Wiring Help for a long time lurker.

[Shrek]

Greetings Lads and Lasses,

I am seeking your grand wisdom once again on a wiring setup for my workshop. I have a 6 breaker sub panel
1 - 4 3' LED light strips
2 - 1 outlet dedicated to a window AC unit.
3 - 5 outlets
4 - 4 outlets at my bench
5 - 1 outlet dedicate to a 110v Miller MIG welder.
6 - Spare

I currently have 2/12 run to everything but #4 and #5. I expect it will be just fine for the bench, but do y'all think it will be enough to run that welder at #5? The span from the breaker to the outlet I would say is about 15 feet.

Also what size breakers do you think I should install on 1-5?

Sorry if this has been asked in nausea before. I did some searching and didn't come up with much so I thought I would post up.

 

[Bert_]

I run 14 to lights, 12 to general outlets. Specialty outlets depends on the load. Most circuits just size the breaker to the wire. Welders are an exception to this but a 120v welder should be designed to run on 20A

 

[Shrek]

Most circuits just size the breaker to the wire.

Excuse my ignorance, but what does size the breaker to the wire mean?

 

[MikeF2316]

Excuse my ignorance, but what does size the breaker to the wire mean?

In house wiring, generally 14 gauge is protected by a 15 amp breaker, 12 gauge by a 20 amp breaker. There are exceptions, but not many.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

Excuse my ignorance, but what does size the breaker to the wire mean?

Very simply put, wire is manufactured in sizes called gauges. Each size is rated to carry a particular amount of current (amps) over a certain distance. To limit the maximum amount of current that can flow through a particular circuit, you put a breaker on that circuit that would trip and stop the flow of current if the amount of current drawn exceeds that breaker’s limit.

So, in most residential settings, 14 gauge wire would be limited to carry a maximum of 15 amps of current. You would enforce that limit by putting a 15 amp breaker on that circuit. Similarly you would limit 12 gauge circuit to 20 amp using a 20 amp breaker.

 

[Shrek]

Thanks everyone!

 

[theoldwizard1]

...but do y'all think it will be enough to run that welder at #5? The span from the breaker to the outlet I would say is about 15 feet.

I run 14 to lights, 12 to general outlets. Specialty outlets depends on the load. Most circuits just size the breaker to the wire. Welders are an exception to this but a 120v welder should be designed to run on 20A

Bert is on the money ! 12/2 is over kill for lighting, especially with LED.

Change #4 and #5 to 12/2. Use 20A breakers.

 

[sberry]

I run 14 to lights, 12 to general outlets. Specialty outlets depends on the load. Most circuits just size the breaker to the wire. Welders are an exception to this but a 120v welder should be designed to run on 20A

I do this also, in a house a furnace can be 14 many times. All the bath fans etc are so much easier better connections to smaller wire.

 

[Norcal]

Excuse my ignorance, but what does size the breaker to the wire mean?

For branch circuits the circuit breaker would selected based on the wire size 14 gauge would be 15A max, 12 gauge would be 20A, and so on. There are areas where the wire size would be allowed to be smaller then what would be required for normal branch circuits but that is nothing to be concerned with in this situation.

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, Wire size to the welder would best be determined by how much the welder will draw from the system. Stick Welders have a bigger appetite than small mig or tig machines. After determining how much your welder will want, the wire size and corresponding breaker size will fall into place.

My stick welder is fed by 8 gauge wire protected by a 50 Amp breaker on a dedicated circuit.

 

[alfredeneuman]

There are areas where the wire size would be allowed to be smaller then what would be required for normal branch circuits but that is nothing to be concerned with in this situation.

5 - 1 outlet dedicate to a 110v Miller MIG WELDER.

 

[TractorJeff]

5 - 1 outlet dedicate to a 110v Miller MIG WELDER.

It will draw even less current being fed by a 120v circuit! (110v Miller MIG)
LOL!

 

[Norcal]

5 - 1 outlet dedicate to a 110v Miller MIG WELDER.

Where are you going to find a 110V Miller welder? A ChiCom welder yes.

 

[alfredeneuman]

Where are you going to find a 110V Miller welder? A ChiCom welder yes.

I was a direct quote from the OP
It's one of the exceptions to the wire/breaker rule

 

[Terry D]

The Miller Multimatic 215 is a dual voltage welder

 

[Shrek]

You guys got me on the 110v welder. Well done. Hope it provided a few laughs.

The welder is a Millermatic 211 Auto-set.

 

[Steve W.]

Yeah, but their point is that it's 120 volts, not 110.

.

 

[Shrek]

Yeah, but their point is that it's 120 volts, not 110.

.

Oh I totally picked up on my mistake of calling it 110.

 

[Norcal]

Yeah, but their point is that it's 120 volts, not 110.

.

If we want to be picky it’s rated at 115 volts. The supply voltage is 120 volts.

 

[Shrek]

If we want to be picky it’s rated at 115 volts. The supply voltage is 120 volts.

 

[AP514]

LoL .... Luv that line.


What is the Rating (AMP) of the sub panel in the garage ?

https://www.weldersupply.com/Content/files/ProductPDFs/Miller/Millermatic2112019.pdf
From the Spec sheet of the Model :
120 V: 24.3 Amp single-phase, 50/60 Hz
240 V: 16.6 Amp single-phase, 50/60 Hz

It might be better to run a 220v to that weilder using #5 and #6..

 

[sberry]

Since you know there is a welder run a line for it. You can use the same number 12 to a 6-50 and 30A breaker. The machine will rum from 20 but there are others in this same class (non inverter) use 24. If you care about future proof for larger machines use a 10.

 

[Noltz]

My house was wired with 14-2 to the plugs. I tried to plug in a 5 gallon "hot dog" style compressor to the plug farthest way from the load center. It was definitely not happy with the voltage it was getting. I ended up buying longer air lines and plugging it into the garage.

Swap the welder to 12-2. Consider if you think you might want to run a 240 outlet should you decide to get a bigger one later (or any other 240v toys), which would need 2 spots in your panel. The LEDs and the wall plugs can easily share a circuit. Keep your "working" plugs separate so if you do manage to pop one, the lights stay on.