Using extension

[crazy]

Hello all ,
Not sure if ive put this in correct section
(Sorry mods) .
This may sound a stupid question but I'm no sparky .
Tried using long extension to weld inner wing at a pals house would this cause weld to be like bird sh##e and nothing I tried set up wise helped
Was using Clarke 150en

 

[123hotchef]

possible what thickness cable was the extension lead? did the lead get hot?

 

[Dee J]

It could be the extension lead. Long thin leads will cause some power loss. But a lot of other variables could be at play here.... metal cleanliness, shielding gas etc etc.

 

[crazy]

possible what thickness cable was the extension lead? did the lead get hot?

Lead was warm when rolled it up and prob bit thicker than normal cable nothing special though.

Metal was clean as a whistle and pub gas if u know what i mean

 

[fixerupper]

Yeah with my Clarke 151en I made up a four or five metre lead with some thick twin and earth and it's improved the welding dramaticly... jeff

 

[Rob85]

Were you welding outside? Slightest breeze can blow away shielding gas leading to birdcrap welds

 

[crazy]

Were you welding outside? Slightest breeze can blow away shielding gas leading to birdcrap welds

We were in his garage with no drafts

 

[crazy]

Yeah with my Clarke 151en I made up a four or five metre lead with some thick twin and earth and it's improved the welding dramaticly... jeff

When u say dramatically on a scale of 1 to 10
What u reckon?

 

[brightspark]

work it out. whats the current draw of welder , size of extension lead eg 1,omm 1,5 mm or 2.5mm and how long

 

[Wozzaaah]

Lead was warm when rolled it up and prob bit thicker than normal cable nothing special though.

Metal was clean as a whistle and pub gas if u know what i mean

That tells you pretty much all you need to know, it suggests the lead is not up to the job.

 

[Kent]

Bigger cable required
If I am using somebody else's 240 it's apparent that small differences matter as regards settings and extention length also - put a std extention with s poor lead and you could even mess up your machine gubbins

 

[123hotchef]

having the cable rolled up dont help with the getting hot part either

 

[fixerupper]

Well when I first got the Clarke I had 25 Metre cable and I was making up some frames to support a protect small trees I was working outside the workshop on a very still hot day ..frankly I was disappointed with my brand new welder ... A while later I had some little brackets to make on the workbench inside , the cable on the welder plugged in above the bench ...wow total transformation smooth even bead , scale of 1 -10 with the 25 metre lead 4 without the 25 metre 9 .... Jeff

 

[brightspark]

well that tells u that your getting voltage drop along the cable and converting power in to heat in the lead increasing the core size of the cable will overcome it but u need to calculate your load and length of cable for the correct size needed .most folk take a guess but over 15 meters needs a proper calculation doing

 

[crazy]

having the cable rolled up dont help with the getting hot part either

Cable wasn't rolled up m8, "when I rolled it up when we gave up it was warm"
Thanks for all replies everyone

 

[brightspark]

if anyone fancies knowing how much voltage drop u can get on long thin leads check voltage at source of supply under load then check on the end of your lead. it may start at 230v and can even end up at 190v

 

[Eddie Cairns]

Try to use an extension with 2.5mm flex on it most cheap ones are 1mm or 2mm cable.

It may be easier to go to a diy store builders merchant and buy 2.5mm three core flex and replace the cable in the extension box.