Any advice for how to directly wire the tig welder into the cut off switch on the wall? I wired the tig into a 30 amp plug, do I just take it out and wire it into the 50 amp cut off switch in the same arrangement? Two 110v lines and a neutral? My tig can take 96 amps input so it should work fine.
There's no reason why you can't. I don't know how big your welder is and I don't expect that it's portable, but is it possible that you might want to be able to move it to a different location in the garage at some point to use it? I'd wire a pig tail to the cutoff. I'd take as many precautions as possible before starting any work though. Just sayin. Pete
Pigtail? Its got very long cords maybe close to 50 feet long when plug and hand piece wire are considered. So reach will be ok. That's the key spot with a 50 amp plug in the garage so it needs to be near it. I was planning on turning off main breaker then sub breaker too before working on it.
I have a cutoff switch wired to a plug on the wall. That's one option (a good one if you want to keep the ability of easily plugging something else in or taking the welder for a ride to do some work on something too big or too far away). The rating of the switch/circuit (50A in this case) is the max it can handle, There is no harm in hanging something smaller on it.
I'd have loved a bit more power honestly. 60-100 amp cut off would have been great but 50 amp is definitely an upgrade from the 30 amp circuit I was using before which wasn't really enough to do aluminum. I doubt I'll move the welder or plug something else in there. All the other 220 devices I have are 30 amp max and I've got another 30 amp plug that I can use for the devices. I might add a 3rd 220 v plug to the garage so I can keep the compressor and the kiln both plugged in at the same time. I'll see what's inside the shut off today and make my best guess how to wire it. Will first turn off main and sub breaker...
you can wire a plug into the cut off do it on the supply side (before the cutoff). You'll trip the breaker if you try and run the welder and the other device. But it will save the $$ on running more wire. and it's ok code wise to do (local codes vary so not 100% on this statement in you local)
Whats the point of having a cut off exactly? Doesn't seem to make a ton of sense to me. Hard wiring a machine in seems a bit silly compared with just installing a plug. I mean at some point moving a machine becomes necessary. Is there some benefit to having a cut off that I'm not seeing? I might just remove it like you say and install a plug instead. Seems like a better idea overall?
The previous owner probably had his own reasons. He might have had the disconnect laying around and didn't want to pony up for a plug set. Who knows. Hard wiring makes good sense for items that dont move or for which a plug would be inappropriate. For example an air conditioner compressor. A disconnect for servicing and/or a housing for inline fuses might be needed per application (or code, I dont know). Pete
I have the disconnect in front of my milling machine /shaper. I have one on my lathe. My welders and plasma cutter are just on a plug. I put the disconnects on the machines that don't move because they are on the other side of the shop from the breaker panel and they are on a shared circuit. the disconnect on a shared circuit help eliminate the idiot factor. If I have a machine down for repair but need the compressor I can still run it because the machine being repaired is disconnected. Or more often I have a job setup on the mill that I ran out of time to complete...I can disconnect it and the kids can still use the compressor to pump up their bike tires without the mill moving and wreaking things. not really a must. but Very nice to have when you need them.
Gotcha. Thanks for the explanation. I think I'll disconnect mine. I bought plugs and sockets and then got home only to see that my tig welder is already wired up with a 50 amp male plug, but the second type of 50 amp plug - the one that of course doesn't match the 50 amp female plug I just bought... Back to Lowes for me...
Electrical and Plumbing..... It's not a real project till you have 3 trips in to the hardware and still have the "wrong" part for the next section When I redid the water lines in my house I would go buy $600+ of fits and take $300+ back each trip. I have a few "spare" 220V outlets sitting around because the house use 3 wire connections and the shop has 4 wire. I feel your pain. Except where I live the closest hardware with decent prices is 45 mins one way away. There's a little local place but they charge $15 for a $2 fitting. A 220V outlet is $50. Sometimes if time is more precious than money I pay it....but most days I drive. Keep at you'll get her right!
Got the parts I need. Only on trip #2. I'm debating whether I want to hire someone or brave the 220v line. Should be a straight forward rewire but always makes me nervous. Next project is led shop lighting... I will have to look and see if they make regular light bulb to 110 plug converters so I don't need to run extension cords up the walls.
220 isn't much different than 110V (it's just 2 110V circuits in one plug). Just double check that both hots have 0VAC on them before you go in bare fisted it bites hard! They do but you have to be careful you don't overload them.(<--link to amazon) and they don't have a ground pin. Light circuits can be run on smaller gauge wires (in the walls). If your mindful and just plug your lights into them you should be fine. If a Junior shop hand plugs in a 9" grinder all bets are off!
Here's what I'm working with. I have 5 light sockets and 2 ceiling plugs to work with. I can daisy chain 4 led shop lights in a row with most led lights. I'd like to get at least 12 shop lights up but 16 would be better I think. Just got to pick which brand and clench the old buttocks as I click the buy button.
Bruce is right about the 220v. Off is off, but be sure. Other than that it's pretty staightforward. It doesn't matter which hot wire goes to which hot blade. The garage is likely wired with Romex (hot, neutral, and bare ground) so that's what you'll likely find under those bulb sockets. There is probably a square metal or plastic box under each one. If so I would just remove all of the light sockets and replace them with grounded duplexes and plug your new fixtures into a proper outlet instead of plug-to-socket converters. Pete
Pete's right. Ditch the bulb holders and put a set of plugs up there. Heck it will probably cost less then the adapters!
Better pull one of the lights down and check the box before you buy the receptacles. It's probably an octagon work box. If it is, duplex receptacles won't fit. You'll have to direct wire the led's.
