power cord

[Rambozo]

Isnt that the proper way to learn how to do something? Ask first and follow directions? Sure as hell beats guess and ask how to fix later.

Asking a few questions on a forum, is probably not adequate information for playing around with something that can be lethal. While it's true that you can follow directions and just hook up the wires as someone tells you to. If you don't understand what you are doing and why, you will not be able to tell what is safe and what isn't. For example, what if someone before you didn't follow color codes, would that be obvious to someone just following instructions? Or how to make sure you are not creating a ground loop? If someone wants to learn and is willing to do the research, that's great and if they have a specific question about something they don't understand, then asking for help is great. But if they just want someone to tell them what wires to hook where and are blindly following instructions, then they need to call a professional to do it for them. That isn't even counting the crazy liability laws and such.

I heard an old guy who put it this way; "Long before OSHA we had a little thing called personal responsibility."

[zoama]

I heard an old guy who put it this way; "Long before OSHA we had a little thing called personal responsibility."

I'm for more personal responsibility and less corrupt government... for every good thing osha does it does ten more bad.

[Rambozo]

I'm for more personal responsibility and less corrupt government... for every good thing osha does it does ten more bad.

Only ten? You're a lot more generous than I am.

[sportbike]

That's probably what I would do for myself.

Didn't see that you said that already on your earlier reply.

[Tanh]

BTW 120V circuits in a house are split evenly over both hot legs.

Well, thank you for the correction. I was always under the impression that only 1 was used but that's may be due to the old wiring in my house. (+80yo) The more I deconstruct this place the more I'm amazed at how It's still up.

A lot of us are DIYers and would undertake the tasks ourselves with a lot of research and consultation. This is purely my opinion, but before all this regulation and stuff that bit about personal responsibility was used every day. It doesn't make sense to me, to throw a lot of money into a task, that can be done by you safely with proper knowledge, by hiring a "professional". Although he does have more experience and knowledge, the amount of that required for some jobs is minimal compared to how much he would charge. Wiring a whole house or upgrading service is a different story, for me. That is something I would call an electrician for. Running a new line or splicing, I feel confident I know enough to do safely, having researched and done it before. YMMV

All I'm saying is that although we're telling you to seek advice and be careful, we''re not out to discourage anybody from doing things for themselves. Just be smart about it and ask the right questions. In fact, ask what questions you should be asking.

[ShaneJackson]

That's what I was thinking... more like 99%

I know it is to protect but good lord! OSHA = taking at least 2x as long to do, costing 4x as much, and lasting 1/2 as long.

[travis]

what iam thinking this 50 amp rv cord has 3 6gage and a 8gage groundits 35 foot long
i have a short piece of 6/3 "black white and green" thats just right to run from my panel down a couple feet to a outlet box
why cant i use black and white as hot green ground like a 3wire is on the female box on end of cord use red and black only nip off the red cause it will not be connected on other end and use a 3 prong male from the welder
will this work ok ?

[MuttonHawg]

There should no reason that you couldn't leave the red conductor completely unused, and just pretend your 35 foot piece of wire only has 2 6-gage conductors with an 8-gage ground. If you clip off the red on one end of the wire, probably best to clip it on both ends. Don't attach the red on either end. Then all you have is a heavy-duty 50A extension cord that physically weighs more than it needs to in order to do the job, but it was free so it's all good! But I'll defer to Rambozo on this one - he already pointed out something I overlooked earlier, so maybe I missed something again

[travis]

i think what ever color is the long prongs on both sides and the round one is ground just dont hook anything to the flat center prong or iam i makeing this harder then it really is

[Rambozo]

what iam thinking this 50 amp rv cord has 3 6gage and a 8gage groundits 35 foot long
i have a short piece of 6/3 "black white and green" thats just right to run from my panel down a couple feet to a outlet box
why cant i use black and white as hot green ground like a 3wire is on the female box on end of cord use red and black only nip off the red cause it will not be connected on other end and use a 3 prong male from the welder
will this work ok ?

I'm really hesitant to say anything because it really sounds like you are over your head on this task. It might just be that you are being brief and leaving out things that you take for granted. For example, you say you have a short run of wire to use from your panel to an outlet. Well that would need to be enclosed in the appropriate conduit and fittings (indoor or outdoor), and should not be SO cord. You can use only some of the conductors in a cable. So you could use 3 pin plugs with 4 conductor cable. But it really sounds like you might want to bring someone else into this project. Most Home Depot have a licensed electrician on staff that you can ask specific questions, and they will show you what to use, free of charge.

[Tanh]

There are safety reasons why you shouldn't use black and white for 240v. These are conventions laid out by the NEC for the safety of you and those that come after you. If a guy (Next homeowner, landlord, quasi-electrician, etc) opens up your junction box and doesn't bother to test the lines, he'll see a 120v circuit, single phase. He'll probably wire it up as such and burn the house down. 240v needs 2 x 120v lines at 180 degree phase. The white is for the common/neutral and only used for a 120v line. Making it hot will create an unsafe condition. It will void any home insurance you or your landlord have, if anybody finds out.

Like Rambozo said, goto home depot and talk to an electrician there for free. They'll set you straight, hopefully.

[travis]

i went and dug out my wire its black red and white i know white is n other two is power side and it will be in conduit from panel down a foot or so to my box with a 4 prong female outlet
where i work we have a elect on staff iam always asking him stuff i have wired a 220 hot tub and replaced my main panel all by myself and the house has not burned so far

[Rambozo]

i went and dug out my wire its black red and white i know white is n other two is power side and it will be in conduit from panel down a foot or so to my box with a 4 prong female outlet
where i work we have a elect on staff iam always asking him stuff i have wired a 220 hot tub and replaced my main panel all by myself and the house has not burned so far

OK

Is the 14-50 plug you have molded on or can you take it apart? Since you only need three pins, you might just want to switch everything over to 6-50. It would make things pretty simple. If you do that just don't use the white wire in your cable. If you want to keep the 14-50 then you will need to install a 14-50 outlet with all four wires, not just three. On the other end of your cord, how are you planning on hooking that to the welder? If you're going with a 6-50 receptacle then as you said, just don't use the white wire at all, and insulate it.

[travis]

male end is molded on would like to keep it

[Tanh]

male end is molded on would like to keep it

Well, then it depends on what you have planned for the future or the cable specifically. If it's just an extension for the welder then you won't need the 120v and I'd say lop off the male connector. Build everything with 6-50 and 3 conductor.

In the case you will be hardwiring the cable to a welding table/cart and don't need to disconnect it, the dual voltage circuit makes more sense. In that case get some 4 conductor cable to run a permanent 14-50 box from your panel.

[Rambozo]

Since you have the wire and that's the expensive part, I would go the other way and just do everything in 14-50. It gives you the most options, and you keep the molded on plug. You can just put a 14-50 on your welder. I actually use 14-50 for all my welders, even the ones that don't need a neutral.

[travis]

so just wire the plug on welder with a 14-50 and dont use netural leave it empty ?

[Rambozo]

so just wire the plug on welder with a 14-50 and dont use netural leave it empty ?

Yes. To make it more obvious, I usually don't even install the neutral blade in the plug. This also lets it fit in a few different variations of NEMA 14 receptacles.

[Tanh]

That's what I'd do as well if I were in your shoes. But I'm in my shoes at least for today. And up here the cheapest Nema 14-50 plug is 50 CAD before tax at the home deep. I think I mentioned it (my outrage) in another electical thread. The matching receptacle is 10 CAD what gives!?

Anyways, I found it unreasonable because I can get 6-3 Romex for a buck a foot. If prices weren't that insane, I'd do everything 14-50 too.

Question: Is this going to be an extension cord or will it be hardwired to the welder?

[travis]

looked at 6/3 with ground lat night 4$ a foot i need 3 ft no more one female outlet and box cover as for end of cord iam really liking the rv plugs with handles i think it would be nice they about 20-25$ each