Quick mig welder mod

[moparmat2000]

For the longest time using my welder i would have to plug in my extension cord to use it, and unplug my welder from the extension cord every time i wanted to use my electric grinder. China freight and 20% off coupon to the rescue along w safety wire plyers and .032 stainless wire. I mounted a 3 way electrical splitter to the side of the cart, and safety wired a 25 ft electrical extension cord to the splitter so it wont snag when moving around the shop and pull apart. Now my welder stays plugged in when i am using it, and i have a spot handy to plug in my electric grinder keeping em both powered at the same time Granted this isnt as slick and quality made as i normally like to make stuff, but it was quick, and is easy for anyone to duplicate.

Hope this helps
Matt

 

[RustyRatRod]

The only problem I see with that is, you're going from a large size wire to a small size wire in that extension cord. I had a smaller extension cord on my welder than the welder cord. When I would try to weld, it would pull too many amps because of the smaller cord and trip the breaker.......and when it didn't it welded like crap.

I had a friend make a 20' 10/3 extension cord for me and those problems are now a thing of the past. Hopefully that will work for you though. It's a good idea, I just hops the extension cord is heavy enough. It looks a lot smaller than "everything else".

 

[Treblig]

Great solution .....I always use plastic zip ties to hold together electrical cords etc for safety. Safety wire (although very tough) tends to cut through electric cords over time. Treblig

 

[gzig5]

That is quick and dirty. For something like that, I would get a 25' (or whatever length you need) 12 ga extension cord, cut the female end off, wire to a metal handi-box with one or two duplex outlets, and bolt/weld it to the cart. Never have to worry about anything slipping, like that wire wrap next to the hot prong on the plug. The 12 ga wire will minimize the voltage drop through the cord, 10ga SO cord would be better but you then have to wire both ends. Even that short section of 16ga on the multi outlet extension will drop voltage and that 14 or 16 ga main cord isn't helping either. Low input voltage when you are loading the welder can give you sketchy results.

 

[72bluNblu]

Yeah I would be concerned about the amp rating on that extension cord.

 

[JDMopar]

I agree with RRR on the cord looking too small. I tried my 120 volt Lincoln on a pretty good size drop cord, and it popped the breaker pretty quick. Check the voltage drop on the cord while you’re running a bead. I bet it drops a bunch while the machine is loaded. Great setup you made, but I think you need a bigger cord.

 

[moparmat2000]

This is the extension cord i always use on my welder. Never had a problem with it. My permanent solution however is a metal 2 plug outlet box, and about 25ft heavy duty cord wired into the box, and box screwed to the welder cart with a couple self tapping screws. I needed this "right now" so this was it.

 

[RustyRatRod]

This is the extension cord i always use on my welder. Never had a problem with it. My permanent solution however is a metal 2 plug outlet box, and about 25ft heavy duty cord wired into the box, and box screwed to the welder cart with a couple self tapping screws. I needed this "right now" so this was it.

Might be bigger than what we're givin it credit for. You know how pictures are sometimes.

 

[gzig5]

If you aren't running much above 50% of current capacity the voltage drop through the cord may not hurt you. And if that's all you need, carry on. But, I will guarantee that you will never get the 100% rated current out of the machine if you are feeding it with a 16ga or longish 14ga extension cord.

A semi-interesting example I recently had at work, and actually more directly related to our car's electrical system....

Our products at work use a 24 VDC supply for control power and to run the cooling fans. Until recently an individual drive would be less than 1 amp current draw. A much more powerful new product development needed more and bigger cooling fans. Now the drive are drawing nearly 10 amps at 24 volts. When they tested several drives connected to the common 20A 24 VDC supply they would normally use, all kinds of weird stuff started to happen. Turns out we were at the limit of the supply current rating, but worse, the 16 ga wire they normally use for that test was dropping four volts over 30 feet and the drives were only seeing barely 20V. They don't operate very well at that level. I threw some 10ga wire on the system, the voltage drop through the wire was now less than 0.3 VDC. Problem solved. Pay attention to your wire sizing. It is more important at the low voltage, high current levels seen in an automotive system.