Plasma cutter 120v or 240v male cord

[Mule]

Some time back I hooked up a small Plasma cutter. The unit had a 20amp 120v molded cord on it. So while cutting thick material it will trip a 20 amp 120v circuit....It also had a switch on the back to switch it to 240v which obviously pulled half the current. So I made a adapter cord for it which had a female 20amp cord connector and a 20amp 240v male plug on the other end. I installed a 20amp 240v circuit to run the machine in the shop. Then they could remove the adapter cord and plug it into a 20amp 120v recept in the field for short duty cycle jobs...

So my question is how do you do this according to code? would my method be correct or not? I didnt like having 240v on a the 120v plugs but I didnt know what else to do....The adapter was the dangerous thing, if someone used it for something else....I labled it really well....DANGER bla bla

 

[TOOL_5150]

I would leave the cord on the unit alone, and run a dedicated 30A circuit to a 20A duplex. Code compliant, and you wont trip the breaker. How much amperage does the unit draw at 120v anyway?

~Matt

 

[Mule]

I would leave the cord on the unit alone, and run a dedicated 30A circuit to a 20A duplex. Code compliant, and you wont trip the breaker. How much amperage does the unit draw at 120v anyway?

~Matt

What?[/U]

as for the unit draw...My memory is that the nameplate said 18amps, but it would pull more than that if you were cutting deep....but remeber this thing was designed to run on 240v at the flick of a switch, but had a molded 120v cord on it...

 

[Fulthrotl]

Some time back I hooked up a small Plasma cutter. The unit had a 20amp 120v molded cord on it. So while cutting thick material it will trip a 20 amp 120v circuit....It also had a switch on the back to switch it to 240v which obviously pulled half the current. So I made a adapter cord for it which had a female 20amp cord connector and a 20amp 240v male plug on the other end. I installed a 20amp 240v circuit to run the machine in the shop. Then they could remove the adapter cord and plug it into a 20amp 120v recept in the field for short duty cycle jobs...

So my question is how do you do this according to code? would my method be correct or not? I didnt like having 240v on a the 120v plugs but I didnt know what else to do....The adapter was the dangerous thing, if someone used it for something else....I labled it really well....DANGER bla bla

dunno which cutter you have, but the miller i have does 120/240 with a
toggle switch hidden inside.... but the wierd thing is that it draws the
same amount cutting 3/8" plate on 120 as it does on 240.... kinda wierd...


randy

 

[TOOL_5150]

What?[/U]

as for the unit draw...My memory is that the nameplate said 18amps, but it would pull more than that if you were cutting deep....but remeber this thing was designed to run on 240v at the flick of a switch, but had a molded 120v cord on it...

What? the code doesnt say you cant put a 20A duplex on a 30A circuit...

~Matt

 

[Mule]

dunno which cutter you have, but the miller i have does 120/240 with a
toggle switch hidden inside.... but the wierd thing is that it draws the
same amount cutting 3/8" plate on 120 as it does on 240.... kinda wierd...


randy

Yea, Im thinking it was a foreign made thing, and pulled half.... not a miller....its been a year ago, but just remembered it, and thought it would be good discussion....I dont see how they get a UL listing with that kind of setup....I looked at the paper work and it said nothing

 

[wireguru]

one way to do it is to install a wierd connector on the welder like L24-20, then have a pair of adaptors with female L24-20, one for 20a 120v input and one for 240v input.



Whats the code section that allows use of a different connector rating as long as the current is same or higher than OCP and the voltage rating is higher than what is supplied, when application or site specific?

for example, some convention halls will use a wierd 600v 4 pole twistlock instead of the L14-20 that would normally be used to keep people from stealing power...

 

[TOOL_5150]

one way to do it is to install a wierd connector on the welder like L24-20, then have a pair of adaptors with female L24-20, one for 20a 120v input and one for 240v input.



Whats the code section that allows use of a different connector rating as long as the current is same or higher than OCP and the voltage rating is higher than what is supplied, when application or site specific?

for example, some convention halls will use a wierd 600v 4 pole twistlock instead of the L14-20 that would normally be used to keep people from stealing power...

This is a good idea as well.

~Matt

 

[Mule]

one way to do it is to install a wierd connector on the welder like L24-20, then have a pair of adaptors with female L24-20, one for 20a 120v input and one for 240v input.



Whats the code section that allows use of a different connector rating as long as the current is same or higher than OCP and the voltage rating is higher than what is supplied, when application or site specific?

for example, some convention halls will use a wierd 600v 4 pole twistlock instead of the L14-20 that would normally be used to keep people from stealing power...

You know Im thinking this thing had the canadian approval on it....So If I altered the factory cord, then you would be altering the unit...

Not throwing water any ones face, but thing thing was weird....as far as I know they are still using my adpapter that I made, with a LOTO warning tag ty-rap'd to it stating the hazzards involved with the adapter. Some folks snickered at my cord, but I told them you figure it out....they wound up with a hot male cord end somehow, and I said you cant do that.....

 

[wireguru]

You know Im thinking this thing had the canadian approval on it....So If I altered the factory cord, then you would be altering the unit...

.....

i bet if you had the instructions, it would tell you to replace the plug with a 240v one if youre operating the unit @ 240v. Some of the ones I have seen dont come with a plug and you have to install your own.

 

[Mule]

i bet if you had the instructions, it would tell you to replace the plug with a 240v one if youre operating the unit @ 240v. Some of the ones I have seen dont come with a plug and you have to install your own.

That would make good sense but in this case we did have the instructions, and Im telling you they conveinently left that out.....The molded cord was factory installed as well as the switch on the rear panel.........

 

[charlietuna]

Like many other tools--it is capable of operating on two different voltages--but whichever is selected the molded cord requires to be changed. I have air compressors and stand grinders that came that same way! Building an adaptor that would allow a 120 volt configuration male plug to be inserted into a 240 volt source is against the code!

 

[LarryFine]

So I made a adapter cord for it which had a female 20amp cord connector and a 20amp 240v male plug on the other end.

I suggest the opposite: put on a 240v plug, and make an adapter cable with a 120v plug and a 240v receptacle.

Why? It would be less destructive to accidentally supply 120v to a 240v device than the other way around.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

I would leave the cord on the unit alone, and run a dedicated 30A circuit to a 20A duplex. Code compliant, and you wont trip the breaker. How much amperage does the unit draw at 120v anyway?

~Matt

Matt,
Are you sure? Can you cite the code section that permits a 20 amp duplex receptacle on a 30 amp branch circuit?