MIG Welding and 220V, Install an outlet? Options

[Todd Enlund]

I'm getting a MIG for Christmas. Trying to decide between a Miller 140C and a 180C. The 180C is only $93 more... but the garage is not wired for 220.

1) Can I wire it myself?
2) Is the 180C overkill for a 914?

I shoulda bought it last week... MIG welders all took a big jump in price in the last week (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[Rusty]

I had a licensed electrician do it. Cost me about a hundred bucks, and there will be no quibbling with the insurance company if there's ever a fire.

[Root_Werks]

If all you plan to weld is body parts, 110VAC is plenty.

A welder that uses 220VAC is something to have if you like to punch holes in 1/4 plate steel.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[jd74914]

Go with the 220 if you can swing it. Jeff Hail wrote a good post about welders once upon a time, and the general gist of his post (IIRC) was that 220V were better because since they have more power available they take less time to heat the metal which means less burning through and warpage as you get better.

I have a 220V, but we do weld up to 7/16" plate on occasion.

Its not hard to wire an outlet. You can find directions on google or in any good home-building handbook. My dad and I have both wired a few 220 plugs, if you have done 115 its no harder. That said, if you aren't comfortable with that, or your regulations are such it should be pretty cheap to get an electrician to do it.

[biosurfer1]

IMHO opinion, I would get an electrician for 220V. 110 will zap you pretty good, but 220 in getting in the "might kill you" stage so the tolerance of accidently doing somethign wrong is way lower....be careful, electricity is a scary thing when it wants to be.

[Gint]

I had an electrician install a 100 amp breaker box in the garage when the basement was refinished. Well worth it. Now I can put whatever I want for breakers in the box in the garage to support my habit. No issue with my Miller 175 220v or my 220v compressor.

[wbergtho]

If I can do it...so can you. Just go to Home Depot, buy the appropriate 220V breaker and the the appropriate wire & plug...and you'll be done before you know it. Shut down power to the electrical box before installing the breaker & wiring...when you are done hooking everything up, flip the power on to your electrical box and flip the new breaker on and you're ready to start welding. If you have other items in your house that run on 220V like a stove, A/C or whatever...you can study the way those 220V breakers are wired as a reference. If you feel uncomfortable doing this, I suggest you hire a qualified electrician.

[r_towle]

First off, check your local code to determine if you can legally do your own wiring.

If you can, I would suggest the following method.

Go to Home Depot, ask questions, listen to the answers closely.
Wire up the plug, run the wire, DO NOT open up the fuse panel.

Get all the hard work done, then hire an electrician to do two things.
Check your work, and plug it into the panel.

This method saves alot of time and money.

Rich

[Jeffs9146]

Just get a 220v extension cord and plug it into your dryer plug when you need it!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[scotty b]

Miller 140 will do nything you need on most any car. Hell you could do frame repair on an American car with it if you needed to. If you plan to build a rotisserie or something more substantial the 180 would be in order.

[Spoke]

I've got a Millermatic 135 110V unit and this has worked very nicely for me. I have 110V outlets all around my garage and I've used most of them with my welder from time to time depending on where the car was sitting.

I've also run 220V 2 phase into the garage for my compressor. If you're unsure about doing the wiring, like mentioned above, run the wires through the house and let an electrician wire the outlet and circuit breaker panel.

[IronHillRestorations]

110v really is enough. Unless you plan to weld heavy stuff, you probably won't make a bead on a 914 that's more than 1" long anyway.

It does seem though that better welders have a better wire feed/drive system though.

[Katmanken]

I have the Miller 135 (110v) and there isn't anything on a teener that it won't weld.

I like the Miller with the all metal guts. That Lincoln plastic chassis just looks like a plastic crack waiting to happen. Not to mention the plastic pinch arm parts......Wonder if the design engineers were so fresh out of school they never heard of creep on a loaded plastic part???

Ken

[So.Cal.914]

220 three or single phase? If single you can pull it off of two 110 breakers with a pigtail. I would go 220v, smaller wire, uses less amps and you will have 220 for other uses after. You can weld all day long with a good 220 welder on heavy or light material.
BUT, as said before electricty can KILL you, so if you are not comfortable with a power panel maybe you should leave it alone. I saw a post that sounded like your best bet, do all the prep work run all your rough, pull your wire, install your plug but don't crack the panel. Let an electrician place the breaker and hook up the + - and neutral. My .02

[pktzygt]

Just get a 220v extension cord and plug it into your dryer plug when you need it!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

Have you seen the price of 220v extension cords? Or even 220v cord by the foot? Might be cheaper to install the outlet.

[Brett W]

I use a 20ft long extension cord to get my welder and plasma cutter around to different locations in the shop. I think I paid 60 bucks for the cord and maybe 40 dollars for the plug and receptacle. Works great. But you have to make sure you use something like 8ga for a 220 welder.

On the topic of 220V vs 110V. Get the 220 and use .023 wire. It works better than the 110V welder on pretty much everything. Plus you can always use .035 wire to weld up to 1/2in plate if properly prepared. Always buy more welder than you think you will need. That way when the day comes when you need to weld something you didn't plan for you can easily do the job.

[wbergtho]

On the topic of 220V vs 110V. Get the 220 and use .023 wire. It works better than the 110V welder on pretty much everything. Plus you can always use .035 wire to weld up to 1/2in plate if properly prepared. Always buy more welder than you think you will need. That way when the day comes when you need to weld something you didn't plan for you can easily do the job.

I agree with Brett. Who knows...some day in the future you may want to create your own trailer, etc.

[Bartlett 914]

Just get a 220v extension cord and plug it into your dryer plug when you need it!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

Have you seen the price of 220v extension cords? Or even 220v cord by the foot? Might be cheaper to install the outlet.

Remember that using 220 is half the amps. The wire gage required goes down when the voltage goes up. I have 220 (it doesn't allow 110) and the wire is about 14 ga.

14 ga. is good for 15 Amps. 12 ga. is good for 20 amps and 10 ga. is good for 30 amps. Read the specifications for the welder and you will know the size of the wire that will be needed. The breaker should not exceed the wire capacity. Putting 14 ga. extension on a 30 amp circuit could be a problem if there is a short circuit. In that case, the wire would burn and the breaker may not trip.

[Jax914]

I purchased a Miller 135 almost two years ago - 110V. I run it off a 15 amp circuit and never have an issue. I've used my big 220V AirCo buzzbox once since then.

I've heard that using a 220V at 10% capacity is more efficient that a 110V at 75%. I'm not a pro welder - so I don't use it at the max capacity anyway - and I've only had to jump to the arc once in two years - that was for an exceptional case - not 914 related.

Make sure you go with the shielding gas. Flux core wire is a mess.

If you go with the dryer circuit / welder plug or extension - just make up a little sign for the dryer that says "Do Not Use - Welding!"

HTH,

[Jeffs9146]

I think I paid 60 bucks for the cord and maybe 40 dollars for the plug and receptacle.

West Marine Supply puts them on sale every once in a while for $49-$59 for a 30ft one!

If you go with the dryer circuit / welder plug or extension - just make up a little sign for the dryer that says "Do Not Use - Welding!"

Yes, don't use the dryer "circuit" I unplug the dryer and use the plug!