Everything you need to know about welding cables

[@Cptnbond]

Hi Greg, when I built my own stinger custom cable setup, I have used AWG 2 wire. That was maybe a little bit on the high current capability side. However, on the other hand, the stinger with its Dinse connector will work on any standard welder, whatever that may be in the future. Thanks for pointing out the importance of the heat resistance cable shield. Cheers.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

It’s never a bad thing to have slightly too big of power cables, especially because you can always swap them like you said. Definitely thinking ahead 😀

[@randonloebsolvingproblems4421]

On the cheaper machines, often hear it said "throw away the junk ground clamp and buy a new one". If the clamp that came with the machine works, what would make an aftermarket clamp work better electrically?

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

So many ground clamps on very cheap welders have poor spring pressure and they have aluminum wires connecting the jaws. If the ground clamp heats up (due to poor ability to handle power) or doesn’t maintain ground obviously there will be issues. The one on the harbor freight welder is ok, one like I showed on my miller would be better. The stinger is a must upgrade though, the stock one gets hot and has poor clamping pressure for rods.

[@TheReignharder]

Thank you for this - I just went through this last week, sizing for my 200A (60%) welder. I went 25mm2 for the 5m length I needed. I usually use a 2.5mm with 3.15mm max rod so for me that seems OK? I hate that when you buy a machine (even a fairly decent one) they give you such short cables - my earth is literally 1.5m (tip of clap to tip of Dinse) Crazy!

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

No problem 😀. So 25mm cables will handle 180 amps at 30+ percent duty cycle. You could run those 3.2mm rods all day without any real issue so you’re good to go. Short ground cables are fairly common with machines, but that is shorter than most. It makes sense if the machine is super small and 140amp but a 200 amp machine should definitely have longer wires lol.

[@The_Baker_Social]

What about when you have a 225 with 100% duty cycle and you have a large project? Would 1 AWG be recommended? Basically just go up a size because of the duty cycle?

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

If you are running 100% duty cycle definitely go with the bigger wire. As the wire heats up it will drop voltage. High duty cycle will heat the wire up no doubt. The reason welder companies get away with small wires on 200amp machines is because they know nobody is using it for any kind of duty cycle lol.

[@The_Baker_Social]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg lol right, that makes sense! I just wanted to make sure i wasn't just being too cautious and throwing money away. I ordered the 1 gauge and actually received it today so I'll be testing out the new setup. It's an old Lincoln Weldanpower 225 G7 that i restored. Coupled with Lenco twist locks and LN-25 electrode holder. I don't feel like I'll have very good control with it, but we'll see. Thanks for the input Greg 👨🏻‍🏭

[@JacobAHull-nx6rx]

Why black red..just cause positive/negative?

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

I got in the habit of color coding wires because when you have multiple leads and extensions it’s far easier to figure things out than if everything was just black. One to many times I hooked up the leads in the wrong polarity 😅

[@D_Sendit]

Overtime they stretch your wrist...please explain

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

I believe I was referring to how non flexible cables end up hurting your wrist because you have to fight the tension of the cable. Tig is especially bad because you need very precise control over the tungsten and if you’re fighting the cable to move your wrist it’s very difficult to move properly. It adds weight to the torch, resistance to movement, and if you have carpal tunnel it becomes painful after a while.

[@faisalfaixal2376]

Y is Amazon fooling customers by printing different size on cable than the able actually is

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Not only do they do that, but they use CCA (copper clad aluminum) wire which might be 4ga, but because it’s aluminum it only handles the current of 6 or 8ga copper. Pretty sad how much rip off stuff is out there with wire.