More POWAA for my welder

ion529 said:

Okay so, I have a shed down the end of my garden where I like to weld and do stupid stuff. Anyway I have an arc welder which at maximum power gives me 160A @ 20V which is 3200W. When my parents built the shed they didn't take into account that there son was going to be a raging metal melting maniac and hence there is just 2 G-pin 13A @ 230V AC sockets in the entire shed, very inconsiderate I know. This of course allows for a maximum of 2990W which just isn't good enough if I want to weld thick steel without the fuse going every 2 seconds.

Luckily the electrician clearly saw my future struggles and popped in a 25A breaker for the shed on the mains board back up at the house when it was built. But here's where things get a little iffy: The cable for the shed comes in though a big dirty black wire from the house underground and goes straight into the G-pin sockets and then a smaller grey wire goes from the sockets to the strip light up above. (I've attached a highly detailed diagram below) I assumed that the strip light was just in parallel with the power coming into the sockets and turning off the power for the shed at the breaker would therefore turn off the sockets and the lights. But alas it only turned off the sockets and the lights are still fully functional. I don't know what witchcraftery this is but I don't really want to open up the socket and have a peak if there's live electricity going through her. My plan was to just attach a big 16Amp connector to the big dirty cable but it seems a bit tricky as I've no idea whats going on inside the socket.

Thanks in advance,
View attachment 43025
Peter

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Pete999 said:

I have to say Peter, that is without doubt, the dumbest idea I have ever heard of, you need to get yourself a quick dose of realism and employ an Electrician to install the proper wiring and switch gear to attempt the work you would like to do, either/or this has to be a wind up.

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Wilko said:

Hi Peter - can you tell us about the welder? Is it the 13A fuse in the plug that's melting?

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ion529 said:

Look buddy the last thing i'm doing is employing an electrician. Over the years every single electrician we've ever employed has done a seriously half assed job which then requires us to hire another one for another 200 quid. I'm not saying all electricians are bad but all the ones in my area set everything they do up to fail within 6 months so they can secure more income later on. I'm not interested in someone coming and screwing up my electrics so I may aswell setup a direct debit to them for the rest of my life.

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Murdoch said:

Matey.... When I hear tales like this, they are normally the result of penny pinching...

Find a local spark via recommendation and go from there.

Where are you based?

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Spoon said:

Welcome to the forum mate.
What breaker size do you need for the welder?
How do you sw2itch the light on and off?

There are cowboys in every trade.... unfortunately...

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ion529 said:

Well I have a 25A Breaker installed and there's a switch on the wall i'm using to turn the light on and off (between the light and socket on the gray cable)

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