i have an old arc welder, i belive its a lincoln 250, anyways im in the process of wiring it up, and have no where else to plus g it too, or wire it to but the dryer, was wondering if this would work? or will it preform at its highest abbility? and downside to doing this? other then i gotta unplug the dryer everytime i wanna weld?

how many amps does it require?... usually dryers are in the 30 amp range... but if you have a stove/oven... then those are usually 50amps..
the welder should say what rating.. and so should your breakers.. make sure they match... or the breaker is greater..

Welders are 2 hots and a ground. Older dryers are 2 hots and a neutral, because they use 110 for the control system. Newer dryers are 4 prong. The welder will operate on the dryer outlet, if it is the correct amperage, but it would be better to wire a proper outlet.

I run my welder and my plasma off my dryer circuit and have blown my circuit breaker once using my plasma at max setting. Oops...

You can run a welder from a dryer plug. Worst case - just like the guy with the plasma cutter - you may trip the breaker if you turn it up too high.

I am using the dryer receptacle for my welder since I can't add a proper welder circuit. I don't have a dryer so it works. I am limited to a 3/32" rod and about 90A, but it has done what I wanted. I tried 1/8" rods, but in order to get the welder to run hot enough to burn them I trip the breaker about 5 seconds after striking the arc. I know it isn't ideal, but it's the best I can do at the apt. I am renting.

when i was living with my parents i would pug my millermatic 175 into the drier plug, then run a 50ft or so extention cord (part of a broken cord off a friend's jobsite) from the laundry room to the garage.

it worked, but it blew the breaker all the time, PITA

i tried to talk my dad into letting me install a separate circuit for the welder, but he wanted to have his buddy who is an electrician do it, he did, 6 months and one truck build later. it works alot better now, dont have to worry about the breaker blowing.

old dryers are 2 hots and ground, not 2 hots and neutral

correct me if wrong, but dryer plugs are 30 amp, whereas range plugs are 50
amp.

I've used only range plugs on everything 220 in my garage. from a 300amp
tig, 10hp phase converter, 250miller migs, everything. never a problem.

--Sherpa

Was going to do the same on mine, but ended up buying a big compressor that had a hardwire setup, swapped the dryer to gas when I moved in, so had the electrician hardwire the compressor to the old dryer circuit, works cherry & installed a dedicated circuit for the welder off the new 50A sub panel along with a handfull of other 110 circuits. The electrician said the 30A dryer circuit would handle the Hobart 175 (20A draw max) with no modifications other than the plug configuration.

great thanks guys for the info

I weld using my drier plug and Millermatic 185.

Works like a champ, unless I need to crank it up all the way. I think I have tripped the breaker maybe twice....in 5 years.