What Guage wire is this

melsdad · Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:04 am

I want to replace my ground wire with a longer one on my everlast 255ext welder. The numbers don't make sense to me. It looks like 4 guage wire though.

Brian

Oscar · Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:48 am

without scale for reference, it could be anybody's guess. Also, jacket insulation plays a big role. Get a clear on-axis shot of the strands either with a reference scale, or measure the diameter of the "circle of strands".

melsdad · Mon Jan 18, 2016 11:22 am

I measured the strands at the clamp. I checked across a few places since the wire was not exactly round. I got between .287 & .298 I Google for a chart and found this:

http://www.calmont.com/pdf/calmont-eng-wire-gauge.pdf

Looks like it is 4 gage.

Brian

soutthpaw · Mon Jan 18, 2016 11:57 am

It's 4 gauge, I have that identical cable with the Everlast 210ext. I measured the wire and casing and it's within.005 of a marked 4ga cable I have.

melsdad · Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:38 pm

Next questions.

Can I stay with 4 Gage wire and go to 25 foot length? Do the amperage / length / gauge charts I find online pertain to ground wire as well?

Where is a good place to buy flexaprene wire by the foot? I want to buy green.

Braehill · Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:55 pm

Brian,
Go to a local welding supply (West Penn Laco, Alloy Oxygen, Jackson Welding) and pick up some 1/0 stinger cable and be done with it. If you start welding Aluminum at the higher end of your machines range you'll be taxing the number 4 wire pretty good at 25 feet. A good heavy ground helps a lot and is worth the extra money up front.

I'm not sure what wanting to buy "green" means, but that's what I would do.

Len

melsdad · Mon Jan 18, 2016 6:03 pm

Thanks Len, I didn't think it would hurt to go larger in wire size. I'll call the LWS were I got my argon and see what they have. As far as green...I'm no tree hugger

Just thought I would get green since flexaprene has different colors.

Braehill · Mon Jan 18, 2016 6:20 pm

OK, makes sense now. Not sure if they'll have green or not. I'm sure one of the local Airgas would have cable also, they're just never my first choice because they're out of my way.

Len

melsdad · Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:57 pm

Craigslist paid off for me. Got a 32' length of flex-a-prene 1/0 cable for $25

Brian

Braehill · Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:55 pm

Brian,
That was money well spent.

Len

Sun Jan 24, 2016 2:14 pm

But, it's not green...

Nice buy!

Steve S

melsdad · Sun Jan 24, 2016 8:55 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:But, it's not green...

Nice buy!

Steve S

For the price I didn't care what color it was.

Brian