Installing a dedicated circuit for my 110v mig

[ikessky]

I'm running a Hobart 140 in the garage and decided that I should do the right thing and put it on it's own circuit. The manual states that a dedicated 20a circuit is needed, but I guess what I'm wondering is why not a 30a? The duty cycle chart shows it drawing 20a while the weldering is putting out 90a, but the highest setting should be 140a. Am I looking at something wrong here? Should I stick with the 20a individual circuit or would I be better of running a 30a circuit? The run from where the outlet will be to the breaker box in the basement will be something like 10 feet if that matters at all.

[Felonyass Monk]

Best to stay with a 20 amp circuit.
you will not need 30 amps and it may be an issue if for some reason your welder went wonky and burnt up because of the extra heat needed to blow the 30 amp fuse.
Felon

[Broccoli1]

There is nothing wrong with a 30amp and any fault that would cause wonkyness will trip a 30amp just as fast.

We plug 5,7, 8,10 & 15 amp tools in to 20amp protected Circuits all the time.


but a dedicated 20amp will be plenty for the HH140

[MoonRise]

The manual says a 20A breaker is enough, then use a 20A breaker.

That said, I have occasionally tripped the 'recommended' 20A breaker with my little Lincoln even though it was on its own dedicated circuit. I suspect the power company was running a little low on voltage that day(s).

A 30A breaker is not -needed-, but not a bad thing.

NOTE: if you put a 30A breaker in the circuit, you have to either size the wire for 30A -OR- prominently label the dedicated outlet something like "For Welder Use ONLY!".

The 20A breaker and a (HOPEFULLY) short run of 12AW copper wire for the circuit is usually 'enough' for the welder in most cases and usually 'easier' to do for code and electrical inspections.

[ikessky]

Thanks guys. I already have a 20a outlet and 12aw wire on hand, so that will certainly be a cheap and easy thing for me to do. Just have to buy a breaker and I'm set to go. I'm also going to wire all my pull-cord overhead lights to a switch by the door so that I can turn them all on at once.