220V plug wire question

[Roly]

As long as the breaker is sized for the wire the breaker opens.  No harm no foul

I took it as it was still a 50a breaker with the 10ga wire.   My bad.   Roly

[JosephP]

....    My AC/DC buzzbox is running on a NEC-legal circuit of 3 10AWG, THNN conductors.  Red Black and green.

Duty cycle is everything with sizing circuits for welders.

Obviously, there are MANY different welders on the market...but, for example, the only AC/DC Welder from Lincoln I see listed no their website has 50 amp input, so you'd need 6 gauge wire for it to perform well.  You could probably get by with a 30A breaker on 6 gauge wire, but like you said, its all about duty cycle and that thing wouldn't run long before popping the 30A breaker.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have a green wire in there, you have TWO conductors and a ground.  Semantics, perhaps - however, I think that's proper terminology to avoid miscommunication about use of those wires.  But I'm not an electrician, so I may understand that incorrectly.

[kencombs]

Obviously, there are MANY different welders on the market...but, for example, the only AC/DC Welder from Lincoln I see listed no their website has 50 amp input, so you'd need 6 gauge wire for it to perform well.  You could probably get by with a 30A breaker on 6 gauge wire, but like you said, its all about duty cycle and that thing wouldn't run long before popping the 30A breaker.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have a green wire in there, you have TWO conductors and a ground.  Semantics, perhaps - however, I think that's proper terminology to avoid miscommunication about use of those wires.  But I'm not an electrician, so I may understand that incorrectly.

As discussed earlier, duty cycle is critical in sizing circuits.  That 50A max input is at 20% duty and 225 amps.   Input current drops dramatically at a normal setting of 100-125a and even more if used at 5-10% duty which is more normal for home use.   Also not the lower input and output on DC, which I use almost exclusively.

30amp breaker, 10ga wire and it's never tripped or fail to strike and hold a stable arc.

Study the NEC section on welders, really eye opening.   Also, take a look at the factory cable on welders.   Most have a 50a plug and way less than 6ga wire!

[fixtureman]

My old buzzbox had a 30 amp cable on it