How-To 220v/240v 4 Prong to a 3 Prong Outlet for a Welder & Test Voltages w/Multimeter! 4K HD

[@spelunkerd]

This is done correctly, and I'll explain why some of the comments below are ignorantly off base. Historically, old homes did not have dedicated ground wires. In that era, they used the obsolete NEMA 10 series plugs that had a neutral and two hots with no ground. In those old appliances they bonded the frame of the appliance to neutral, and accepted there might be stray voltage on the frame which could cause a shock. This allowed devices like old dryers to split the voltage into 120 V arms to drive the control board, electronics, and ancillary devices inside the dryer. If you have an old home with no ground wire, you may still need to use that style of plug for old appliances, but officially the NEMA 10 style plugs have been banned for new installations since 1996. Those old plugs were replaced with NEMA 6 series plugs with two hots and a ground wire (no neutral) as shown here. For new installations the preferred plug is a 4 wire NEMA 14R design, as shown at the beginning. Appliances that use NEMA 6 plugs don't have access to a neutral wire for splitting voltage, so if you change the plug you cap off the white home neutral wire in the box. A welder can use its transformer to make whatever step down voltage it needs, so a neutral to carry unbalanced current is unnecessary. The critical point is to not bond neutral to the ground with a bonding strap inside the appliance, the way it was done in the past. You'd never know, the appliance will likely work just fine. If you do this wrong, by wiring the ground of the appliance to the neutral, you may have created an illegal downstream bond between neutral and ground that can cause many problems. Such bonding can cause nuisance tripping of GFCI plugs, eddy currents that mess with AFCI breakers, and dangerous voltage on the home ground system, even in circuits unrelated to the circuit in question. Bonding straps were present in old dryers but it didn't matter since there was no system ground anyway. This means those old appliances don't play nice with modern 4 wire grounding systems, especially if you fail to remove the bonding strap inside. A better option than what was done here would be to buy a short commercially made adapter cord with a NEMA 14P male end and a NEMA 6R series female end. Make sure you get one with the correct gauge of wire designed to carry the current the breaker and wiring is designed for. When you test those adapters with a multimeter, they have neutral capped off and ground active on both ends. If you buy an adapter, you never need to change the wall plug back, and it retains four wire versatility in case the plug is ever used for multiple devices in the future. It may not be important to the current home owner, but future owners may find other uses for it.

[@jeffm2214]

Wanted to say thank you. Only video I found on the 4 wire to a 3 wire plug. Now my welder is hooked up too! Thanks my friend!

[@D3RPZILLA]

Awesome! That's great to hear! Happy the video helped! I have my welder hooked up.. I just need to find time to get more familiar with it, lol.

[@KevinCoop1]

I’m a retired Electrical Design Engineer that worked for contractors for 35 years. I’ve read the comments that were made. This is my comment. This video, other than a few very minor terminology words, has one very minor statement error. This video shows correctly doing the task and is 100% NEC compliant. The only incorrect statement was, “the wire is larger because it is 240 volt”. Conductor insulation is based on voltage. Conductor size is based on amperes. It must be able to carry required amps at temperature lower than the insulation starts to degrade. Very well done Sir! Respectfully, Kevin

[@D3RPZILLA]

Thank you for the kind words and knowledge! :)

[@D3RPZILLA]

I previously, while in the Navy, worked on electronics... troubleshoot and repaired multi-layered circuit boards from various aircraft systems (ie, FA-18, F-14s, EA6B, etc) but never worked as an "electrician" on things like home wiring and what not so always learning :)

[@KevinCoop1]

@@D3RPZILLA Two different worlds with one thing in common. Moving electrons. Any questions, ask.

[@D3RPZILLA]

@@KevinCoop1 thank you 🙏

[@vincyman80]

This is the most and only helpful video I found so far that helped me. Now I am going to wire my generator using same method.

[@D3RPZILLA]

@vincyman80 awesome! Glad to have helped some!

[@TMac0925]

Exactly what I needed. Only video I found that was. Thank you.

[@D3RPZILLA]

@TMac0925 awesome! Glad it helped!

[@johngreene8635]

Awesome video, exactly the circuit configuration I need, 220 VAC four wires to three wires. I am up and running, thank you very much!!

[@D3RPZILLA]

Nice!! Glad it helped! :)

[@Derpherppington]

I got the same problem with titanium 170 but I need to use the dryer too. Is it possible to brand it so u can have two different outlets. But 120v is more than enough for me it’s blow thru 1/8” thick materials like nothing

[@D3RPZILLA]

Heya! I'd suggest picking up an adapter cable perhaps. Will you be using the dryer more often or the welder? If planning to use the dryer the most you could go with something like a dryer outlet 14-30 to a welder outlet 6-50 adapter (such as something like this, amzn.to/3T0A0GE). So, you would keep your dryer outlet, use the dryer as usual, and when you want to run the welder, unplug the dryer, plug in the adapter, and then plug in the welder. You would of course want to make sure not to exceed outlet or breaker amp rating.

[@travisbendele3145]

Thank you very much. That is very helpful.

[@rickylee2477]

I’ve only seen a solid wire like that used to ground the metal box or metal cover . I’ve never seen one run directly to a receptacle.

[@Marketman85]

Thanks for the video I appreciate it. I have never seen a breaker box outside for a house

[@D3RPZILLA]

@scootermanadventures1810 haha no problem. All of the main breakers here are outside and then the main sub panel with all the various home breakers is inside the garage.

[@rockyesterline7942]

Is the red wire, just another black hot wire.Because mine has 2 black wires, a ground and a neutral.But I am wiring two hot black wires and a ground only for my 220 and cap off my neutral

[@D3RPZILLA]

Did you measure the wires? Can see what kind of voltage is on each wire to confirm 100% (carefully, make sure no wires will touch metal or each other). It sounds like both blacks should be hot and 110v/120v each, white is neutral, and the bare is ground. But yes, it's usually red, hot, black, hot, white, neutral, bare, ground.

[@rockyesterline7942]

@D3RPZILLA My 220 Lincoln Ark Wilder. Extension cord is wired two black wires and Ground. And neutral is not connected. It's always work fine. I bought another house this one. Outside were the jacuzzi used to be Has two blacks neutral and ground So I will just leave the neutral disconnected and should be fine?

[@rockyesterline7942]

It all worked on my other house But what's confusing !is people are saying hook up your Neutral ,wire to your groundwire? Also, and I left out the neutral wire altogether and it works fine. Only connecting my two blacks and ground!

[@D3RPZILLA]

@@rockyesterline7942 yeah, that sounds right. You would only hook up the neutral wire if you were going with the 4 prong setup.

[@zog382]

Im curious why you didnt use an adapter so you could keep the standard plug?

[@D3RPZILLA]

I never plan to have a dryer or appliance in my garage so a welder style plug just made more sense for me. I'm sure everyone's situation is different though!

[@chrisp9046]

@@D3RPZILLASo funny. The 50 AMP plug you installed is what I have, but the dryer I just bought is a 4 prong, like the one you took off. I have a welder that can plug into the 50 amp outlet, so I don’t want to swap it. But I can’t find a damn adapter 😂 anyway, good vid. Thanks for the info.

[@EMF_D]

Appreciate this video simplifies everything. Question for you would it be best to just remove the neutral from the breaker box completely? It’s 60a 240 volt double pole breaker I ran 4/6 gauge wire because I thought 4 was needed I see you just cut it but it kinda makes me nervous tbh.. thank you 🙏🏻

[@D3RPZILLA]

Heya! I wouldn't remove the neutral wire completely as you may need it down the road at some point.

[@EMF_D]

@@D3RPZILLA Ok, what I did was just capped it off and put a 3 prong plug on which j then plugged into my machine. It seems to work perfectly. But is this safe?

[@mavrick211]

why cant i just use a adapter plug

[@D3RPZILLA]

@@mavrick211 you can 🙂

[@Rubo7]

I have a question? I still need my 4 prong for my dryer but my welder outlet is the same like yours. What would I do with the neutrul on the extension cord?

[@D3RPZILLA]

Is the outlet u have now a dryer outlet? You could grab an adapter that goes from 4 prong to welder style and plug that in for when u need the 3 prong. Something like this should work but def look into it more, I just did a quick search: ONETAK NEMA L14-30P 6-50R Compact 240V 30 Amp Twist Lock 4 Prong Male Plug to 3 Prong Female Receptacle Generator Welder Dryer EV Charger Power Cord Adapter Connector smile.amazon.com/dp/B07WD1SFD6/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_STQRFSFE1TD1583BNVAM

[@Rubo7]

@@D3RPZILLA yes I do have an adapter and did everything correct. I have 240v on red and black, 120v on ground and red/black. When I turn my welder on the fan works but when I press the trigger on my mig gun the wheel doesn't spin? I just purchased a lincoln 180 mig today. Do you think it's the welder with the issue or power?

[@D3RPZILLA]

@@Rubo7 power sounds right otherwise it wouldn't come on. Sounds like an issue with the wire feed.. u have it set up for correct polarity (depending on of doing flux or not)? This video has some stuff he does working on the wire feed issue with the welder may be helpful, kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqLcnoKPdtOMZtU

[@djcrash1104]

@@Rubo7 check the tension on the wire wheel.

[@equisequis.55]

thanks for the verification. i just want to make sure that the neutral wire is not used for my welder. i kinda knew that, but just wanted to verify that. Thanks for posting.

[@D3RPZILLA]

I run my welder off the plug exactly how I configured it in the video and it runs great :)

[@RaceMentally]

im trying to go from a 3 prong to 4 prong. How do i do that?

[@D3RPZILLA]

Really depends on which specific 4 prong you are moving to. Just need to Google the specific plug you want to go to for the wiring and then swap outlets and wire it as per wiring diagram for the outlet :)

[@RaceMentally]

@@D3RPZILLA hired an electrician this morning. Needing to swap out one of my 3 plugs at the shop for a 4 wire 50amp Rv service. Needing to play my motorhome in at my shop.

[@D3RPZILLA]

@@RaceMentally Awesome! Always the best choice.. I'm usually just to cheap, haha :D Hopefully everything working great now for you!

[@justinwilkens1620]

Thanks dude!

[@D3RPZILLA]

@@justinwilkens1620 no problem!

[@baybeejayy21]

Will this 4 to 3 conversion work for a dryer?

[@D3RPZILLA]

Well.. this is going FROM a dyer style plug TO a 3 prong welder style plug. Is your dryer a 220v 3 prong plugged dryer that matches this 3 prong outlet setup?

[@baybeejayy21]

@@D3RPZILLA not sure really. My house has a 4 prong connection, but the dryer I just purchased has a 3 prong cord connection.

[@comodice905]

Why du u ask bub

[@leorael4497]

What size of breaker are you using ?

[@D3RPZILLA]

40A I believe.

[@comodice905]

50 amp bub

[@surferdude642]

​@Mrv1960In the US, a 50 amp receptacle is allowed on a 40 amp circuit, as long as the wire is minimum of 8 gauge. 40 amp receptacles don't exist. NEC 210.21(b)(3)

[@djcrash1104]

Thanks. That’s just what I needed.

[@D3RPZILLA]

No problem, hope it helps!

[@alejandroambrocio3207]

Gracias

[@D3RPZILLA]

Su bienvenida

[@graymatters6155]

Why on gods green earth is your breaker box outside?

[@ianmccabe9020]

We all live the same lives, same thing im doing with the same exact welder😂

[@D3RPZILLA]

Haha! Nice, lol. Sadly I've had so little time I've only used the welder a handful of times lol.

[@rockyesterline7942]

The stranded wires I have never seen on a house before!!! Only cars

[@D3RPZILLA]

It's not super unusual... stranded wire is more flexible which is nice for thicker wire and such.

[@graymatters6155]

Imagine a scenario, your electricity goes out, it’s thundering and lightning outside. Do you want to change your breaker box but it’s out in the rain lol.

[@D3RPZILLA]

Lol.. all of the main panels are outside here. The sub panel with all of the individual room breakers is in the garage.

[@Lovechangestheworld1]

You could have live wire with that common white feeling back. You should’ve disconnected the white at the panel as well.

[@Lovechangestheworld1]

That is what you tested for when you were checking for backfeeding through the common.

[@SirDadbod]

isnt that called open neutral and dangerous?,,,,because the neutral becomes hot now since its not feeding back to load balance?...

[@rickeykeeton4770]

@@SirDadbod I was thinking the bare ground should be the one isolated.

[@KevinCoop1]

It is better to leave the white conductor connected at the neutral/ground bar. That way it will not have induced or phantom voltage on it.

[@EMF_D]

So can I remove the neutral completly from my breaker in a 60 amp 240 ? I ran 4/6 gauge wires for a DTF dryer but it only has 3 🤦‍♂️ I thought I needed 4 wires for this size amperage so would I be safe to just have the 3 wires running only ?

[@wanesweb]

A very disappointed brother you didn't make your straight slots straight lol

[@D3RPZILLA]

Lol

[@wanesweb]

Thank you brother well done I have the same Exact issue and the same welder I will like in subscribe thanks for your effort I hope you're doing some stuff on the welder too be blessed

[@D3RPZILLA]

Thank you! I've done a few small projects with the welder but am still learning :D To many things to learn and do and to little time! haha.

[@ArnoldStafford]

​@@D3RPZILLA9th

[@Supertouchan-z9t]

the movie is good but is long .thank you

[@D3RPZILLA]

Thank you! I'm working on improving my video quality and length so hopefully timing and pacing will continue to improve! :)

[@joelgrenier2223]

you save my life xD

[@D3RPZILLA]

Haha, nice lol

[@barntt]

NOPE use the white for Neutral (like it was wired before you touched it at 9:10) and put the BARE SAFETY GROUND or Green wire on one of the 4 mounting screws for the outlet (like it was wired before you touched it at 9:24). But it's your house

[@D3RPZILLA]

Unsure what specs you are looking at? Every electrical wiring diagram I've found shows the white neutral gray wire as being UNUSED when using the 3 prong 220 outlet, the bare ground wire going to the top ground prong, the black hot wire to x prong, and red hot wire to y prong. I see no where anywhere mention of using the neutral wire as a ground for the 3 prong outlet and everyone caps it and tucks it back into the box unused. I've been using my outlet for almost a year now with zero issues.

[@kevinmccarley2674]

The white should go to natural. The ground should go to the metal housing. You probably have to drill and screw it. That 4th wire ground is just a extra safety. Not as thick as the ground you connected. Which should have been the natural. Im sure it's running hot! If you wire a 4 prong generator to a three prong welder. 2 Hots to the hot. The white neutral to the ground plug. The fourth ground should be run out of the box. And connected to a ground rod running into the earth. All for safety! The welder should be grounded also! Especially if on rubber or plastic tires. Welders should have metal casters. I figured that out by getting buzzed while welding. First I touched my ear against what I was welding. Got shocked. Then I leaned my arm on the metal. Got shocked again. Took my welder all apart. Trying to find a short. Couldn’t find any thing wrong with it. Started reading supposed to be self grounding. But I put. Plastic wheels on it. So I got steel wheels. And a ground rod. To ground it to. The steel casters probably would have been ok. It was a triple phase 220 volt welder. I'll tell you what! It buzzed me good! Better safe than sorry!

[@KevinCoop1]

Wrong! He has done it absolutely correct. The yoke is grounded by the strap as shown in the video.

[@wanesweb]

Good stuff in the comments too Perio. Has anybody done a video of taking A120 From A220 The 220 that I'm converting is ou Outside used for RV I would like to put a another Outlet out there with 120 just so I have a 120 plug out there I think I know how to do it but I'd like someone to show me LOL thank you

[@davidcedar6529]

Have to change breaker, from double to single. DO NOT connect your Red wire, at either end. Just tape the ends good with electric tape. You may want to hook a 220 back up one day.

[@josegarciabanshee]

Everything was going Well till I saw the Ryobi Drill

[@D3RPZILLA]

@josegarciabanshee haha.. wife got me a huge pack for like $100 on black Friday a few years back. So far they've held up for light work around the house even though I don't use most of the tools these days (let the wife and kids use them mostly now) but I still use the ryobi tire pump all the time haha. I use mostly hercules stuff now.. another cheap brand (harbor freight) but still really good for the money for non pros like myself.

[@MarioRamirez-kv4ii]

The question is not whether your welder will work, the question isvwhat is going to happen if your welder has an internal malfunction ...there is a reason why nuetral is not ground and ground is not nuetral ...alternating current (AC) needs a nuetral to safety travel back to the box and a ground to travel to ground when something goes wrong

[@KevinCoop1]

Incorrect. The neutral (grounded conductor in NEC) is for the purpose of supplying 120 volts to some parts of an appliance that also requires 240 volts. Example, dryer light and motor is 120 volts and the heater is 240 volt. Same thing with ranges.

[@thomasjones1778]

too much talking. less is best. just saying......

[@D3RPZILLA]

Lol, I agree :D haha

[@gregprescan7597]

Your video illustrates why unqualified persons should not attempt to perform electrical work! Please hire a licensed electrician to correct this installation including sizing the EGC,, conductor sizing, and sizing overcurrent protective device for specific load. This video is a variety of NEC violations!

[@D3RPZILLA]

No clue how, lol. I followed every wiring schematic and diagram on how to wire up the 3 prong 220 outlet. The outlet was already a 220 outlet with it's own dedicated 220 panel with proper gauge wiring for my requirements, the outlet I swapped to was sized correctly to my panel and my workload, and the outlet was wired up as per all wiring diagrams I've seen.

[@royalspin]

What specific violations are you referring to ? The wire gauge is fine, The conductors are correct and the outlet for the welding machine is also correct which is a NEMA 50 most commonly used for welders. There's another way to wire it using the neutral wire if that's what you're talking about.

[@gregprescan7597]

@@royalspinNational Electrical Code Article 630 covers specific requirements for electric welder circuits, also follow grounding and bonding requirements in Article 250, Overcurrent Protective Devices requirements in Article 240. But first take time to read Electrical Theory Basics by Mike Holt. The National Electrical Code provides for the very minimum for safety of persons (electric shock) and property (fire).

[@LiveInTheNow247]

Shut up, you are just trying to sound smart and be a know it all.

[@thechuckster1971]

Hire a licensed electrician! So much bad info in one spot.

[@comodice905]

Like what bub

[@SirDadbod]

@@comodice905 he left neutral open...very dangerous...

[@comodice905]

@@SirDadbod te amo te amo de verdad Como loco 😜 ♥️ ❤️ 88

[@Cdmxforever]

They charge an arm and a leg.....💸💸💸

[@craighansen3031]

Dude 25 minutes to explain the wiring of one plug? Gtfo

[@D3RPZILLA]

@@craighansen3031 😅

[@charliynicholls3724]

Dude you talk way too much!....

[@D3RPZILLA]

Haha, yeah, working on improving for sure.

[@bigf1ip]

Does anyone know if this 4 to 3 conversion work for UK/European 3 wire 240v appliances?

[@D3RPZILLA]

Not sure on Euro stuff, sorry :-/

[@davidcedar6529]

NO, UK/Europe is DC, USA is AC. Not sure what appliance you are asking about, BUTT NO it will not work.

[@KevinCoop1]

@@davidcedar6529. No they are not DC. THE Uk/ European system is 400/230 volts 50Hz AC. Most residences get 1 hot, 1 neutral off of the three phase 4 wire system. Some countries put 3 phase in the residences.