Lead for welder

TheFarrier

Hi all,
I bought a welder, it has a standard 3 pin 13 amp plug on it. Went using it this afternoon, and the fuse in the extension lead blew. So I dug out a 16amp extension lead(blue round plug) and two fly leads, one going from the 3 pin socket to the 16amp lead, and one from the blue lead back to a three pin socket, which had the welder plugged into it.
This ran fine for maybe an hour till a fuse in one of the fly leads blew.

Is there any way I could make up a heavy duty extension lead to run direct from the socket to the welder??

Btw, the socket used to be for an electric cooker, so is wired to a 32amp circuit breaker.

Thanks

brightspark

TheFarrier wrote: »

Is there any way I could make up a heavy duty extension lead to run direct from the socket to the welder??

No, you should not draw more than 13A from a domestic 13A socket.


What you need to do is get a Registered Electrical Contractor (REC) to install a more appropriate socket. (16A or even a 32A)

TheFarrier wrote: »

Btw, the socket used to be for an electric cooker, so is wired to a 32amp circuit breaker.

This doesn't sound safe please get a REC to check it out.

Some fuses are more sensitive than MCBs.

Dardania

Is the welder expecting a higher voltage, and so when gets a lower voltage, draws more current?
Is it for a 240V install?

I also tend to agree with brightspark above that maybe a 16A ceeform socket might be what you need, however do be wary of overcurrent protection...what does the welder say it should be fused at?
DOes it have any sort of internal fuses?
It sounds unusual for it to pull too much current, compared to its supplied 13A fuse...you need to understand the reason behind that, otherwise you could be setting up a situation to enable a dangerous condition with overcurrent

Calahonda52

AS ABOVE
plus
the 16 amp lead added little or nothing to the party, if I read the post correctly, as it is still a 13 amp fuse that is blowing in one of the fly lead plugs, with an extra plug/socket connection added to the original set up that blew,
whats not clear is how long the lead is
is welder is new, if not perhaps the on-board fuses have been silver papered, discussing a bigger, more dangerous problem

TheFarrier

Calahonda52 wrote: »

AS ABOVE
plus
the 16 amp lead added little or nothing to the party, if I read the post correctly, as it is still a 13 amp fuse that is blowing in one of the fly lead plugs, with an extra plug/socket connection added to the original set up that blew,
whats not clear is how long the lead is
is welder is new, if not perhaps the on-board fuses have been silver papered, discussing a bigger, more dangerous problem

Yeah you read it right, I'd never thought of it that way. Any way got it sorted safely in the end.
Thanks for yer advice lads, much appreciated

HappyScribbling

As a follow on,

Seriously never use a wired 32A cooker outlet for powering sockets, there is no earth leakage protection(ELCB- RCD- RCB) on any old installations. You could get a nasty shock in the future, no pun intended.
Be safe, not sorry!