Can I use my dryer outlet for a welder?

[dremu]

Sorry, "welding machine", the "welder" is the person doing the welding. Or in my case, the monkey 'cuz I am not a great welder.

Anyway, I'm thinking of upgrading from my 110 machine, and it would be cool if I can use the existing dryer outlet to power a 240 machine. I suspect I'd have to do an adapter from one outlet type to another as I seem to recall 240 outlets coming in different pin types ... maybe do a short extension to make it easier to reach.

Any reason I can't?

-- A

 

[livid4dirt]

It will work just fine Dryer outlet, Range outlet. Just plug it in and burn baby burn.

 

[CGT80]

A dryer plug could be a 30a 250v or 50a 250v receptacle. The latte is more common for welders. Check to see how many pins you have and the shape. The receptacle is stamped with the type. Check your breaker panel to see if you have a 30a or 50 amp for the dryer.

Some welders take less than 50 amps and some take more. My tig welder would take 104 amps at 240v single phase. It used much less with three phase and higher voltage, when it was used in a commercial building. I run it on a 50a 250v receptacle and a 50a breaker, but I don't use the notch for 250-460 amps. 5-250 amps is OK depending on how high and how long I run it.

The newer inverter welders take a lot less power and have much better features, and they are smaller the down side is the price. A miller dynasty 200 inverter tig should do what my old transformer based machine will do at 250 amps, but will use much less power. My old machine weighs 1,000 pounds or more and the new one is 30-40 pounds.

My mig welder is a miller 135 110v unit. It does very well for such a small machine. People bag on the 110v machines, but they are great for thinner material maybe up to 3/16" with a single pass. I think the user skill and technique has a lot to do with it.

My brother has a miller 252 mig that will go up to 300 amps, IIRC. I would have to find some very thick metal and up my skills to max that thing out. I wish I had a bigger mig welder, but I would hate to give up the portability of the small one too.

For a 30a circuit you need at least 10 gauge wire for your adapter or extension cord and 50a should be at least 8 gauge. I run a 6 gauge cord on my big welder, but for full output it needs two gauge and should be hard wired. My 110v welder will do ok on a 12 gauge extension cord, if the building wiring is up to it. I ran 125' of 12 gauge for some full output welding to repair a couple gate hinges. The receptacle was in the electrical panel room for the building, so the voltage drop to that point was minimal. It actually welded very well. Other times it sucks on the same long cord. Always go shorter on the power cord when possible, if working toward the limit of the circuit/welder.

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

My Lincoln 180 (230v), has a different plug than my Dryer outlet.
I just made an extension cord 'adapter'.
The parts can be had at the Home Depot for relatively cheap.

The pricy part is how long you want the cord to be.

 

[diesel4me]

I use the dryer outlet to power my arc welder when I need to crank it up higher than 75 amps,the dryer outlet has a 30 amp breaker and the other 220V outlet in the house garage is only a 20 amp one with a different type plug (looks like a regular 110V plug exceot one prong is sideways instead of both being vertical)...

If I try welding thick stuff over 75 amps using the 220V outlet in the house garage,the breaker trips repeatedly after running an inch long bead--so I had to rig up an extention cord out of 8 ga. romex to let me use the dryer outlet..despite it only being a 30 amp breaker,and my welder can draw as much as 50 if cranked way up,so far I have welded thick stuff at 150 amps without it tripping the 30 amp breaker...more amps would be better,but the only 50 amp breaker in the house is for the electric stove,and the socket is behind the stove--so I'm not about to rip the stove away from the wall just to weld something!..

I wired that 220V outlet in the house garage with 12 ga wire and used the former electric water heater wiring & breaker (after we removed the water heater in favor of one built into the boiler) to get 220V to the garage for my compressor..but it isn't enough to run the welder if you need to crank it up over 75 amps..

I actually bought a gas powered Lincoln welder with an Onan engine to get around the power supply problem,but it needs engine work,it runs but smokes badly out of one cylinder and sounds like a rod is loose,so I only use ir sparingly..welds sweet though,DC is a lot easier to strike an arc with and it really penetrates good..another plus is you can hoist it in your truck and weld anywhere..cant do that with an AC tombstone welder!..

It has a 110V 50 cycle AC outlet on it too,for running tools like a grinder..wouldnt use it to power household stuff though..
I paid 125 bucks for it and it paid for itself the first day I got it running--had a stuck exhaust valve,and I think that cylinder got gas washed as a result..