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bought an old (1955) house with some incorrect wiring. there is a 10-50R wired such that the designated neutral plug conductor terminates at the ground bar in the panel (ground and neutral are not bonded in sub-panel).

if I was to plug a 240v welder (no neutral) into this 10-50R, with a 10-50p where the plug neutral conductor terminates at the welder's ground lug, would this be dangerous? so the welder ground would be electrically connected to the ground bar in the panel... it's just a physically different shape...

in other words, is there a reason that using the designated neutral blade a NEMA 10-50 as a ground would be unsafe?

I know the 6-50 would be correct, just curious why the difference?

isherwood
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Jim B
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1 Answers1

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For you and your case it would not be unsafe.

The problems happens with the next person who tries it with a slightly different case/they change some setup.

10-50 is designed so people looking at it knows it is hot, hot, neutral. 6-50 is hot, hot, ground. The design is to prevent people from using the wrong type/thinking they are using one that is wired properly.

Older dryers used 10-30 and needed the neutral prong/socket as neutral.

Most welders that come with a plug would use 6-50, so instead of changing the plug, change the receptacle to 6-50

crip659
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