All things welding

AirborneTexasRanger said:
I've done this twice & never had any issues. I did it this way because I've never had the main panel inside the garage.

Ran 10/3 from the main panel to a sub panel in the garage on a 70 amp breaker. The sub panel is set up for the welders & air compressor each on its own 30 amp breaker.

You could get away with just a 30 amp on the main panel with 10/3 to an outlet in your garage. I only did it my way for easy maintenance if it's required.

Often times the machine will stop itself before the breaker does. But if the manufacturer suggests a 40 amp then I'd go with that.

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The problem with having #10 wire on a 70 amp breaker is now the wire becomes the fuse. I understand down stream you have 30 a breakers but still not proper protection for wire in use
 
Davidtj said:
The problem with having #10 wire on a 70 amp breaker is now the wire becomes the fuse. I understand down stream you have 30 a breakers but still not proper protection for wire in use
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That's true & I may have misremembered. I'll check when I get home to make sure.

Edit: I was wrong, it's a 60 amp breaker.
 
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I got to this point before having to quit for the nuggets game

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AirborneTexasRanger said:
That's true & I may have misremembered. I'll check when I get home to make sure.

Edit: I was wrong, it's a 60 amp breaker.
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I checked the breaker & it's a 60 amp, then I remembered why I set it up this way. This is a lot so bear with me.

The 60 amp breaker on the main panel feeds a 100 amp sub panel through 10/3 wire. I went with 100 amp only because I needed the 8 slots & this was readily available. 2 single pole 20 amp breakers for the lights, garage door openers, outlets & fans. Then 2 double pole 30 amp breakers for my air compressor & welder.

None of these things are constantly drawing power. I'm really only using 30 amps at a time if that. On the off chance that the air compressor kicks on (typically lasts about 30sec) while I'm welding, the 60 amp won't trip. The 10/3 can handle it only for a very short amount of time & that rarely occurs.

If I was constantly drawing the full 60 or 100 amps through the 10/3 wire then yes it would definitely fail.

Edit: I just realized I replied to my own message :rolleyes:
 
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If anyone is interested, here's my setup for welding. I got some 10 ga extension cord wire from my Dad & hard wired the wall junction box to a junction box on my welding cart which splits into 2 outlets, one for each machine.
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The welding cart is from a Lincoln Power Wave that my last employer was throwing out which I modified to hold 4 bottles. I used some Lincoln wire spools to store all the hoses, leads, torches, etc. Another company I worked for laser cut a bunch of bottle hooks & I had asked for 4 sets of there were extras. I made some tungsten and Tig rod canister holders from some aluminum drops. I added the front handle & a bunch of other little things from scrap parts I found over the years.

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Need opinion on this weldment- I’m doing vertical up here on a test pc - 1/4” plate to 1/8” plate. I cut the pc in 2 on saw to see the penetration- first time doing that. Notice the point at root of weld - a small gap in corner.
Normal? If not, what is a normal?

Thanks, rj

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rjaym said:
Need opinion on this weldment- I’m doing vertical up here on a test pc - 1/4” plate to 1/8” plate. I cut the pc in 2 on saw to see the penetration- first time doing that. Notice the point at root of weld - a small gap in corner.
Normal? If not, what is a normal?

Thanks, rj

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Gap is not normal. If you use a flap disc on the edge you can see better.

These were etched, but this is what it should look like

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Thanks - .. ya think more voltage ( along with + wire speed? - it all “feels” right, though- I’ll try slowing in the middle
 
AirborneTexasRanger said:
:LOL: I just finished typing it out when your post popped up
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I don’t have much to report other than I’m about out of test pieces! ( I cut up my oe skid into 2x4 strips along with some scrap 1/4” plate)
I am able to penetrate the corner but the weld either looks awful or the legs aren’t proper- I tried vertical down and thought I nailed it ( way easier) - but the cross section told another story 😬.
The left is up and the right is down - of course ive done many ,this is just 1 attempt/ example.

Frustrated I payed a couple flat 90’ welds just to give myself some confidence- ….. then I cross sectioned those - they were barely ok ( no gap in corner but not like your example. I’m using a 10x Lupe and proper lighting to inspect - but would like to etch it - are field kits ( aka cheap) inspection / etch kits available?
- remember the fallen today… rjm

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