I would agree that 8/2 Romex would be a better choice, but there is no code
violation in using it as a 240 volt with ground feeder. Only on a service
entrance can you have a non insulated neutral, but in his case, he has no
neutral only the two ungrounded conductors and a ground


"Don Young" wrote in message
...
Type SEU cable is for service entrances and at one time was approved in
some places for electric ranges. It has a single bare stranded neutral
which can easily be separated into two groups. It is not approved for this
application anywhere I know of although it will "work". Get the right
cable and follow the codes, which are only intended to provide a safe
installation.
Don Young
"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
John, I think your two bundles of bare wire may have been one bundle that
came apart. Your description is a three wire cable. Twist all the bare
wires together and connect them to the green terminal on the outlet.
Connect the red and black wires to the other terminals in any order. In
the panel, connect the bare wire to the ground or ground/neutral bar and
the red and blacks to your 40 amp breaker



"John" wrote in message
...
Thanks to all for your replies but I'm still confused. I have pics of
the breaker, wire and receptacle but don't know if I should post them
here. The receptacle is definitely 2 prong 3 wire 6-50R and the wire has
Red, Black, and TWO seperate bundles of bare wire...one with 3, the
other 4. The wire is marked TYPE SE CABLE STYLE U THHN OR THWN CDRS 3
CDRS #8 CU 600 VOLTS E73061 (UL) if that helps.
"Chip C" wrote in message
ups.com...
John wrote:
Someone please help. I want to install a 40 amp double pole breaker
and run
the line ( 8/3 ) to the receptacle for a 225 amp stick welder. The
8/3 line
has a black and a red ( Hot, correct? ) and 2 groups of bare wires (
one has
3, the other has 4 wires...neutral and ground?

Is it possible that this is 8/2 cable, and all the bare stuff is one
bundle of 7 bare wires? In which case it's ground and there's no
neutral. This would be normal for most welders, which are 240V only so
they don't need a neutral.

It would be weird if one were really a bare neutral, since neutral
should be insulated in white right up to its connections.

Also, does it matter which pole gets the red or black?

No.

At the other end, the receptacle has 3 provisions...one is marked
AL ( copper colored ), one is CU ( silver colored ) the other one
green.
Which wire goes where??

My guess is that "Al" and "Cu" aren't markings for each screw, but that
the outlet is marked Al/Cu indicating that Aluminum or Copper wires are
acceptable, on all screws.

The green screw is ground, that's easy. If the outlet is for 240,
usually the screws are marked X and Y, and it doesn't matter which gets
red and which gets black. When screws are coloured, the copper or gold
one is hot and the silver or grey one is neutral, but that's for 120V
outlets. Try to find your receptacle pattern in the chart at
http://www.leviton.com/sections/techsupp/nema.htm and tell us which one
it is. I think it *ought* to be 6-50R, or maybe 6-30R.

Chip C
Toronto