is this ok?

[mrtee]

hi all
i currently have a clarke turbo 150 mig, and am in the market for buying a new welder, im looking at the portamig 185, trouble is i have no option at the moment but to run these machines off a 25 mtr extension cable.
will the portamig be ok on this, i am useing a 16amp 2.5mmsq cable plugged into a 13amp cooker socket.
thanks for any help you can give me
tony

 

[cumbriasteve]

If I am not mistaken I always thought a cooker socket was rated greater than 13amp, are they not 30amp?

Re the extension, I had cause to use my Portamig 235 on a long heavy duty ext a couple of weeks ago, probably close to 40 metres and it worked same as always as far as I could tell.

 

[keith19]

hi all
i currently have a clarke turbo 150 mig, and am in the market for buying a new welder, im looking at the portamig 185, trouble is i have no option at the moment but to run these machines off a 25 mtr extension cable.
will the portamig be ok on this, i am useing a 16amp 2.5mmsq cable plugged into a 13amp cooker socket.
thanks for any help you can give me
tony

The cable is about right, as it's as big as you can get into a 13A plug.

Plugging it into the cooker 13A socket if it's convenient is fine, but it won't give you any more power, only a dedicated MCB in the consumer unit, providing there is no electric cooker hooked up.

Check what size MCB is on the cooker line in the consumer unit; if its 30A or 45A it should be replaced with a smaller unit, say 20A, for what you're doing.

The 13A plug fuse may blow near the top of your range, around 160 - 180 welding amps, but some have reported the Portamig is quite forgiving in this respect, as Steve indicates.

To get more power out of a cooker socket a 16A or 20A plus blue round socket should be hard-wired into the cooker side of the unit, with the guarded socket mounted securely on the wall nearby. This is not looked upon as being electrically kosher these days, so be warned.

The correct way is to have an electrician wire in a dedicated armoured supply from your consumer unit to wherever you will be working, like in the garage.

But personally I think you should do fine on your 13A socket and extension, unless you do a lot of welding at the top end of the welder's range.

 

[Robotstar5]

If I am not mistaken I always thought a cooker socket was rated greater than 13amp, are they not 30amp?

Cooker sockets do cause some confusion!. There is normally a switched 30A hardwired connection for the cooker, but manufacturers tend to put a normal 13A socket outlet on the same plate, this socket is limited by the 13A fuses in the plugtops that go in it. Hope that made sense?

 

[cumbriasteve]

Cooker sockets do cause some confusion!. There is normally a switched 30A hardwired connection for the cooker, but manufacturers tend to put a normal 13A socket outlet on the same plate, this socket is limited by the 13A fuses in the plugtops that go in it. Hope that made sense?

It clarified my thinking, shame they don't put a blue socket there