Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey guys I purchased a 50fter last year and still have it in the box. I thought it was going to be long enough to go from my driveway where my ranger gxt250 is at and run it to my shed in the back yard so i can plug my tig welder in. Unfortunately I am about 20-30ft short. I was wondering if I could use that and another 25ft 220 cord and plug them together. If they were both rated at 50amps? If anyone has experience with doing this or has purchased a 75-100ft 220v 50 amp cord let me know and where you found one. Have been striking out on located one that long and would rather only have to purchase another 25-50fter due to price. Thanks guys

UniqueTouch wrote:Hey guys I purchased a 50fter last year and still have it in the box. I thought it was going to be long enough to go from my driveway where my ranger gxt250 is at and run it to my shed in the back yard so i can plug my tig welder in. Unfortunately I am about 20-30ft short. I was wondering if I could use that and another 25ft 220 cord and plug them together. If they were both rated at 50amps? If anyone has experience with doing this or has purchased a 75-100ft 220v 50 amp cord let me know and where you found one. Have been striking out on located one that long and would rather only have to purchase another 25-50fter due to price. Thanks guys

What gauge are the conductors and exactly what plug/receptacle style is it using? 6-50?

ALEKO 50 Amp 220 Volt Welder Extension Cord – 8 AWG Power Extension for Welding Machines – 50 ft, ETL

yes 6-50 plug

It's not out of the question, IMO. But I do have to ask, what is the I1max rating of your welder, and what is the duty cycle at maximum amperage?

have a cheap everlast at the moment but going to purchase Invertig 221 AC/DC Inverter

UniqueTouch wrote:have a cheap everlast at the moment but going to purchase Invertig 221 AC/DC Inverter

So if you're not consuming more than 30A at the moment, and the duty cycle is less than 50%, then I don't see any issues with running those two extension cords together. A welder that draws 50A with a duty cycle of 80-100% would be worrisome, but that isn't the case here.

okay great I appreciate the help very much

Agreed, most welders give downsized wiring as the minimum due to duty cycle not allowing for constant use at maximum draw. An Idealarc 250 which is known as being a power hungry machine and calls for a 90 amp breaker only specifies 8 gauge wire. A Syncrowave 250DX which is even more absurdly demanding, and will trip a 50 amp breaker if you try to weld 1/8 aluminum specs a 125 amp breaker and 6 gauge wire with a maximum wire length of 150 feet.

In short, given that your extension cords constitute the entirety of your conductors as you're running off a generator, you're more than fine, and possibly even oversized for what you'd need.

sbaker56 wrote:A Syncrowave 250DX which is even more absurdly demanding, and will trip a 50 amp breaker if you try to weld 1/8 aluminum specs a 125 amp breaker and 6 gauge wire with a maximum wire length of 150 feet.

I don't know where you heard that, but it doesn't match my experience at all.

I've owned 6 Miller Syncrowave 250DX and 7 Miller Syncrowave 250 welders so far. None have had Power Factor Correction. All were run on 230V with a 40A breaker welding at least up to 1/4" aluminum with zero breaker trips. That wasn't just doing a little bead here and there, it was running 6-12" beads over and over with only short breaks in between.

I also ran two different Hobart TIGWave 250s on the same outlet welding aluminum at 1/4" thick or even a bit thicker and never had a problem...on paper those should pull as much as a Sync 250 or 250DX.

That outlet was a temporary one, and I ran another dedicated outlet for my newest Syncrowave 250DX TIGRunner with a bigger breaker and wire, but after fifteen different machines that draw similar amounts of power it wasn't just some coincidence that there were no problems with the 40A breaker.

If someone said they were tripping a 50A breaker welding 1/8" aluminum with a Syncrowave 250DX there was a problem with the wiring or the machine...no way that should happen.