Quick Help on Electrical Cord Connection if Possible........

Dan Mosley

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Location
Palm Springs, Ca
I have a new Mig welder comming in tomm and needed to make an extension cord/adapter in order to use it for 220 - Im not a electrician - a friend gave me a extension cord with a plug on it that i Need and the other end is just bare wire - I want to make sure i connect it correctly so I thought I would ask if someone on here can verify the correct connections for me. One end already has the wires attached so it may be fine..........
Pic 1 showing back of new female box
Pic -2 showing back and box
Pic - 3 and 4 showing the existing plug attached to one end of the cord
Pic - 5 showing the bare wire on the opposite end that I need to attach to the back of pic 1 to make the adapter cord.............

Thanks if you can explain what goes where ..............Dan
 

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Dan plug the male end into the female end. Now that that is done look at which wire is opposing what terminal. Connect appropriate wire to said terminal. White should line up with white, black with black and green with green.
 
+1 on what Chuck said.

What size and what length is the extension cord? If the wire guage is too small with a long length on the cord you will have a significant voltage drop and the machine will not run like it should.

The last extension cord I had for a 220 volt welder was #6 guage, 25' long. No voltage drop over that one.

I have been a weldor for going on 40 years and finally got rid of all the equipment at home. 9 hours a day at work is enough.
 
The green wire goes to the center/bottom connector. The black and white go to the other two. In 240 volt service, the difference is little or none.

Note that you have a 50 amp plug. If you need 50 amps, you need a very heavy cable.

15 amps requires #14 wire
20 amps requires #12 wire
30 amps requires #10 wire
40 amps requires #8 wire, and a strong person to carry the cord.
50 amps requires #6 wire, and a truck to carry the extension cord.

Yes there are exceptions... longer cords require larger wire (smaller number). Separate wires - like in a box or conduit - sometimes can use a smaller wire (larger number) than wires held together in a power cord or in Romex cable.
 
It looks to me like you have a 50 amp outlet, but that plug on the gift cord is an L530P (isn't that what it says?)...a locking 125V, 30 amp plug. You might still be able to use the wire, if it's a heavy enough gauge (the outlet needs the appropriate wire as well) for whatever amperage your welder will draw. It might help to know what you're adapting to, and what the requirements of the welder are.
 
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