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Intro welders and 220v questions

It should have been labeled. If there is no label on the panel door, it would be wise to do detective work and label all the breakers.
 
Many possibilities:
Refrigerator
Garbage disposal
Kitchen counter outlets
Garage
Attic fan
AC plug under some window in the house
Outside plug somewhere (porch, deck, BBQ pit, etc.)
Outside lights
Basement/Attic lights/receptacle
Old fallout shelter under house
Secret room (was the former owner named Bates?)
 
The box I was checking was the sub box in the garage. I’ve looked at the house’s breaker box and it also isn’t labeled, but I’m not going to be touching that one if I don’t have to.

The only thing left in the garage (unless of course there is a fallout bunker or secret room) that last breaker could be for is these tube light fixtures in the rafters of the garage. From what the landlord told me when we moved in they are broken (previous owner added LED strips in the rafters I use instead). If those broken fixtures are indeed for that last breaker I would assume I could have them swapped out for that dedicated 20amp outlet, making this all a lot easier.
 
Worth checking out. If the old fixtures are 20A circuit, you can remove them and place a junction box where the wires to them came out in the rafters. From that box you can wire cable to a new outlet box with the needed 110-20A socket.
 
Welp, I pulled the panel off the sub box in the garage to better find where that last breaker goes. It’s just for the second wire for the that 250v-20amp outlet.

When I turn the top of the two breakers off the left prong loses power. Then when I turn the bottom of the two off the right loses power.
 
OK, so it is two 110V circuits being used as a 220 circuit. That breaker setup is not legal. I should have a single 220 breaker.
The good news for you is you can easily have it made into one 20A-110V circuit. Any person with good wiring knowledge can do it in 10 minutes.
 
Out of curiosity, what color wires are on the two breakers .... and are they from one cable?
 
That is what I suspected.
Here is what you, or an electrically knowledgeable person, needs to do from the info you gave:
First - do not do wiring alone. Have someone else there to be your safety man and maybe hold a flashlight.
1) Shut OFF the two breakers that have the black and white wire connected. If not comfortable working in a fuse box, shut off the main breaker and work with a good flashlight. Once the wires have been moved in the fuse box you can turn on the main breaker ... but leave the two breakers you are working on OFF.
2) Remove the old 220 socket in the garage and replace it with a NEMA 6-20 or L6-20. See check list below for the proper wire connections.
3) Remove the white wire from the breaker it is attached to. That breaker is now a spare 110V breaker for a new circuit someday. NOTE- the breakers should be separate and not tired together.
4) Connect the white wire to the neutral bus where all the other wires are. You may have to use a wire nut and splice on some extra white wire if it is not long enough.
5) Double check the wires as listed below and turn on the breaker. Check the receptacle with a meter to assure a proper circuit.
6) Depending on the plug on your welder, you may need to change the plug to match the receptacle, or make an adapter cord.

Checklist to verify it is now wired for 115V-20A:
____ 20-amp single pole breaker in breaker box
____ 20-amp receptacle for 115V (NEMA 6-20 or equivalent) on wall
____ Fuse Box - Black wire on breaker
____ Fuse Box - white wire on neutral bus
____ Fuse box - green wire or bare copper wire on ground bus (in some fuse boxes this is the same as the neutral buss)
____ Receptacle - black wire on the brass color screw
____ Receptacle - white wire on the silver color screw
____ Receptacle - Green/bare wire on ground lug - NOTE -If this wire is not there you have a problem and will need to run a new wire.
 
I got the tooliom welder around the middle of May and have been working with it on and off over the past few weeks. With taking frequent breaks to adjust/inspect pieces I’m welding, having nothing but the welder on in the garage when in use, only using it on a 20amp circuit, I haven’t had any issues with tripping the breaker.

Still haven’t gotten the landlord to swap out the 220v circuit yet. But with the 15amp outlet with 12ga wire, on a 20amp breaker there has been zero heat or any sort of warmth on the outlet, plug, or wiring.

When I was practicing on some sheet steel scraps I sent pictures to a buddy who works in the factory I used to work in back in NJ. He showed the pictures to the welders and they helped with with dialing in the settings. Once that was all dialed in I got to welding up a simple guillotine tool (I used Black Bear Forge’s video on making a guillotine as a reference).

https://imgur.com/a/iMZeh9R

The dies on this one are 80crv2 since I didn’t want to case harden mild steel and seemed to be the best fit for the stock sizes of 1018 I had on hand. Currently waiting for the Evenheat to come up to temp for the dies. Going to quench from 1500° with a 10min hold, then 2x 2hr temper at 450°. I’ll likely walk the temper back a bit if needed and torch the ends of the dies to blue where the hammer/base of the tool will be hitting them.

Thanks for the help everyone, been a lot of fun building this tool
 
R running bird
Hey you might try heating your work up with a propane torch before you start welding. I've got a small stick welder, and I find it helpful to heat the work up, it helps my crappy welds at least!

I don't know if they get better penetration or not, but they do look a little better and I get less spatter.

I'm not trying to be critical or anything, my welds are garbage. Just trying to be helpful!
 
Another thing that helps when you are doing hobby welds with no pre-heat is using a "welder's anti- spatter" spray. The welding shops and Amazon have it.
 
I should have mentioned I did snag the anti splatter spray when I ordered the welder. It works great… when I remember to spray it on…lol

On almost every weld I would start then after a few seconds realize I forgot to use it. The one I got is called Weld-aid, worked pretty good for keeping the nozzle on the wire gun clean too. My welds were pretty ugly on this one but I’m happy with it for my first time. I’ve got lots of plans for hardy tools so *hopefully* they’ll get better as I go

I’ll give the torch a shot on the next one too
 
My advice on learning how to use a MIG welder is:
Take a 1/8" plate of metal and weld bead after bead on it 1" apart. Learn how to feed the puddle and at what rate to move the bead forward. Compare the beads as you progress down the plate.
After each bead, flip it over to see how the weld shows from the other side. That can tell you if you were too hot or too cold.
Try it with a 1/16" plate after you get the hang of it. This will help refine the right power setting and wire speed. In 1/16" you will know instantly when you are too hot!
Next, butt two pieces of 1/8"metal side by side and practice welding them together.
To practice 90° welds, use a piece of angle iron.
Next, try welding two strips of 1/8" steel together at 90° (use welding magnets).
Once your brain takes control of your hand it will become sort of automatic.

When I started welding as a kid, I made a "welding table" It was a sturdy hall table someone threw out that had a top about 12X24". I glued two ceramic floor tiles on the top. Then I put a sheet of 1/4" steel on it to make a grounding surface. I welded a 1/2" bolt on one corner for the ground clamp.

A second tip is good strong lighting. I use a clip-on lamp with a 100-watt bulb.
 
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