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220 Outlet Question

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moparkid440

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Hey everyone. I'm wiring in a 220 volt outlet in my shop. It will be for using a plasma cutter. My question is what gauge wire and breaker amps would you use? I'm thinking a 10 garage (10/2) and a 20 amp double pole breaker but Want verification before I proceed. Thanks in advance everyone. Be safe
 
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PT Doc

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Do you have the plasma cutter already? What is the amp draw? Did you get a manual with it?
 
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moparkid440

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It's a friends cutter and I dont have it yet, so I dont actually know unfortunately.. I know its necessary to know to figure out the answer.
 
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theoldwizard1

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The breaker is meant to protect the wire, not the item plugged into the outlet.

Bretny said:
I believe 20a is 12g wire depending on length. But 10g wont hurt any one.
Click to expand...

A 12 gauge wire is usually paired with a 20A breaker. 10 gauge wire is usually paired with a 30A breaker but as stated it will work fine with a 20A breaker.
 
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Bert_

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Norcal said:
pattenp said:
You may want to install a 240V circuit, since 220V went away 50 years ago.:)
Click to expand...
Long before 50 years ago . :shocking:
Click to expand...

We all get it, it's not that big of a deal.

Here is a label inside a grain dryer I was working on a few weeks ago. This is modern equipment, not much more than 10 years old, made by a major grain handing equipment company (GSI). I've seen the same label in everything from small farm dryers to big commercial dryers. I figured I could put in a thread just like this...

 
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Jim greengo

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Bert_ said:
We all get it, it's not that big of a deal.

Here is a label inside a grain dryer I was working on a few weeks ago. This is modern equipment, not much more than 10 years old, made by a major grain handing equipment company (GSI). I've seen the same label in everything from small farm dryers to big commercial dryers. I figured I could put in a thread just like this...

Click to expand...
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
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wyliesdiesels

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Bert_ said:
We all get it, it's not that big of a deal.

Here is a label inside a grain dryer I was working on a few weeks ago. This is modern equipment, not much more than 10 years old, made by a major grain handing equipment company (GSI). I've seen the same label in everything from small farm dryers to big commercial dryers. I figured I could put in a thread just like this...

Click to expand...

Thats unacceptable.

I would send in a letter demanding they change their labels. :lol_hitti

All jokes aside, i wonder if theyre using the same labels they used from back when it was 110/220? :dunno:
 
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pattenp

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It seems anything electrical that is Chinese made has 110/220 volts printed on it or is listed in it's instructions. I really don't understand after the vast number of years that normal voltage has been 120/240 that equipment still has listings of 110/220.
 
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mike93lx

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pattenp said:
It seems anything electrical that is Chinese made has 110/220 volts printed on it or is listed in it's instructions. I really don't understand after the vast number of years that normal voltage has been 120/240 that equipment still has listings of 110/220.
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Because it doesn't matter?
 
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MoonRise

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Back to the OP's question. :D

What electrical service you need for the plasma cutter depends COMPLETELY on exactly what plasma cutter it is.

Even just with 'small' plasma cutters, the electrical requirements range from a 120V 15A circuit up to a 240V 80A circuit. And that is just the 'small' single-phase machines!

And don't forget the compressed air requirements to 'feed' to the plasma cutter as well!
 
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moparkid440

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Here are the specs for the Plasma Cutter. So, any if any experts can advise on the proper gauge wire and circuit breaker amp I'd appreciate it. Thanks alot everyone. Be safe
 

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Zeke

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pattenp said:
It seems anything electrical that is Chinese made has 110/220 volts printed on it or is listed in it's instructions. I really don't understand after the vast number of years that normal voltage has been 120/240 that equipment still has listings of 110/220.
Click to expand...

You still see references to 115/230.

To the OP (but I will defer to the more expert here) it looks like you can get by with 12 ga. But don't run the compressor on the same circuit. It needs its own.
 
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sberry

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A welder on a common 20A circuit, 120v can draw more than 80percent. I could be wrong here but,, wouldn't it be that a fixed piece can't be more than 80percent and continious not more than 80?
The welder could be way more for the wire along with a heavier breaker,, but the comp or motor would need 125 percent the wire.
They are really 2 different circuits,, and if the plaz doesn't have on board air needs a separate circuit for air.
 
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sberry

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theoldwizard1 said:
The breaker is meant to protect the wire, not the item plugged into the outlet.



A 12 gauge wire is usually paired with a 20A breaker. 10 gauge wire is usually paired with a 30A breaker but as stated it will work fine with a 20A breaker.
Click to expand...

I will go back to this again. The breaker does not protect the wire from thermal in this type of circuit, the applied load is the thermal limiting factor. It is a dedicated circuit with a specialized outlet. If it had multiple outlets like a general 120v circuit then the wire and breaker need to be sized for thermal.
Same for a compressor or motor circuit, the wire must be rated for 125 percent of the load, the breaker may be way larger. It is an off/on switch and sized for short circuit protection.
 
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sberry

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I don't have the book but it's possible this unit allows 14/30 circuit depending on wiring method. Not sure with the 60 percent duty, that might push it to 12. If it comes with factory cord it may be allowed on a 50A welder circuit.
That's the spec. Doesn't always mean it's a great idea,, 2 different things. Some of this may depend on the wire I had, May depend on the method. The minimums are usually single circuit in pipe.
 
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alfredeneuman

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NEC 210.23
Permissible Loads
(A)15 and 20 Amp circuits
(1) Cord-and-Plug-Connected Equipment Not Fastened in Place. The rating of any one cord-and-plug-connected utilization equipment not fastened in place shall not exceed 80 percent of the branch-circuit ampere rating.
 
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sberry

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Yes, the largest draw for factory cord and plug is 8 wire. The only machines that require it are the heavy 250 class migs. In reality the only time they really NEED it is for production and spray.
A buzzer is legal on 12/50. They are rated for it at their max rated output which is rather rare but they do get the duty exceeded on occasion. Also the connections on the devices may be listed for 10. They also work slightly better on 10, not much difference with 8 though.
They are legal on 10 cable. I have ran them till they were near smokin cinders, barely warms the wire.
 
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MoonRise

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The spec sheet pretty much claims that the machine needs 20+ amps. (4.8 kVA input, which is 20-22 amps depending on whether you have 220 or 240V coming in at the machine).

That means that the DEDICATED circuit feeding the plasma cutter needs to be at LEAST a 30 amp circuit.

And depending on the wire length between the breaker/panel and the outlet, that means at LEAST 10 AWG copper wire (unless you attempt to go with some duty-cycle undersizing allowance, but then you have to label that the circuit is DEDICATED to just that piece of duty-cycle limited equipment).

Me? I'd skip the fussing and just go with a 50 amp circuit and #8 AWG copper THHN/THWN (depending on circuit length, you might have to go up to #6 AWG copper) and put a NEMA 6-50 receptacle on it and call it done. This way you can use that plasma cutter or some other one of similar input power requirements, or a choice of decently sized 240V welders, or a decently sized compressor, or almost whatever home-shop 240V equipment you want to run off of that circuit.

https://www.cerrowire.com/products/resources/tables-calculators/ampacity-charts/
 
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