I need to extend the work cable on my lincoln 225 buzzbox. It appears to have been cut and shortened before I became the owner. The electrode cable is plenty long. What gauge braided wire should I be using? Kindly thanks.
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Are you talking the stinger, ground or the power cable?
Mike
ground - that which clamps to the work... thanks
http://www.trystar.com/catalog_product.aspx?prod_id=39
This is a link to a chart by a cable company showing the required guage of cable for the distance and amps required. Remember this is produced by the company selling the cables...
It has been my experience that you do not need that big if a cable to get it to work, their chart is VERY conservative. I would be willing to bet you could easily double the lengths shown in the chart and it would work just fine, a little warm maybe, but good welds.
You should be able to figure out what kind of electrodes (or wire) you will be welding with, and have an idea of how many volts/amps you need for the electrode, and then you just figure the distance you want to be able to reach and look it up on the chart.
Let me know what you come up with.
H,
Lincoln has very good tech support. I sent tham an e-mail recently and got an answer within a day, or if you call them I am sure they could tell you immediately. On the other hand, if you have a local welding supply store, they probably have the cable in stock and could also tell you what you need. No sense in guessing :)
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md