Any electricians?

[derailed]

   I recently bought a welder and put in a 220 outlet in my garage. The garage is attached and its about 70 feet or so between the outlet and main service panel. What I did was I ran 6/2 wire from a 50 amp breaker in the main service panel to a sub panel in the garage. I put a 50 amp breaker in the sub going to the outlet which is what the machine calls for. I did this to accomodate more outlets in the future. Everything is working fine, im getting 243 volts at outlet but I had somone tell me i should have ran 3 wire with ground instead of 2. If I have to change it it wont be a big deal, I will get rid of the sub panel, its not far from the outlet. Any ideas The guy at the electrical place where I bought this stuff seemed like he knew what he was doing so thats why I did it this way.

[4402tuff4u]

I did the same for my garage and my electrician at work gave me the wire and showed me how to do it and it was a 3 wire cable

[Crazy440]

You could also sink a ground rod (5 foot rod) and run a ground wire (must be green, bare or marked clearly as a ground, such as green tape) from that via, a grounding clamp, then attach it to the ground lug in your sub panel. Usually you can drop one wire size for a ground wire, but you should check your local code.  The main thing is, you need a ground source, to the sub.  Whether from the main or a ground rod.  No need for a neutral (white wire) for 220, but if you want to run 110 outlets from this sub, you will need a neutral wire hooked to the neutral lug.  Make sure you check the panel for a separate ground lug for grounding the panel frame itself.  Some have it, some don't.  If it has one you can use a jumper from the main ground lug to the panel ground. Usually a #12 or #10 will work. The best thing you could have done was to run 6/3 w/ground (4 wire), to the sub.

Crazy

[Nacho-RT74]

definitelly... two hots and ground wire. Is already needed for 110/120 Volts use, EVEN MORE for 220/240 Volts.

[derailed]

. The best thing you could have done was to run 6/3 w/ground (4 wire), to the sub.

Crazy

 As always I should have asked on here before I talked to this other yoyo at the store . I think im going to eliminate the sub all together and go straight in to the outlet. Copper wire is a little pricey right now to be running another 75 or 80 feet of it back to the main. Would just a shut off switch instead of the sub need 4 wire also?

[Crazy440]

If you change to a switch, it will have to be a fused disconnect.  You will still need a ground. 220v lines, needs two hot wires and a ground.  It would be pretty simple to install a ground rod under the sub. Ground rods are cheap and a few feet of bare copper wire, isn't much, either.
I assume you have a concrete floor in the garage.  Get a masonry bit long enough to punch a hole in the floor. You can usually rent this and a hammer drill, from a rental place, for a half day.  Drive to rod down into the hole.  Attach a ground lug and buy a piece of #6 bare wire from the hardware store and run it up into the sub.  Buy enough to have at least 6" spare, in the box.  You will need a ½" Romex connector, from the hardware, also.  Punch out one of the ½ knock outs, on the bottom of the sub, for the Romex connector.  Put the clamp side, inside the sub box, screws facing out.
If you go straight into a 220v recept, you will still need a ground.  No way around it.
If you intend to put in 110v recepts, you will still need a neutral.  And that will have to come from the main panel, as the ground and neutral lines, have to be seperated, in a sub panel.
One other note.  With the length of your run, from the main panel, you might get some voltage drop.  With a run of more than 55' you can expect some.  That length of run, should have been sized up, one wire size.  But, you should be ok.

Crazy

[derailed]

Thanks Crazy, I just found a bunch of bare copper ground wire that i used when I buried my service from the street a few years ago so I started running that back to the ground coming out of my main main box. I may have to buy a little more and clamp it together but at least it will be down right. I appreciate the advice.

[Blue Pentastar]

Are you guys talking about a neutral or a ground? If the welder is working I am going to assume that you have two hots and a neutral. A ground is  a good thing but in most homes. if it was wired properly you will find the neural is also grounded. This is not the case if this is a commercial building. A ground wire is always a good idea with 110 or 220 But you should not have to redo the whole thing. Check to see if your neutral is ran to ground in the main breaker box first.

Mike Schrader

[derailed]

The neutral strip is grounded in the main panel. Looks like one to the outside ground poll and also to the water pipes

[Crazy440]

The nutral is grounded in the main box.  But you can not do that in a sub panel.  The ground and nutral must be kept seperate.  Was the 6/2 that you ran, 6/2 with ground or did it just have two wires in it?

[derailed]

It is 2 hots and a bare copper

[Crazy440]

Then you have 6/2 w/ground.  You are fine.  No need for an additional ground.  But, as I said, if you want 110v outlets in the garage, from the sub, you will need a white wire from the main panel.

[Paul G]

Then you have 6/2 w/ground.  You are fine.  No need for an additional ground.  But, as I said, if you want 110v outlets in the garage, from the sub, you will need a white wire from the main panel.

A 6 gauge wire. Same as your other two wires since the neutral can be a current carrying wire depending on the load. Did you run conduit or Romex cable?

[derailed]

I used 6/2 romex. I ended up running a ground wire to an outside ground rod.