Thread: 15amp welders on 10amp circuits

After a bit of searching I see this topic has already been addressed. Sorry!

Still have no idea what to do though haha

Hi Riley,

who are you calling old? Yes when I was about 18 I was salting down gear for the years to come and you guessed it I bought the latest model 130amp Goodwell welder.
My son has it now and uses it all the time. (on a 15amp circuit) They came out with a 15amp plug (fat earth terminal) which of course you just file down so you can use it in a 10amp power point. Someone has done the next best thing and put a 10amp plug on it instead of doing the filing. Rich buggers! Anyway, if your wiring is all good 2.5mm, it can carry the load no worries. Try it out, get a long extension lead and do some welding for a bit, 12g rods flat out at 130amps,(which you will probably use all the time), then check out the plugs to feel for heat. Yes they will be warm, so if a dodgy extension lead can handle the load, your house wiring will have no trouble, the only probs you will have is the lack of welding power. Just to be sure I would have a 15amp circuit installed by the sparky.

Good little welders...Oddjob1

Any moment now that little message declining any forum liability for information given about authorised working on electrical installations will be inserted. That alone should say something

You ask if there will be any problems,
Let me see now ?

• House burns down.
• Electric shock to someone
• Litigation by electrical authority against unauthorised work

Some people can take DIY to an absurd length meddling in licensed work they have no business in.
Believe it or not the manufacturers do know what they are doing when the fit a 15 amp plug.If they felt the machine can work safely on a 10 amp plug they will fit one.
Having some aversion to lawsuits they fit their manufactured equipment with the plug specifically designed and suited for it.

Advising anyone on the open forum to open their GPO if you are unaware of their quals and abilitiesto do so, is fool hardly and irresponsible.

Do most home owners know what 2.5mm wire is? Certainly there are some that will ,but equally there will be ones that don't know and think they do.That's a recipe for accidents and incidents.

Have one of those and Electrical authority will be around to see you before you can say AS3000.

I am reminded of the words of a song
Better get a lawyer son
Better get a real good one
Don't drop the soap
Don't smoke no dope
Get yourself a lawyer son
Your gonna need a good one
To getcha outa this one

Grahame

Hi guys,

I agree with Grahame, maybe you might think My post was Tommy rot but my design was to have folks realize the dangers of mucking about with 240v, it is certainly a silent killer just waiting to strike! What we have done in the past is no measure of what we should be doing now what with life being so much easier hey! It's good to keep folks talking about stuff like this because if it is let lie it gets forgotten. So yes riley, it does work, but it is seriously dangerous, that was the point I was trying to make and I think Grahame's post proves that! Thanks mate! The only way to go is get the correct plug put on the welder and make certain it is only used on a 15amp circuit.

Take care...Oddjob1 Good little welders!

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Just to confirm....15 Amp Circuit and plug required.

Use the correct socket for the job. Most sparkies are pressed for time and hate digging trenches and clipping cables under houses so if you do the dirty work yourself and run the cables the sparky will have to only strip a few wires and turn a few screws. This will save you a few dollars, and the job will be done properly.

This is going back a few years now but I had a 15 amp circuit installed for just $150.

It is entirely possible that a filed down earth pin will survive a house/shed fire and since insurance companies want to keep your money they will find any excuse to do so....

Originally Posted by r_i_l_e_y

Hi guys,

Are there any dangers with running a 15amp welder on a 10amp circuit.

Yes you can burn your house down, killing all your family members in the process and destroying all your possessions, then when you admit what you did insurance will not pay..

To be specific, a correctly-wired 10A GPO circuit will have a 16A breaker - the breaker is there to protect the internal wiring from excessive heating or failure. Thus the total load on the circuit can be as much as 16A (and commonly is in many houses with a number of loads at different points on the same power circuit).

The weak link in terms of drawing in excess of 10A from one point is the plug and socket concerned, which are rated at 10A - it's this area where there is risk of excessive heat, and therefore the possibility of fire caused by some adverse combination of factors.

All that said, I'll add 2 points: my little BOC 130A inverter came with a 10A plug, but is perhaps more efficient than an older-style AC transformer welder and thus draws less current from the mains for the same welding current. Secondly, the pins on a 15A plug are the same size as those found on a 10A plug, indicating an identical current-carrying capacity.

Amazing, live and learn!

After 35 years in the insurance industry I've just learnt a Householders policy has some "out" for fiddling with the wiring.

Hmmm, lucky I retired otherwise I'd be paying claims I shoudn't have.

I say check the facts before making grand statements.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I rent, so installing a 15amp circuit is not really an option. But since it's not my house...

Just kidding, I guess I'll continue searching for real 10amp welders!

Originally Posted by zuffen

Amazing, live and learn!

After 35 years in the insurance industry I've just learnt a Householders policy has some "out" for fiddling with the wiring.

Hmmm, lucky I retired otherwise I'd be paying claims I shoudn't have.

I say check the facts before making grand statements.

Sadly, in the last 10 years or so, "loiability" has become the great, often irrational, fear of many - fear of non-paying insurers, fear of predatory lawyers etc. It's pretty much replaced the common-sense idea of taking personal responsibility for one's actions and reasoned, informed thinking (note for some: responsibility and liability are different things).

The circuit has protection devices built into it, fuses breakers ELT etc , these stop the circuit being overloaded, ie if you plug something in and it works then its within the parameters of the protection devices on the circuit
Now there will be replies saying what if this fails or that or the safety devices aren't fitted correctly or are faulty them the house will burn down , which may be true , but do you have or have you had every safety device inspected before you plugged in your TV or any other appliance , what if it fails and burns your house down........ paranoia running wild here .
Now far be it for me to suggest to plug any appliance in and see if it runs and the fuse/breaker trips, and I would never suggest you make a short lead with a 15 amp socket and a ten amp plug to run your welder if it has a 15 amp plug on it. Nor would I suggest you plug in any device , ie toaster, TV, video, electric blanket etc without having a fully qualified electrician attend your property and carry out a complete check and inspection of the wiring and test to fail all the safety devices fitted

Hi riley,

don't chuck out your little Goodwell just yet mate, in my first home I was doing the same thing as you want to and all I did was get the sparky around and showed him what I wanted to do. He checked out the wiring and found a circuit that was for an air con that was no longer there, it of course was 15amp. So it may be a good idea to just get a sparky around to check things out because you may well find he can get a dedicated circuit going for you, probably not that expensive. 10amp welders may not be able to crank out the goodwelds hey!

Regards...Oddjob1

While I agree that the breaker will (or it at least should) protect the wiring, it does not change the fact that the 10 amp socket and plug are rated for 10 amps. Running a 15 amp appliance on a 10 amp GPO could push the plug/socket to run at 150% of it's rated capacity. Now I suspect that 15 amp plug/sockets/circuits are defined in the standard for a reason.

Having said that, it's obvious that using 15 amp appliance on 10 amp GPO will work the majority of the time without issue, but it should only be done if you understand the risks and are willing to take them. It is for this reason that doing things like replacing a 10amp outlet with a 15 amp one, or replacing plug tops or filing down earth pins should not be done, as future users of these appliances/circuits may not realise that they are taking that risk.