Powermax 85 wiring

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rcecarbldr
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Powermax 85 wiring

Post by rcecarbldr »

Good Morning! I just took delivery of my new Powermax 85 which will soon be used the majority of the time on my soon to be purchased plasma table. This unit came with a 4 wire pigtail already installed. My shop is wired with single phase 220 outlets and the outlets are a 50 amp 3 prong style. Can I keep the pigtail installed in this unit and just eliminate one wire or would I be best to install a 4 prong end on the pigtail and get an RV style adapter? I obviously need to keep the amperage capabilities as high as possible for the machine. TIA
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djreiswig
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Re: Powermax 85 wiring

Post by djreiswig »

I used the original cable on my 65, just rewired it for 1ph & put the proper end on it.
2014 Bulltear (StarLab) 4x8
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plasmartist
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Re: Powermax 85 wiring

Post by plasmartist »

If you read your manual you will find a wiring diagram. The 85 is capable of being wired for 3 phase and single phase. My understanding is that the 4th wire is for 3 phase wiring. I have mine wired with 3 wires on a standard welding plug. It has been running great that way for 3 years now. However I will say that I dont really know what size breake4r you are supposed to use, I believe I am running a 100 amp on mine since both legs on the switch say 50 but I'm no electrician. That's my 2 cents and have fun
rcecarbldr
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Re: Powermax 85 wiring

Post by rcecarbldr »

The problem is no regular dryer type outlet is rated for anything over 50 amps that I've seen. I just recently purchased a new Lincoln Electric Precision 275 TIG machine and I hard wired it straight into the breaker box to a 100amp breaker using 25 feet of 4/3 SOOW cable because I couldn't find any properly rated outlets.
jimcolt
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Re: Powermax 85 wiring

Post by jimcolt »

Clip off the red wire, the white and black are the 220 volt power legs, green is ground. Depending on what you are cutting you will have line draw between 30 and as much as 98 amps. This materials use less line amperage, thick materials use more. Most run the 85 on a 60 amp circuit, though I know of some getting away with 50 amps. If you do a lot of 3/4" steel.....you could trip a 50 or 60 amp breaker after a few feet of cut. Jim Colt Hypertherm
rcecarbldr wrote:Good Morning! I just took delivery of my new Powermax 85 which will soon be used the majority of the time on my soon to be purchased plasma table. This unit came with a 4 wire pigtail already installed. My shop is wired with single phase 220 outlets and the outlets are a 50 amp 3 prong style. Can I keep the pigtail installed in this unit and just eliminate one wire or would I be best to install a 4 prong end on the pigtail and get an RV style adapter? I obviously need to keep the amperage capabilities as high as possible for the machine. TIA
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