# 220 or not 220



## Dan da man (Apr 6, 2011)

hey guys since I'm a general contractor and not a licensed electrician i have a question for you. i recently bought a miller mig welder that requires 220v. confused with the instructions i called miller directly and was advised that running my welder off a 220 dryer plug will result in poor performance of my welder. the guy said it needs to be a true 220, and not two 110v lines that make a 220. what does he mean by that? wow in confused. or is he?:blink:


----------



## Anti-wingnut (Mar 12, 2009)

He is


----------



## ScipioAfricanus (Sep 13, 2008)

Why do people still say 220 and not the real designation of 240 Volts?

Even my electrician friend says 220.

Andy.


----------



## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

ScipioAfricanus said:


> Why do people still say 220 and not the real designation of 240 Volts?
> 
> Even my electrician friend says 220.
> 
> Andy.



Probably for the same reason they say 110 instead of 120.


----------



## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

Dan da man said:


> hey guys since I'm a general contractor and not a licensed electrician i have a question for you. i recently bought a miller mig welder that requires 220v. confused with the instructions i called miller directly and was advised that running my welder off a 220 dryer plug will result in poor performance of my welder. the guy said it needs to be a true 220, and not two 110v lines that make a 220. what does he mean by that? wow in confused. or is he?:blink:


There is no such thing as 'true' 220 other than what is considered _nominal voltage_. Right from the NEC:

_*Voltage, Nominal.* A nominal value assigned to a circuit or system for the purpose of conveniently designating its voltage class (e.g., 120/240 volts, 480Y/277 volts, 600 volts). The actual voltage at which a circuit operates can vary from the nominal within a range that permits satisfactory operation of equipment._ (The blue is mine)

Another term that might be applied is _tolerance_, usually expressed as a percentage. So you might see something like "230 volts +/- 5%". This means the voltage applied can be anywhere between 218.5 and 241.5.

Some machines will state the variances of voltages acceptable right on the nameplate, such as "Voltage: 210-252".


Years ago, it was 220 volts. Then it was raised to 230. Then again to the current (pun intended) 240.


----------



## Bkessler (Oct 8, 2005)

Dan da man said:


> hey guys since I'm a general contractor and not a licensed electrician i have a question for you. i recently bought a miller mig welder that requires 220v. confused with the instructions i called miller directly and was advised that running my welder off a 220 dryer plug will result in poor performance of my welder. the guy said it needs to be a true 220, and not two 110v lines that make a 220. what does he mean by that? wow in confused. or is he?:blink:


What is the amperage of the welder, I thought most of the one's i've seen were 50 amp, I've never seen a 50 amp dryer outlet.


----------



## woodchuck2 (Feb 27, 2008)

Yah should have really confused him and asked if the line power needed to be reversed to run gas or not!!!:laughing:


----------



## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

woodchuck2 said:


> Yah should have really confused him and asked if the line power needed to be reversed to run gas or not!!!:laughing:


Ask him if it needs to be LP or natural gas.............:whistling


----------



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

480sparky said:


> Years ago, it was 220 volts. Then it was raised to 230. Then again to the current (pun intended) 240.


In 1948, an international conference on weights and measures officially adopted "Celcius" as the name for the scale formerly known as "centigrade." Yet to this day, the centigrade designation has far from disappeared.

These things take time.


----------



## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

Tinstaafl said:


> In 1948, an international conference on weights and measures officially adopted "Celcius" as the name for the scale formerly known as "centigrade." Yet to this day, the centigrade designation has far from disappeared.
> 
> These things take time.


And if frogs had pockets, they'd carry a gun so they won't have to be afraid of snakes.


----------



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

So much for frog smarts. A holster works better and is much safer.


----------



## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

Uh....... you get a hammerless and shoot right through the pocket. Much faster that way.


----------



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Friend of mine nearly lost a kneecap due to carrying a small semi in his pocket. He's a believer now.


----------



## Dan da man (Apr 6, 2011)

i need to learn how to do that quote thing. but thats a good question about the amperage. yup just checked book calls for a 30amp breaker. if thats the case maybe i called miller dry cleaning asking for wiring advice for my welder :w00t:. Because he never mentioned anything about amps just kept on persisting that i needed true 220 or as some of you say 230 or now 240 . i may be a little crazy but he made me feel like a tard. thanks for the input.


----------



## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

220, 221, what ever it takes.


----------



## MALCO.New.York (Feb 27, 2008)

chris klee said:


> 220, 221, what ever it takes.







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX3kxAA2L4Q


----------



## Electric_Light (Nov 25, 2007)

ScipioAfricanus said:


> Why do people still say 220 and not the real designation of 240 Volts?
> 
> Even my electrician friend says 220.
> 
> Andy.


Induction motors are ALWAYS 115, 230, and 460, even though the nominal are 120/240/480. 

When you look at plug-in stuff, new stuff is usually 120v, but older stuff you'll sometimes see AC 115v, 117v or 118v

208v dedicated motors say 200v
240v dedicated ones say 230v
Dual rated ones, for some reason say 208-230v

Houses are usually served 120/240 split
Multifamily, office buildings, sometimes have 120/208, derived from 208Y/120v 3ph service. That is what one may call "faux 240v". Water heaters, ovens, dryers etc operate at 75% power. 

Welders may struggle if they're not meant for 208v use. (service range: 198v to 218v) 240v(228 to 252).

Since welder doesn't require a neutral, if you must use it on 208v, what you'll use is a 208 to 240 boost transformer.


----------



## Electric_Light (Nov 25, 2007)

480sparky said:


> Years ago, it was 220 volts. Then it was raised to 230. Then again to the current (pun intended) 240.


You sure you don't mean Europe? 

UK was 240, rest was 220. Without making actual physical changes, they changed the tolerance range on paper, EU harmonized it to 230v


----------



## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

Electric_Light said:


> You sure you don't mean Europe? ...........



Wouldn't know about Europe.


----------



## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

LOL! Beat me to it! I was thinking of the same movie clip!



MALCO.New.York said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX3kxAA2L4Q


----------

