14 awg ext cord help ?

[sweetk30]

so i got some old school 14/3 awg cord and want to make a real ext cord over the china cheepy **** .

whats a good amp real world safe rating for it at say 50ft ?

my plan is for a grinder at 9.5amp spec on the unit and a 110 volt welder from hobart 140 model .

if i need to not use it on the welder i am fine with this .


just looking for feedback and advice . and i would be using good ends not the cheepy replacement ends .

 

[bluecomputer]

https://www.stayonline.com/product-resources/reference-circuit-ampacity.asp

 

[sberry]

The welder is a bit different, loses about 8 volts down 50x14 wide open. I can tell, have to adjust the machine a little. The grinder is irrelevent. If I have a choice carry a 12x50 for that type of welding. Unless it's added to a long circuit it doesn't even know it's there. About 3 or 4 v drop.

 

[sweetk30]

https://www.stayonline.com/product-resources/reference-circuit-ampacity.asp

now that chart i can understand thanks

 

[Bretny]

14g for a welder at 50ft...No thanks.

 

[sweetk30]

say 25 foot then ?

if not then buy new i guess to be safe .

 

[alfredeneuman]

From the actual manual>

Select extension cord of 14 AWG for up to 50 ft (15 m) or 12 AWG for 50 up to 200 ft (61 m)

 

[sberry]

25 cuts the loss in 1/2. It won't effect the welder much. The reason I use 12x50 is it can do the same jobs a 25 can do. I have a 25 but it's just a matter of extra stuff especially portable and 25 is just so short.

 

[Zeke]

My experience with 120v welders is that they do not weld very well with any voltage drop. But I haven't use that many 120v models or dual voltage on 120. All my good stuff is inverted based, but the Home Depot Lincoln's and this Hobart are transformer powered. From what I can tell you don't want to starve a transformer voltage wise.

Just because it says it can weld on a 14 ga. extension cord it doesn't mean that's optimal. Use a 12 ga for short runs and a 10 ga for 50' and you will see better performance, IMHO and YMMV.

 

[sberry]

If a guy is welding body steel where the machine is turned down there is a difference. It's easy to turn down. When I test a machine, especially a small one always test at wide open, we wanna see what the top end is.

 

[sberry]

No law says you can't use a better shorter cord but using the listed isn't a national disaster, it works. The hype of loss is a bit dramatic.
It's near obsessive on the forum. There are places it doesn't hurt to upsize, it can be practical, there may be a reason but lots of times it makes it more complicated and costly.