220 Becomes a Reality

I got the stupid 220 circuit put together. Almost. I decided I want the receptacle upright instead of horizontal, so I am not putting the receptacle on until I buy the little elbow thing I forgot to buy today. And I didn't put the breaker together. Ten-minute job, and I thought it was a foolish thing to do while the wires on the other end were just hanging off the wall.

Naturally, I got comments. One commenter says 8/3 wire won't do it, and that my 20A breaker will pop constantly. My response? I don't have a 20A breaker. I have a 40A breaker, and the welder draws 20. As for 8/3 handling 20 amps, I got that from various Internet sources, and we all know how reliable the Internet is.

Someone was trying to tell me how to get Romex through a conduit. I appreciate the information, but I didn't use Romex in the conduit. I used plain old THHN or THHT or whatever it is wire, 8 gauge. I no longer recall why I didn't go Romex all the way. I think it was more expensive and I figured it would be a pain to strip and force through conduits.

I couldn't get the receptacle I needed at HD. Fortunately, I already had one on the end of my homemade extension cord. So I'll use that and order a new one. Or not. I'm not sure I'll ever need an extension cord like that, and I'm wondering if it's safe to use a welder on a dryer circuit, which is what the extension cord fits. Maybe I should just roll the cord up and store it until I find a use for it. Hey, if I get a compressor...

I can't tell you what a big thrill it is to have big-boy tools instead of a kitchen drawer containing slip-joint pliers and four mismatched screwdrivers with rounded blades. Like I said before, I went through a foot of concrete like butter, with my Bosch hammer drill. I used my Panasonic impact driver to turn all the screws while I was hanging conduit. I used the Bosch to drill all the holes. I used my workbench and giant Wilton vise to hold the conduit while I hacksawed it (the grinder butchered it), and I polished the ends of the conduit with my Wecheer rotary flex shaft tool, to keep it from skinning the wires. I used my Klein dikes to twist the wires together in the square box, to keep tension off the connectors.

I used my ladder, too. That was mighty exciting. No, really.

I do hope the house doesn't blow up. I can tell you this. This circuit will be a hell of a lot beefier than the dryer circuit I was going to use, and which is identical to the dryer circuits a lot of other guys use.

It's pretty sad that American garages aren't wired for 220 as a matter of course, just like kitchens. But we are, increasingly, a nation of metrosexual girly-men.

I thought this was going to cost less than a hundred bucks. I must revise that. It will be around 150. Still, that's cheap. And it will be done right, and that 150 will double as tuition, since I'm learning.

The horror of it all is, after this I still have to weld something.