I think you guys missed my point. The OP seemed to be concerned that he was
going to have a cord rated at 25 amps protected by a 50 amp breaker. What I
meant to point out is that it is very common and allowed by the NEC to have
cords supplying appliances that are rated less than the breaker supplying
the circuit. Most household appliances, toasters, lamps, radios, computers
etc all have power supply cords that are not rated for the 20 amps that wall
outlets are capable of supplying. Can you imagine your electric razor having
a 12/3 SJO cord just because your outlet in the bathroom was on a circuit
protected by a 20 amp breaker? That would make shaving each morning a real
PITA.
42


"Ignoramus15584" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:48:18 -0400, clare at snyder.on.ca clare wrote:
On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:08:17 -0500, Ignoramus15584
wrote:

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 13:40:14 -0700, 42etus wrote:

OTOH, there's just something wrong about
putting a 25 amp cable on a 50 amp breaker running
to a 38 amp load.


Actually you do this kind of thing every time you plug a table lamp
wired
with 18 gauge wire into a wall outlet protected by a 20 amp breaker.

That is not a very good analogy.

i

Sure isn't, because the 1 amp table lamp is on a 7 amp cord in a 15
amp circuit.

exactly.

However, when running a welder on an extention cord, you want a cord
capable of handling AT LEAST 120% of the expected load to reduce
voltage drop. I like a good tec table 4-3 or 12-3 extention cord (15
or 20 amp capacity) to run things like table saws, light duty
welders,pressure washers, etc. A lighter cord can sometimes prevent
popping a fuse on startup because it limits the load - but not a good
idea. My old repulsion start table saw would occaisionally pop a
standard 15 amp fuse when started plegged into the wall. When on a 16
gauge cord 25 feet long it took longer to come up to speed but never
popped a fuse. Went to using "slo-blow_ fusetrons - no more blown
fuses.

A welder does not have such startup issues.

i



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