I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?

wrote:
I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?

The simplest solution is to use a 30A breaker with #10 wire.

Chris

wrote in message
ps.com...
I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?

The size of the breaker must match the size of the wire. You can put a 50-A
breaker on a #14 gage circuit, but might burn your structure down!

"Chris Friesen" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?

The simplest solution is to use a 30A breaker with #10 wire.

Chris

When it pulls current it is all at once. I would do what Chris said above.


--
Colbyt
One picture can be worth a 1000 words.
Post yours at www.ImageGenie.net for FREE.

Charles wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...
I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?

The size of the breaker must match the size of the wire. You can put a 50-A
breaker on a #14 gage circuit, but might burn your structure down!




Welders are a special case. You can use a much larger breaker and much
smaller wire than on any other type of circuit, the particulars
dependent on the duty cycle of the welder.

Without more information, I'd guess that a 30A breaker and good old #12
Romex would be about right. But if it's a very short run where the wire
cost will be negligible anyway, use the #10 wire and have a general
purpose 30A outlet rather than one that's only safe for the welder.

Bob

wrote in message
ps.com...
I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?

If the welder is designed for a 20A circuit, there is absolutely no
advantage to increasing the breaker or receptacle size. If the run is long,
it may be advisable to increase the wire size. An oversized breaker will
only give you more opportunity to overload or damage the welder without the
breaker tripping, although breakers are not really intended to protect
connected equipment. Higher capacity than needed is not somehow magically
"better".

That said, it costs little more to install a higher capacity circuit if you
think you might need it in the future. I personally would probably install
#10 wire with a 20A breaker and receptacle. This could be easily upgraded to
a 30A circuit.

Don Young

a typical welder plug for up to 250a would be a 30a. Welders are way over
rated, in addition to the fact that you will rarely (if ever) run it wide
open. I'd put in a 30a plug with 10ga wire.

steve


wrote in message
ps.com...
I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?

a good argument for putting in the 30A receptical, and 10ga wire, is for
when he upgrades the welder when he finds that little one won't do what he
wants.


steve


"Don Young" wrote in message
...
If the welder is designed for a 20A circuit, there is absolutely no
advantage to increasing the breaker or receptacle size. If the run is
long, it may be advisable to increase the wire size. An oversized breaker
will only give you more opportunity to overload or damage the welder
without the breaker tripping, although breakers are not really intended to
protect connected equipment. Higher capacity than needed is not somehow
magically "better".

That said, it costs little more to install a higher capacity circuit if
you think you might need it in the future. I personally would probably
install #10 wire with a 20A breaker and receptacle. This could be easily
upgraded to a 30A circuit.

Don Young

"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
Charles wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...
I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?

The size of the breaker must match the size of the wire. You can put a
50-A breaker on a #14 gage circuit, but might burn your structure down!


Welders are a special case. You can use a much larger breaker and much
smaller wire than on any other type of circuit, the particulars dependent
on the duty cycle of the welder.

Without more information, I'd guess that a 30A breaker and good old #12
Romex would be about right.

Can you document that? I can't believe #12 is ever allowed on a 30a
breaker.

wrote in message
ps.com...
I am considering a 230v mig welder and need to add a circuit. The
input amperage for the welder is 20a. Should I install a 20 a breaker
or use a slighly larger capcity like 25 or 30 amps?


It goes like this: If you are going to weld for four hours straight with
the biggest wire and the highest settings, you will approach the limits of
your breaker. If you are going to weld for short intervals, with smaller
wire, and at the lower settings, a smaller breaker will do.

I have a Lincoln 175SP+ wirefeed welder. At the lower settings, it draws
nowhere near the amperage as it does at higher settings. But, when I had
the electrician do the breaker, he looked at the chart and suggested a
breaker that was 5 amps over that amperage. You don't want it so oversized
that it REALLY has to get hot to pop. But you don't want it kicking off
when you're in the middle of a long run. I'd do a 25.

I'd also check with the manufacturer and see what they recommend. They want
the machine to run right, and for you not to install it incorrectly and have
a problem.

BTW, there are only two choices for mig welders. Lincoln and Miller. The
rest are crap that are hard to get serviced or to find replacement parts
for.

Steve, who learned to weld in 1974

Oh, i guess the people who invented the wire welder don't know anything
about them and don't have the highest duty cycle machines in the industry.


steve (who's been welding since 1969)



"SteveB" wrote in message
...

BTW, there are only two choices for mig welders. Lincoln and Miller. The
rest are crap that are hard to get serviced or to find replacement parts
for.

Steve, who learned to weld in 1974