30 amp circuit question

[Gary Chester]

A shiny new tool is going to show up in my shop next week!!!! W00 HOO!!! It requires a 240v 30a circuit that I don't have... but I do have a 50 amp circuit set up for a welder.

So...

Option 1 would be to simply plug the new toy into that 50a socket. Quick and dirty, but I'm not sure I like this, even though it's just like plugging a lamp that draws 2 amps into a 20a circuit. (I know that the breaker is only there to protect the wire in the wall, not what's plugged into the socket.)

Option 2 would be to have the 50a socket feed an external breaker panel with a 30a breaker in it and plug the new toy into that.

Option 3 would be to tear up the drywall and put a dedicated 30 amp circuit in. This might be a LOT of work. and would eliminate one of my 20a 240v circuits.

Let's hear what you have to say...

[Mike Heidrick]

Option 1

Put the correct plug on and get to work. Larger wire and larger receptaclel don't hurt a thing. Your tool determines what amperage it draws and it has its own safety mechanisms.

Make sure you are connecting the plug to the two hots and a ground.

Did you put in the 50 amp circuit? Did you run 6ga yourself? If not I would verify everything is correct and what you think it is.

[John McClanahan]

Make a 50A to 30A pigtail. Then you will still have the 50A outlet, if needed.


John

[Mike Heidrick]

Make a 50A to 30A pigtail. Then you will still have the 50A outlet, if needed.


JohnYou still have a 50amp outlet regardless - put the 6-50 plug on the tool. Cost would be $8-$10 total.

[Garth Almgren]

Make a 50A to 30A pigtail. Then you will still have the 50A outlet, if needed.
Or find a premade one on Amazon. I don't know that you could make one for less than they sell them there ($13-20 dollars, depending on the exact plugs needed). I'm with Mike though - easier to put a matching plug on the tool! :D

[Ben Rivel]

Yep, option 1 for sure. Just put the right connector on the tool and use that 50A!

[Chris Padilla]

Option 1 is easiest, fastest, and cheapest way.

[Mike Heidrick]

I am figuring a true 30amp tool will need you to add a plug anyway and most likely your own cord. What goodie are you getting??

[Doug Garson]

#1 is the way I'd go. I find it interesting that no one thinks twice about plugging a 5 amp jig saw into a 15 amp circuit but I've lost track of the number of times this question has been asked.

[Gary Chester]

OK... this is strange... everyone agrees on option 1. I figured there'd be more discussion... HA!! But that makes it easy. If someone else has an opinion throw it on out. Mike, it's a MiniMax S400P (MM16 Bandsaw)

[Art Mann]

There are opinions and then there are facts. The fact is a breaker will not protect your machine from damage if the source of the problem is internal to the motor. If you look at the trip curves of common household breakers, you will see that a 30A breaker will sustain a 60A current for something like 30 seconds to two minutes and 300A for maybe a quarter or half a second. This is plenty of time to open the circuit before the house wiring gets hot enough to burn something but not nearly quick enough to protect a motor with a fault condition. Just suppose you have a locked rotor condition (stall). A thermal overload protector will open up long before the breaker. Since your tool is new, it will undoubtedly include good thermal overload protection, which is you best defense against fire and total destruction. On the other hand, if you have a dead short somewhere in your equipment, a 50A fuse will open up just as fast as a 30A one.

[Mike Heidrick]

Mike, it's a MiniMax S400P (MM16 Bandsaw)

You are going to love that saw. Enjoy it.

[Tom M King]

I'm running a bandsaw on a 50 amp welder circuit too. I wired in another box into the machine tail that the dedicated dust collector can plug into.

[John McClanahan]

I went the pigtail route to gain an extra 8 feet of power cord.

[Mike Cutler]

Option 1.
Making a pigtail is a nice idea too. This way you could install inline fuse protection if you're worried about exceeding amps in the event of a motor failure. As John stated, it also would give you more cord length, which is definitely something to consider.;)

[Mike Heidrick]

That saw has a motor contactor with overload before the motor. No need for fuses. If anything wire in a lockout disconnect.