Electrical question

[Jay Radke]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will go the route of putting the correct 50 Amp plug on the PFlux. That will be the easiest as long as the experts here agree.

If changing to a 30 AMP outlet would require me to downsize to a 30 AMP breaker, then I would be better off going up to a 100 AMP breaker and putting in a sub panel. At least that is my thinking if I have to go inside the main panel might as well just do it once. But right now I do not think that I need that extra service yet. I can always go back and do that later.

[Jim Becker]

You are not required to reduce the breaker if you put a lower amperage capacity receptacle and matching machine plug ... but it's not a bad practice to do so for consistency. The breaker is to protect the wire, not the device plugged into it. What you can't do is put a 50 amp recepticle on a 30 amp circuit. That is dangerous.

[Bill Dufour]

Watch out for welder outlets. They can meet code with a 50 amp outlet and breaker but only use 40 amp wire to supply them. Verify the wire size before assuming you can run 50 amps to any machine that is not a stick welder. I would use the existing wire to supply an eye level subpanel. You can remove the outlet and wire nut a short run to the new subpanel. You can not daisy chain the outlet down to the panel.
Bill D.

[Jay Radke]

Bill, before reading your post I did some more investigation first to know what plug to get, the outlet said it was a NEMA 10-50. So I googled that and it said that is a 3 wire no ground. So that would work for my 3HP PFlux, it’s 3 wire bit with ground. So of course I went out and took the plate off to pull out to look at wires. Well it was wired with 3 wires, but with an uninsulated wire. Which I am assuming is ground to the ground. Now I will have to take the cover off the panel to check. At this point I am thinking it might just be best to go with sub panel after all. Now I just need to decide how much of it I would do on my own. I am quite comfortable with electrical work but have never worked inside a panel.