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Well, some unfortunate news...(garage)

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Pookster

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Turns out I cant get 100 amps to the garage, because the house is only getting 70amps from the power company. I had to settle for 60amp 220 single phase. (since apparently, I cant get triple phase, cause im not commercial!)

Can I still get a plasma cutter? :(
 
60 might be enough..

I'd kill for 60 amps of 220v in my shop!--I have only 20 amps available,I used the wires off the hot water heater we never needed because we have a tankless heater in the furnace...I had to make an "extention" cord out of 10 ga. Romex to run out to my shop from the "house" garage...and I can only use my old arc welder at 75 amps or less,or I'm trotting back into the house to re-set the breaker!-- :mad: --kinda puts a damper on many welding projects that involve thicker metal,and I need 100-150 amps to weld properly..I COULD plug into the clothes dryer outlet,I have the correct cord,but thats only a 30 amp curcuit,not much improvement--and it always causes arguments when I want to weld,and Ma wants to do laundry! :blush: :mad: ...

However,my brother lived in a mobile home and had only a 60 amp service to run BOTH the trailer AND his garage--he used the same welder I now have(I inherited it when he upgraded to a MIG)..and he had no troubles at all using it at any setting he desired--usually 125-150 amps was what he welded his channel iron for the beavertail ramp truck he built there,and unless his compressor happenned to kick on while running a bead,the breaker would never trip---we just had to remember to shut the compressor off while welding..no problems otherwise..I think 60 amps SHOULD run a plasma cutter OK,as long as its not a monster one made for cutting battleship armor or something.. :crazy: --of course,MORE is always better if possible.. :laugh: but maybe not absolutely nessasary..
 
Check the actual rating of the plasma cutter. Just because it has a 50A welding plug doesn't mean that's what it draws.

I changed the plug on my welder to match my compressor, and runs on my 20A/240V compressor circuit. I can use either one - just not at the same time.

I only have a 40A sub to my garage, and that runs lights, regular 120V tools, compressor, and welder.
 
Intriguing. im still learning about welders and what not- I've always been intriguged by welding, but never had the space or capacity to learn. The cost of classes is like 900 for MIG/TIG, not including the 500 for the intro course.

Someone told me that I should just pickup a unit and start welding, and thats the best way to learn.

I wanted to avoid the "upgrade" that most people make (start with stick, move to mig, etc). From what I can find, TIG really does make the neater and better welding, but MIG is faster. Most of my projects would be things like tubing, and sheet metal (and sometimes sheet aluminum). Any advice?

That was the whole reason for the plasma cutter as well- Its so much easier and safer to cut with a plasma cutter, than it is to cut with say a band saw, hack saw, tin snippers, etc....
 
Spend cash on welders,not lessons!

I'd buy a welder and just start using it!--I did go to vocational school for industrial maintenence,they did teach us the basics of welding,and let us play with the welders--but I never REALLY learned HOW to weld until I got an arc welder of my own at home to fool with.

.(I've yet to own a MIG welder,though I've used my brothers and a friends a few times..not the same as arc welding! :blush: --they are all a bit different in the way they act..)...I'd say your money would be better spent on the welder itself,and a good helmet--the classes are nice,but 900 bucks will buy you a nice welding setup and THE only way to get good at welding is to DO it!--you can read all the books you want,but if you never practice,you'll never be able to do it...I've known how to weld since I was a teen,but I dont get enough practice to get really good at it...I think you learn more by doing than reading,or watching others...at least I do... :crazy:

I think a 220v plasma cutter will work OK on 60 amp service--especially if you dont cut over 1/4" plate--you wont need to crank it up all the way to do lighter metals,and it will not draw the maximum amp rating on the unit unless you have it cranked up high to cut super thick stuff...I know a few guys with them,one has a 110v one thats pretty impressive--cuts a frame like nothing,and he has only an ordinary 30 amp 110v curcuit in his garage.. :cool1:
 
Pookster said:
Turns out I cant get 100 amps to the garage, because the house is only getting 70amps from the power company. I had to settle for 60amp 220 single phase. (since apparently, I cant get triple phase, cause im not commercial!)

Can I still get a plasma cutter? :(
Click to expand...

Yes.

60 amps is a lot of powere even for 120 volt. If you manage to use 40 amps at a time then you'd have to be useing a welder that was cranked up very high. And unless you plan on useing multiple powere tool, plasma cutter and welder at once, you are never going to come close to useing 60 amps.


And to whoever asked about converting 3 phase to sing phase or vica versa. If you have 3 phase service you also have single phase. If you are wanting to get 3 phase from single phase, you are going to have to shell out some money for a converter. And that isn't something you want to start messing with unless you know your way around electricity.


Man I love being an electrician. :D
 
Well tig mig and stick are all arc welders.

Mig is good for tubeing and other metals of that nature. Good choice unless you plan on welding very thick metal that needs a very high strength weld.

Tig is good for small welds or exotic metals.

Stick is good if you are never going to weld very mich or don't want to spend lots of money on a welder. And you can actualy get tig attatchments for them.


But I am sure that there is someone that has a better opinion and more expirience with this.
 
Pookster said:
Turns out I cant get 100 amps to the garage, because the house is only getting 70amps from the power company. I had to settle for 60amp 220 single phase. (since apparently, I cant get triple phase, cause im not commercial!)

Can I still get a plasma cutter? :(
Click to expand...


60 amps is plenty for a plasma cutter. I have only a 30 amp 220 volt line ran right now and I use my plasma cutter to cut 3/8" thick steel and it works great. Remember - 60 amps at 220 volts would be the equivilent of 120 amps at 110 volts. There is no need for 3 phase in a home garage.

220 volt tools use only half the current that 110 volt tools use to do the same amount of work. For your welder(s), air compressor, plasma cutter, etc use 220 volts whenever possible.
 
diesel4me said:
I had to make an "extention" cord out of 10 ga. Romex
Click to expand...
This is scary. Please correct this obvious problem soon or become the recipient of a Darwin Award.
 
jhellwig said:
And to whoever asked about converting 3 phase to sing phase or vica versa. If you have 3 phase service you also have single phase. If you are wanting to get 3 phase from single phase, you are going to have to shell out some money for a converter.
Click to expand...

The single phase that we all have in our houses usually starts out at 3-phase anyway and each run is off just one of those three phases. You can easily get single-phase power off a 3-phase circuit. The voltage just has to be what you need or you will need a transformer.

To get 3-phase from a single-phase source there are converters (I forget the name) which are basically a rotating generator powered off single-phase. They spin at the right speed to generate the power at 60Hz. Obviously, you only use one of these when you have to have 3-phase, like for certain tools, and there simply is no 3-phase circuit available.
 
jhellwig said:
And to whoever asked about converting 3 phase to sing phase or vica versa. If you have 3 phase service you also have single phase. If you are wanting to get 3 phase from single phase, you are going to have to shell out some money for a converter. And that isn't something you want to start messing with unless you know your way around electricity.
Click to expand...

We did this to be able to run out 3-phase knee mill. We only have single phase and it runs off of 3-phase, so we ran a convertor. The box is only about the size of a kleenix box and cost about $200. I even wired it up myself.
 
Hrm. I haven't ever seen anything like that. The only converters I have seen were of some size.
 
If I can remember to take my digi to the shop tomorrow, I'll take a pic of it and show you. I actually mounted it to the side of the mill.
 
Scary???? nahhh...

TravisO said:
This is scary. Please correct this obvious problem soon or become the recipient of a Darwin Award.
Click to expand...

What is scary about using a roll of romex cable as an extention cord?..I've had this one in use for 10+ years with no problems...(well,except for the wounded section my snowplow scraped bare when it was buried under 3 ft of snow!--glad it wasn't plugged in! :blush: --but I taped it up REAL good and it still works fine.. :crazy: )...

Granted,If I were better off financially,I'd have my garage properly wired and I wouldn't have to resort to such booty fab ghetto fixes such as theese!..but times are hard and money is short!--even when I had a healthy paycheck coming in every week,I had little cash to blow on something like a welder I only use once a month if that...I had no intention of running my garage on extention cords for so long,believe me!.. :screwy: --since its on my mothers property,and she is in poor health and my future at this adress is uncertain,I'm holding off from spending any more money on the garage,might be losing it soon,so I have to deal with temporary fixes for now.. :frown1:
 
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