixon]

Here is the fuse box in the garage. This is the black and red wires comming into the box.

 

[bnixon]

THis is the white wire comming from the main service.

 

[bnixon]

Here you can see the whole box with the cord I installed on top. I just went Black to Black, White to Red, and Ground to white. Is this right?

I want some reassurance before I throw the switch! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Thanks,

 

[ns_in_tex]

Brandon,
It appears your color codes are correct, but by rights, in your fuse box, you should have the line side(hot wires coming into the fuse box) feeding into the top. Load side (wire feeding the welder) coming out the bottom. This is so when you cut the fuse box off to check or change fuses, they will not be hot. Otherwise, it appears to me, if you flip the switch, you will be ready to weld.

 

[bnixon]

Thanks Neal.

That makes sence! This is how the previous guy had it setup. I will swap them around.

 

[uhmgawa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Just bought a Lincoln AC/DC Buzz Box. Now I am wiring up the plug that is supplied and need some reassurance that all is well.)</font>

If you have a typical 230VAC buzz box it would not require
a neutral connection. Always a ground is required which is
typically a bare conductor of the same gauge as the current
carrying conductors in the cable. I'm foggy on what the
NEC will allow but I don't believe it is kosher to use
the neutral conductor in place of the ground conductor
though that is a code compliance issue -- it will serve
the same electrical function. It wasn't clear to me from
your pics if or where the ground may be.

Also if you do wire both hots (black + red) and supply
a neutral from the service entrance, the ground (bare)
and neutral (white) will connect to the same bus bar in
the service entrance (source box) but must be separate
in the downstream sub-panel (your fuse box). This means
the bus bar in which the neutral terminates in the sub
panel must be insulated from the grounded cabinet.

If the source box is not the service entrance of the
building (basically the first box on your side of the
meter) the source box must also have separate ground
and neutral buses.

 

[Inspector507]

bnixon,
The way you have it connected, will work. Does it meet code? No. First, change the wires around in the fused disconnect, top and bottom. The feed in should always be at the top.

Now, the most important thing to do as soon as you can, and I mean as soon as you can, is get that FPE breaker box out of your house. FPE lost their UL listing several years ago. The breakers MAY trip off due to overload, maybe not. They WILL NOT trip on a short circuit. My experience has been that 9 out of 10 times if a short occurs, the breaker will not trip off.
Keep in mind this is just my experience over the last 30 years. Someone else may have a different opinion.

 

[ges]

Yes, Yes, Yes,......Inspector507 is correct. Get rid of the FedPac box ASAP., and always feed fused disconnect to the top. Later......George

My hat is off to you for asking, and doing it the proper way instead of the cheap way. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif