Thread: 200 amp arc welder (newb) why is my breaker always fliping?

110V at 15 amps is a total of 1650 watts..

at 200 amps a stick welder would be consuming something in the order of 7000 watts+

You need a much larger circuit to run it..

I don't want to be a pain and point out the obvious, Iceman, but yours is a task for an electrician (at least it would be over here). I can't see how changing to 220 v would help, because the amps would be halved. So in Oz we'd have 240 v with a 15 amp breaker. For you that should be 110 with a 30 amp breaker.

But get a sparkie to have a look at it all or you'll burn your house down.

Originally Posted by Rossluck

I don't want to be a pain and point out the obvious, Iceman, but yours is a task for an electrician (at least it would be over here). I can't see how changing to 220 v would help, because the amps would be halved. So in Oz we'd have 240 v with a 15 amp breaker. For you that should be 110 with a 30 amp breaker.

But get a sparkie to have a look at it all or you'll burn your house down.

thank u, will change to 30 amp breaker, and no i do not want to burn the place down!

Originally Posted by Rossluck

I don't want to be a pain and point out the obvious, Iceman, but yours is a task for an electrician (at least it would be over here). I can't see how changing to 220 v would help, because the amps would be halved. So in Oz we'd have 240 v with a 15 amp breaker. For you that should be 110 with a 30 amp breaker.

But get a sparkie to have a look at it all or you'll burn your house down.

well if i did go to 220 the amps DRAWN would be have, but the amps able to use would be varible to what breaker i put in..ex, 220v with 30 amp break = 6600 watts, which is more what i need base on the first response. cause if i putta 120 30 amp line that would only double the 1750 watts im only able to pull now, so changing it to 220 i think now will make things alot easier i think... not sure whats the max i can run on a 120? amps?

You would be far better asking on an American forum...Our power is a lot different to what you have....

Try here http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/index.php

Originally Posted by iceman423

thank u, will change to 30 amp breaker, and no i do not want to burn the place down!

ICEMAN,
The breaker may not improve your electrical safety.

The higher amperage power point does not work unless the appropriate wiring gauge is installed along with it to carry the current.to rely upon just a breaker,Well! I wouldn't.!

Consider this .While your welding away the wiring unseen inside your wall cavity spaces may be overheating to the point where a fire is imminent.

It may start a small smoulder that you may not notice . I have seen this twice in my years in the trade both by blokes who thought they understood.

Fortunately in both cases I understand the houses did not burn down entirely but did enough damage to be a lesson to the individuals concerned.

Get a professional in please

Get it wrong and insurance will wipe you and you can end up with nothing!

cheers
Grahame

Has anyone bothered to ask him what amps he is running at on the welder when the switch trips? At muffler thickness he isn't going to be running at 200A or anywhere near it. That's 2mm thickness or their abouts. No chance in hell of a high current setting unless he wants to cut the muffer rather than weld it :lol:

I mean it's all well and good talking about 200A welders and maximum current conditions but it's highly unlikely that he is running at 200A. If he is running at the low end of the scale and it's still tripping it may just be a faulty breaker that is on the way out and that trips prematurely. Might be worth swapping a breaker of the same rating over from another circuit and seeing if it still occurs. The other option may be he has a faulty welder that is actually short circuiting when the circuit is completed on the scratch.

Check the nameplate, which will usually say how big a wire and breaker is needed. If not there Google the manufacturer's site.

As long as the breaker is in good condition and the right size for the wire, you will not over heat the wire or your house.

The transformer in a welder makes higher amps at lower voltage, so 220 amps at the stick does not equal 220 amps drawn at the outlet.

Here are instructions for a 225 Amp welder. They call for a 50 amp 240 volt supply to use the full welding amps available.

http://content.lincolnelectric.com/p..._IMS/im347.pdf

Some folks put an electric stove plug on the welder and plug it into the stove outlet.

You would need to use #6 copper wire from the plug to the welder.

You might get by with a 20 amp 115 / 120 volt circuit for welding thin stuff.

The breaker must match the wire or the wire will overheat. On a long run of wire from the breaker box, one size larger wire is used to avoid voltage drop under load.

Using copper wire: 15 amp breaker - #14 wire, 20 amp breaker - #12 wire, 30 amp breaker - #10 wire, 40 amp breaker - #8 wire, 50 amp breaker - #6 wire.

If you don't thoroughly understand all this, get an electrician. If you have a fire and everything has not been done by a qualified electrician, the insurance people get very picky about paying a claim..

Originally Posted by montiee

Has anyone bothered to ask him what amps he is running at on the welder when the switch trips? At muffler thickness he isn't going to be running at 200A or anywhere near it. That's 2mm thickness or their abouts. No chance in hell of a high current setting unless he wants to cut the muffer rather than weld it :lol:

At 110V and 10 amp that is not a lot of power and arc welders always pull a lot of amp when you strike the arc...We had a 140 amp stick welder and it had a maximum current draw of something like 37 amps, but it plugged into a 15 amp circuit...

They used to recommend for welders not to use the flip down style breakers and stick to wire as a flip down style breaker would break at exactly it's rated current while with the old wire style they would allow high initial current flows.. I believe the newer style should be more tolerant of a high initial current but I am not sure....My 250 amp MIG will cut the 20 amp breaker on the 15 amp circuit it connects to...

Originally Posted by .RC.

They used to recommend for welders not to use the flip down style breakers and stick to wire as a flip down style breaker would break at exactly it's rated current while with the old wire style they would allow high initial current flows..

That's a pretty good point..

Originally Posted by .RC.

I believe the newer style should be more tolerant of a high initial current but I am not sure....My 250 amp MIG will cut the 20 amp breaker on the 15 amp circuit it connects to...

Yeh mine has done it twice but funnily enough once it tripped when I turned the unit off because fans etc where whirling until I manually switched it off. Next time I turned it nothing since breaker had tripped but other than those two times my flip down style breaker (albeit 20A) seems to have behaved itself well but they do seem to be pretty sensitive. That's why I mentioned it might be a breaker on the way out prematurely triggering well before rating is reached.