Electricity for Garage

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HoundDog

HoundDog

Joined
Mar 3, 2014
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New Mexico
We just bought an eight acre property out near Warrenton and we're about to get some electrical work done before moving in. One thing on the list is to get 240V in the garage so that I can eventually run a welder, compressor, and a lift.

I've had my eye on a Millermatic 211 MIG welder for a while now ever since taking a couple welding classes at NOVA. The welder is dual 120/240V, draws up to 30A in 240V mode, and has a 6-50 adapter on it. I'll probably get a Husky 60gal compressor or equivalent but I'm not sure what the amperage rating is on that (3.2 hp, 240V). You have to wire it yourself. The lift is a ways down the road....not sure which one I'd get but probably a two-post.

I have a 200amp panel in the garage with plenty of open slots.

Do you guys have any recommendations for circuit type (30, 40, 50A?), number/type of outlets, etc? Would you buy equipment first and then wire it? or vice versa?
 
The Miller 211 and Hobart 210 MVP welders use a 30A plug. I just wired my 220 welder outlet and compressor from a 90A circuit that also feeds my air handler in the garage.
If you have the opportunity, I would put a one 220v welder receptacle on each wall and 1 outside or near the garage door The duty cycle of these welders usually will not reach the 50A range, so 10 gauge wire is usually enough. The compressor of that size uses a 220v 20A receptacle. I wired mine with a 20A breaker and 10 gauge wire, you can use 12 for 20A circuits, but I figured since I had the 10GA, I might as well use it. Check out www.garagejournal.com for awesome garage ideas and excellent garage wiring advice.
 
Thanks guys, I will probably go with the 50A circuit just to be safe and place the receptacle near the garage door. I will probably do most of my welding outside to minimize the fire hazard.
 
Yes, 50A breaker will keep it from tripping too easily. Mig welding outside calls for calm weather. I also have a big extension cord that goes the lent of the garage, which is handy.
 
What about that Esab Rebel welder. It does stick, TIG and MIG all with the same machine. Can't find a price on it online though.
 
iptman said:
What about that Esab Rebel welder. It does stick, TIG and MIG all with the same machine. Can't find a price on it online though.
Click to expand...

That thing has to be big $$$$, though, it looks awesome and I posted up about it on here a while back. While I have an all-in-one that does stick, Tig and plasma and it is a chinese CT520D and was only around $500, I am leery of the all-in-one machines that are a significant investment, because if one function fails, then you have the old TV/DVD combo scenario where the TV goes bad but the VCR works, so you now have a really big DVD player.
 
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I'm hoping to be in the TIG market very soon. I already have a MIG and a Plasma and can get a Stick machine from my Dad.
I have the same issue with the all in ones. But for the DIYer they are perfect.
 
Mine does what I've asked it as far as plasma... the one time I tried stick with it, I kept getting it stuck. It is apparently a decent TIG machine and I plan to get a small argon bottle and learn it around Christmas.
 
Having a higher amperage circuit than needed is not always a good thing (over capacity) - if there is a short then the breaker will not flip and you will have a melt down/dead short and a fire... Example: The compressor should be on a circuit that can handle 125 percent of the load. So if the compressor draws 30 amps then the breaker should be 37.5 amps so you would round up to 40. If you put in on a 50 or 60 amp breaker it will not be as safe as a properly sized circuit. You want the breaker to trip if something goes wrong!!! Most large draw items in your house like HVAC, Dryer, Stove, etc have a breaker range specified. Example - no less than 30 amps and no more than 40 amps.

For this reason, I had my compressor running on a 30, my plasma on a 30 and my big Millermatic 250 and Lincoln Tig running on a 50 amp breaker. Each with appropriately sized wire. I would way rather trip the breaker every now and then when the motor starts up hot then have my shop burn down.

And remember, you can put a smaller breaker on large wire but not a larger breaker on smaller wire...

Typo's thanks to me needing bifocals. LOL
 
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The size of the breaker/fuse can't exceed the current rating for the size/gauge of the wire. As kulangot mentioned, smaller breaker/fuse on bigger wire is OK. Little fuse can't hurt big wire.

The size of the wire is determined by the distance to the load and the amount of current required by the load.

If there is a single load, i.e. clothes dryer, the breaker/fuse and wire gauge should be sized for 125% of the load as kulangot mentioned.

In the situation where there is an undefined load, i.e. a 15 Amp breaker, connected to 14 gauge wire that feeds several outlets throughout the house. The breaker is there to protect the wiring not necessarily the load that is plugged into the outlet. If I plug in my iPhone charger and it shorts out internally and draws 10 Amps in the process, that's 1200 Watts (10A x 120V = 1200W) of heat which could easily cause my little wall charger to burst into flames without popping the breaker. If I plug in something that draws over 15A the breaker will pop to protect the wiring in the house.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'm thinking it'll be best if I buy my compressor and welder first and then get the appropriate sized circuit installed. I know some folks will do all the wiring themselves and then have it inspected and connected to the panel by a pro to save some money.

The little lady equates anything electrical with death. It's ranks right up there with death by chainsaw in her mind. Plus, she wants some one to blame in case the house burns down, so I will probably just hire a pro to do it.

Did you guys wire your 240V circuit yourself or hire it out?
 
I did the wiring myself and had an electrical engineer look at my work.;)
I have rewired several rooms in my homes, including wiring an entire kitchen and a garage. I own and consult several wiring manuals and have checked all my plans with the NEC to ensure I know what code is. I often wound up correcting shoddy work by "certified" electricians.
Electrical is not all that bad, especially if you have a breaker box with open slots. I draw everything out by hand and follow my plan. Honestly, if you are interested in doing your own work, a garage is a great place to start and learn.
Most 60 gal compressors use a 20A 240V circuit. You can use 12ga, but I ran 10 'cause I had a bunch. I recommend just buying a bunch of 12ga wire and wiring all your 15A lights and outlets with it (you can also run some 20A outlets, if you wish. I mixed a couple into my plan, though I've never found a use for them). 12ga only a few cents more than 14ga and works up to 30A. You can protect it with 20A breakers and run more lights and outlets (seperate lights from outlets) from a single circuit run.
I ran each side of my garage outlet on separate circuits, and I ran three zones of interior lighting runs from a single branch supplying power at the switch so I could turn on front, middle or back lights individually and a single outside light circuit that was all fed from a 4 switch box.
I also installed all my outlets (double gang deep receptacle boxes) with the receptacle box tops at 48" (makes cutting dry wall much simpler since you only have to cut one piece of dry wall an they are on the outside edge so they are easy to measure and cut).
 
Esab and Victor are now under one company. Victor's Tweco 211i, also a multi, a size that appeals to me, gets very good reviews overall, and the components of the EMP 215ic are the same (guns, cables, etc.) as Tweco. Tweco is Chinese made. I would suspect that EMP 215ic is also. It will be interesting to see how the Esab and the Tweco compare.
 
Dude that's awesome. I think I'm going to do that. It was in the back of my head anyway but after listening to the woman's squawking about death by electricity I resigned to hiring it out.

I'm gonna study up, wire it myself, then hire a pro to inspect it and connect it.
 
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