Meph Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Ive got a 230V 20amp Mig welder I have wired to a 3 prong 230 VAC plug. Ive moved houses and dont have access to a 3 prong outlet anymore, only a 30 amp 4 prong dryer outlet. Ive been doing soem reseach and I dont think Ill have any issues with overloading the circut but I need to fidn the correct way to wire it Welder: Black: Hot White: Neutral Green: Ground 4 Prong Plug: 1 Ground, 1 Neutral, 2 Hot (correct?) What the easiest way to convert the plug, replace the 3 prong with a 4 prong and wire the two Hot lines to the single Black of the welder? Thanks, P.S. Hey, Ive got a nice 1jz 240z project on the go, Ill post when ive got some juicy pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 (edited) the easy way is to buy a male plug that fits the current outlet , similar to the driers current plug/cord and replace the current cord on your welder if you intend to still use the drier at times, youll wire the two blacks or the red and black power leads to the two power prongs and the white to the neutral, the greens not used, except as a connector to the frame earth ground on some applications stop by your local electrical supply and buy the cord and ask questions and take notes Edited March 3, 2009 by grumpyvette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theghosttanker Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 On your welder, the black and the white wires are both live, each carrying 110V but out of phase with each other. So a voltmeter across them reads 220 V AC. The green wire is a ground.Your welder has no neutral wire. You are, however, correct in your assessment of a 4-prong plug.It has two live 110V prongs, (also out of phase with each other) a ground, and a neutral. Some 220v appliances such as ovens or dryers have a 110V light in them, or have timer motors that run on 110v, and the way they work is that one of the 110v lines along with a white neutral wire provides the power for them. So if you put a voltmeter across EITHER hot wire and and the neutral you get 110V AC. Thus, a 4-prong outlet can supply 220 V across it's two live prongs as well as 110v between either hot prong and the neutral, simultaneously powering the 220V heating element in your dryer as well as the 110v timer motor.The wiring inside the dryer takes care of what gets what in terms of the power. You have a modern four prong dryer outlet, just put a matching plug on your welder. There is no reason to replace the cord. Connect the black welder wire to the black dryer outlet wire, your white welder wire to the red dryer wire, and your green or bare grounds together.Another way of directing the hookup is to tell you to pretend that the white wire on your welder is actually red, and your welder has no white wire to connect to the dryer outlet. The white neutral on the dryer outlet will be unused.grumpyvette is incorrect in telling you that the green is not used, it's the ground and has to be continuous and separate from the neatral wire all the way from the appliance to the fuse panel.If you hook the two hot lines from the dryer outlet to the single black wire on your welder you will simply short the two hot wires and make the main fuse blow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meph Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 thanks for the confirmation, i talked to my electic prof. today and confirmed the wiring. Ive got this plug here sitting in front of me The prongs on the top and bottom are live, and the l shaped one is ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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