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  1. #1
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    Default Sparky patch lead question

    I have a Miller Dynasty with a 32A three phase plug. It works (supposedly) off a 240V 10A supply as well. I have some spare cable and wouldn't mind hypothetically making up a patch lead in case I ever need to run it at a different house or whatever. Clipsal makes industrial single phase round plugs/sockets with three round pins down at the bottom. To save me looking up the specs, if I got a sparky to source me one of these industrial sockets, are they physically compatible with their industrial three phase connectors? Then I could go:

    welder -> three phase plug -> industrial single phase round pin socket -> 240V 10A regular plug -> wall

    instead of:

    welder -> three phase plug -> three phase socket -> 240V 10A regular plug -> wall

    I'm guessing they are not compatible, to stop people accidentally plugging in different phase equipment to the wrong supply.

  2. #2
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    Dec 2008
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    Yarra Valley Vic oz
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    Default


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  3. #3
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    Of course, which is why my question was hypothetical. I have a great sparky business that I use, and they are quite happy to do jobs with parts that I source. E.g. when I got them to put in three phase wiring I used gumtree/ebay cable and fittings that cost a fraction of what they would have charged. But rather than ring them up with inane questions and waste their time and then source the equipment, I'd rather say "I've got the fittings, book me in, it's ready to go". If they're not happy, they won't do the job. I'm sure they'd rather I pay for their equipment so they get their commission but the reason I like using them is they are happy to inspect all the parts I supply and then just charge me for their labour and sign off costs. E.g. they wired up my house for cat6 networking and again, I supplied a reel of cable no problem.

  4. #4
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    May 2013
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    Gracemere
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    Wont work. They would be keyed different so you cant plug single phase into 3.

    You'll also need to have some current limiting device in there somewhere on the second example.

    cheers
    Craig.

  5. #5
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    Thanks Craig. You have a Dynasty too, right? Have you got a patch lead for it or not bothered? Advice from tech support suggests just to run it at less than 90-100A or so from a 10A plug. The current limiter is the meter box breaker.

    This is why I'm reluctant to get rid of my 140A Kemppi inverter. But that's set up for stick only and I don't want to get a tig torch etc for it just for the one-off jobs when I might want to have portable tig. Kemppi look like they make nice accessories but they are not cheap. I once looked into a pedal and it was $$$.

    Maybe I won't worry. As I said, I have leftover cable and just thought it might be nice to be able to use the blue box anywhere.

  6. #6
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    I just have a 15amp circuit protected by a 16amp rcd/mcb combo. Havn't had any trouble with it tripping. Just make sure you use a current limiting device rated to the lowest rated fittings you use.

  7. #7
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    How high do you go with output? I would have thought your boat might push it, given the spec sheet says 150A output takes 15.8A input.

    My box came with a 32A plug and I didn't have a 15A circuit so I thought rather than put one in I'd go all the way and just get a 32A circuit. I bought 40m of 50A three phase cable secondhand and some 32A fittings. The box only pulls 13A stick/8.7A tig at 400V so my supply is way overkill. I doubt I'll be putting out 200A very often but it's good to know the box will overheat well before the wiring does. Up until now I have only messed with thin mild steel but eventually I want to do some ally work and start pushing the amps a bit.

  8. #8
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    May 2013
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    Most stuff on the boat is below 150amps. I use a foot pedal so its normally just full pedal to start. The bit of 6mm I did the other day was pushed up to 180amps but wasn't a problem for the short time I used it.

    Yeah the 32amp 3 phase is overkill....starts jumping up in price quite abit for fittings in that range aswell.

    -Craig

  9. #9
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    Oct 2011
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    Norwood-ish, Adelaide
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    59
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    Default

    The less joints the better.
    I have a patch lead for my dynasty that is a 3 phase socket (20A from memory) to a 15A plug. The welder instruction book has some graphs in it that show the reduction of output if used single vs 3 phase. (I think the book also has the appropriate diagrams showing what to connect where). The patch lead is mainly there as anti Murphy insurance these days although I used to use it quite a bit before having 3 phase plumbed in.

    Michael

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