Thread: Power Hook up for welder and air compressor.

Tweet

Thanks Cffisher; I did the same thing with the grounding rods in my Florida home.
The last owners of this home had a jaccuzzi hooked up that was 220 but is no longer out there.
They have a sepprate 100 amp box on the other side of the house for it.
That is tied in to the main but I am not using it, because it is to far away from where the compressor will be.
The compressor has a on and off switch on the side that I only turn on when I am using it.
So the Compressor and Welders will never be going at the same time anyway.
It's just a pain pluggin and unpluggin everything when ever you want to use something.
This is just gonna be on the outside of my house in the back yard till I get a new shop built.
Then I'll have the power company run me a new line in when thats done.
Thanks Rrumbler; I talked to a electrician today and he said everything I got is good,
I just have to get some really big wire to go to the new power box.
The wire I already have is good from the box to the plugs though.
This set up here is differant from the set up I had in Florida.
The first thing is there is a big main breaker box out side the house then a big breaker box inside the house.
In Florida I had one main breaker box out side the house.
The big power 220 stuff were all three wire hook up and here the big 220 stuff is four wire hook up.
I other words they have both a ground and a neutral wire along with two power wires.
Kurt

Kurt, four wire installations are common for things like stoves, dryers, and jacuzzis because the have both 220 and 110 devices in them. For your compressor and welder, look at the plug; if it only has three blades on it, it only needs the two hot legs and the ground, no neutral. You can run a neutral, but you would just leave it capped off and stuffed in the back of the box, not connected to the receptacle. Save the wire, it's probably not necessary. Now, if you want to plan for future 110 load out there, or even provide for it now, run the four wire to the sub-panel, and then just the three wire legs for the welder and compressor from there. And, you can install a ground rod, but in the desert, it is pretty ineffective, and not called for in the electrical code for the type of install you're doing; again, save the money, and the work - putting down an eight foot ground rod in this ground is usually an exercise in frustration at the least, and futility at worst. That contiuous ground wire between devices and panels is a far better safety means. Yep, I am a "sparky", "wire bender", "lightning wrangler", and other sorts of names for electricians; been retired for a good while, but like my sig. says: "Not entirely dead - yet". The offer still stands.