50 amp extension cord for welder,..

[billxj]

Need a 50 amp extension cord for my ole welder about 20 feet long and was thinking about fabricating something up-I am wondering if I should expect to experience maybe some electrical drop off because of the longer length-TIA
billxj :cool:

[Hotfoot]

I used a #6 100 foot cord for my Miller 225 stick welder with no problems, but I never ran it over 125 amps. What is the wire size and length of the circuit it is to be connected to?

[Rhett]

We really need to know what type/size welder. Duty cycle allows non-industrial welder circuits to be derated compared to other machines which might run continuously at full capacity. For instance, my MM210 has a 25 foot 10 ga extension cord and my Synchrowave 180 had a 25 foot 8 ga extension cord, both of which are entirely adequate for this application, however if there were no derating because of duty cycle (eg if both ran continuously at maximum power consumption., both would really need a size larger cable. Additionally, while I have assembled a few welder extension cords over the years, if I were doing it again, I would probably purchase a pre-made one such as that carried by brwelder.com because I have wasted a lot of time at electrical supply centers chasing down 10-3 / 8-3 SOOW cable, NEMA 6-50 R & P recepticals & plugs, appropriate box-cable connectors, face plates, etc, etc.

[Sberry]

I agree. we need to know what machine you are using.

[daimon1054]

Any RV shop will have a 50 APM cord that you can use, all the big RV's use 50 AMP service. The plug might not be what you want but that is an easy swap. That or Lowes and Home Depot have all the cord you need that you can buy by the foot. 50 AMP's is 50 AMP's it does not matter what you are running, if the line is rated to cary it it will work.

[hankj]

If the draw according to your welders spec's is 30 amps or less, use 10/3. More than 30 amps, use 8/3. More than 50 amps, use 6/3.

Hank

[Sberry]

Hope he has better luck than I did tonight, hit a service drop to one of my wells,, nice ,, first I thought it was a lightning flash,, ha. didnt hurt the wires but blew the fuses on the kettle. Maybe its a sign I should quit for the night????????

[TOMWELDS]

Good thing you used the right size fuse!

[Rhett]

Any RV shop will have a 50 APM cord that you can use, all the big RV's use 50 AMP service. The plug might not be what you want but that is an easy swap. That or Lowes and Home Depot have all the cord you need that you can buy by the foot. 50 AMP's is 50 AMP's it does not matter what you are running, if the line is rated to cary it it will work.

Again, because the NEC allows welder circuits to be derated because the average home welder has on the order of a 20% duty cycle at maximum current output, a welder can use a smaller gauge wire than a different type of equipment of same max current requirement which would constantly run at full power. Also, if you can reliably find S-type cable larger than 10-3 at Home Depot or Lowes, your stores are better stocked than those in my area. The 6-50 P receptical can also be difficult to find at home centers.

[daimon1054]

Our Lowes has yellow extension cord on a reel in 8/3 and 10/3 and had a reel of 8/4 the other day when I went. For my plasma cutter and welder I ended up using a 50A twist lock plug and cut the end off the units. This way even if I pull on it (I know not supposed to) it stays plugged. Also I made most of my camper extension cords the same way so I get more than one use out of each cord.

[lgjhn]

I made a 35' one up last weekend for my new MM210.
I used some nice USA-made 10/3 cord from Home Depot as Lowes didn't have any. But I picked up the plug and welding receptical at Lowes as HD didn't have those. I made it up in about 10 minutes, plugged it in and welded some stringers on the high settings on some pretty heavy plate just to see if all was ok. Cord never even warmed up at all and it welded as if the ext. cord wasn't being used..... I was a happy camper :D

[KartRacer55]

Look up generator power cords in northern or any similar catalog. Like osmebody else also posted, An Rv place might have them

Jim