Welder outlet questions

[Gigfy]

I've been reading the archives of this forum, good stuff, but it has caused me to have more questions.

I plan to put in a welder outlet in the garage. It will run a small Miller AC/DC unit.

I want to go w/ a 50 amp circuit, even if the circuit is a little over-sized for the welder. I plan to use 6-3G wire, because that's what the big box stores carry (as opposed to 6-2G). I haven't bought the wire yet.

Please tell me if this sounds OK.

I bought a 4X4X2 1/8" steel box and a 5/8" mud ring (5.5 cu. in.) which fits the box. Along with that I have a simple three prong 50A welder outlet. For the cover, it's a single gang SS cover plate.

Does this sound legit?

Box fill OK (I don't know if a welder outlet counts as just two conductors, or more since it's not like a typical duplex recep. Also unsure whether to count outside clamps or not, since the threads of the outside clamps seem to enter the box about 1/2")? I come up with 6 conductors inside the box, but not sure if that's right.

Since I won't be using the white wire can I just cap it off in the box with a wire nut?

Lastly, I've never done anything with metal recep. boxes so I have a couple of stupid questions about that. Does the metal box have to be grounded? And can a person mount the box to the stud by screws through the side of the box, or do you have to use some mounting hardware outside the box? Or would it be best to put an 1 3/8" thick board behind the box and screw the box into that board?

Thanks.

 

[oleguy]

out side clamps don't count.get a box with a side bracket.also big box stores carry 6-2 and ground.the recp holds 2 hots and ground.tape the white wire of the 6-2 red to identifi it as hot at the breaker and at the recep.the metal box has to be grounded.there is a threaded 10-32 hole in the box for the green ground screw.if you can't get 6-2,as you say just cap off white.

 

[Aceman]

I agree with Oleguy. 4 square deep bracket box is the way to go. Make sure you use a legit 50 amp 250v 2 pole 3 wire recep and not the old school crows foot range recep people like to use.

 

[sfckiddo]

if you can put it close to your door, that way you can get a lot of reach outside for some of your projects

 

[Gigfy]

Thanks.

So as I understand, there's a metal box 4X4 box out there deeper than 2 1/8", and that's the box I need? A side bracket on the box would be great, if it was side mount (mounts to the side of the stud). Do they make such an animal. If it mounts on the front, it's no good. I can tear out sheet rock on the backside, but I'd rather not do it on the front side (the side the garage is on).

I wonder could either of you could give me a link of one of these boxes so I can see what your talking about?

I haven't checked lately to see if our local big box carries 6-2. A few years ago, I needed to replace the cable to our cook stove because I wasn't comfortable with the wire they originally ran. It was 8 ga. aluminum on a 50 amp breaker (they didn't even have a box for the 50 amp recep, but just drilled a hole through the floor behind the stove and shoved the cable up through the hole. The recep was laying under the stove.) I wanted to go back with 6-2 but the big box only had 6-3. I used the old crows foot, but put it back in a PVC box and capped off the unused wire.

I'll look for the 6-2 wire again this time.

I didn't want to use a PVC box for the welder because I figured I'd be plugging and unplugging the welder a lot, and a metal box would probably hold up better than a plastic box under the strain.

 

[Gigfy]

Kiddo,

Good point. I did plan to put it close to the garage door. I already have a 220 outlet there for my table saw. Not that I pull my table saw outside to use it, but that place on the wall had the best receptacle access. The rest of the wall is covered by big shelves and a deep freeze.

I was wondering if there is some prohibition of putting the two outlets fairly close to one another. Is there some minimum distance requirement? I thought I'd put the welder recep. one stud cavity over.

I plan to put the bottom of the welder recep 18" off the floor of the garage, is that right?