Welding advice

[jigga]

I've been doing a lot of reading and this topic seems to bring a few varying responses...

I just bought a 15am welder and want to plug it in at home (10amp).

I'm learning to weld, so I won't have a high volume of time on the welder. My question is, would the jaycar 15amp to 10amp power box work for me? I am in an old home, so don't want to risk having any issues.i am also moving soon, so don't want to put in a proper 15 amp plug.

[DUDELUX]

Personally, if it was me, Id get a sparky to run a new 15a circuit to the shed, or wherever you plan of welding.
I have a metal cut off saw that runs 15a, and I had it plugged into a 10a powerboard(the type with a cutoff button), and it kept cutting out whenever I was using it.
When I bought my mig, I got the sparky that lives next door to run a dedicated 15a circuit from the powerbox up into the roof and through to the shed. I also bought a bright orange 15a extension lead.

My advice is to not fark around with something as deadly as electricity. Especially for the cost of getting some wires and plugs installed.

[AFeral]

Theres two different plugs for a reason. I have pluged a 15 amp welder into a 10amp plug. I have put a clamp meter on the cable and turned the welder up up until it reaches 10amps made a note of the setting and stuck below it.
At the end of the day its a pain in the arse, I now have a 32amp and 15amp single phase plug in my shed. The welder runs a lot better on the correct power supply I don't have to worry about melting electrical circuits.
As long as theres space on your fuse board you should be able to add a 15 amp circuit. If the sparkie will let you, money can be saved by mounting the plug on the wall, putting the cable in the conduit and running too the correct spot.
I bought all my 10amp 15amp and 32amp switched industrial plugs of ebay for $20 each they retail for $150 new. I ran all the cable through the shitty spots and conduit myself.
I was quoted $2800-$3500 to wire my shed the way i wanted it cost me $1200 with a bit of work, shopping around and a good understanding sparkie.
So in other words spend a few bucks do it right I would guess it will cost you $200-500 dependig on how things go.

[CRUZAAMAD]

Sadly
their wouldnt be an engineering shop in the country that doesnt use the filing down the earth plug..
or removing and using øa 10amp plug..
or an adaptor

15amp leads are rarely used as well

If you could
all power tools should be 15amp
to get around the two sets of power points required

in a dresm world i mean

stops the need to file a 15amp down.

its just the way all the companies ive worked at do it
but not legal

[oldmate]

My question is, would the jaycar 15amp to 10amp power box work for me?

Yes it would work, but there is no advantage over using a 10 amp plug or filing down the 15 amp plug.

You can still only draw a maximum of 10 amps from the wall before the circuit breaker trips.

The welder will draw 15 amps as a maximum, which would only occur if welding at the highest setting.

At lower power settings the welder will draw less current. But how much depends on the welder.

You can try using a 10 amp socket, but you might find it will still trip even welding a lower power settings. It will depend entirely on the welder.

[ar3nbe]

most 10amp home circuits have at least a 15amp breaker on them.

Just saying.

[joshy]

So I'll be the first to admit I run my 15a mig with a filed down plug. First house we had a 15a socket so it was no drama , every house since only has 10a. Current house I'm waiting to build a proper shed so not going to fork out just yet for correct outlet. Occasionally it trips when I turn the welder on, I just wind the dials down and turn it back on and it's usually right. Just that initial start up that trips it. Done heaps of welding with it at high settings

[supazuk]

I run my 250 amp mig on 10 amp. Have a short 10 to 15amp lead and have never had an issue

[bru21]

As far as I know, (and correct me if I am wrong), both 10A and 15A circuits are identical.
The taller earth pin is to help offer physical stability to the conection.

Generally, both circuits run 2.5mm2 wire behind the plug - It's just the number of outlets on the same circuit.
Both circuits have 16 or 20 amp breakers.

Assuming you have breakers (older houses don't), you cannot harm anything - just trip the breakers.

I have 5x single 20A outlets in my shed and I have them split into two circuits, each on 20A breakers. The 10a circuits are also on 20A breakers - but there are two circuits and 10x double outlets on each circuit.

I bet you will have no issues with the welder you have, I have run the unimig 240A at work for years, on max current and massive welding sessions - 5+ hours of welding on 10A circuits. I have used up to 8kg of wire in a session.

Cheers bru

[80's_delirious]

Another option is have a 15amp power point fitted in the meter box and run the shortest possible 15amp extension lead into the shed when welding.
I did this in the last rental place I was in, but the meter box had a 10amp gpo, so I filed down the earth pin.

Also, if your only doing a small amount of welding at a time, a 10amp lead should cope with short cycle welding ie tacking, short runs of weld while fabricating

[AFeral]

10amp and 15amp circuits are simuler but not the same. Yes they both run 2.5 mm cable but a 15 amp has one plug per circuit. Where as a 10amp circuit has several plugs running off the same breaker.

[Shadow]

The advantage of the jaycar 10amp to 15amp block, is that it has a 10amp breaker in the block.

So if you trip it, you walk 2 metres and reset it. If you use a 10amp plug on your 15amp welder, or file the earth pin(this is what ive done lol), you _may_ trip the house breaker, and then its usually a longer walk and will also throw out the whole circuit, and might piss off the missus if the tv is on the same circuit!

The downside is, it WILL trip if you draw more than 10 amp, but the house circuit breaker will be 16 or 20amp.

[shakes]

So I'll be the first to admit I run my 15a mig with a filed down plug. First house we had a 15a socket so it was no drama , every house since only has 10a. Current house I'm waiting to build a proper shed so not going to fork out just yet for correct outlet. Occasionally it trips when I turn the welder on, I just wind the dials down and turn it back on and it's usually right. Just that initial start up that trips it. Done heaps of welding with it at high settings

So do I, run it through a 10amp RCD board. Only trips when the welder is 'cold' haven't burnt down a house yet.

[Struth]

The larger earth pin is to prevent you plugging 15A devices into 10A circuits.
Same goes through the various 3 phase plug sets as well.