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I would like to plug a 25A welder on a 10A house plug. I understand that it will not accept full power or the circuit breaker would switch. However, my question is if I may run under some lower power setting: for instance setting 70A out of 200A on the welder.

From a very simplistic point of view: A welding machine with a maximum of 200A for 25A@220V mean, the welder at 60A would require about 10A@220V

However, a welding machine is not such a simplistic situation and uses several variants of waves, AC or DC, several frequencies, etc. which make all more complex.

Question May I plug this 25A Welder on a 10A-protected house plug?

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    $\begingroup$ no harm to try it and see if it works. That's what breakers are for. be aware you should not operate in a manner where you are repeatedly tripping and resetting the breaker. $\endgroup$
    – agentp
    Sep 22, 2017 at 18:02
  • $\begingroup$ Well, the harm is to my pocket, a welder like that is not free ;-) $\endgroup$
    – Adrian Maire
    Sep 22, 2017 at 18:22
  • $\begingroup$ Perhaps you should go back to the 16A one you started with... $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Sep 22, 2017 at 18:58
  • $\begingroup$ @SolarMike: That was a mistake, I misunderstood the fuse value with the input current. $\endgroup$
    – Adrian Maire
    Sep 23, 2017 at 11:57

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Yes, you can plug a higher rated load into a lower rated breaker if the load is monitored to minimize trips. If you are using a different plug, make sure that the other plug is removed entirely there are no exposed wires or contacts. I assume you are in europe and the standard wall voltage is indeed 220V (If someone in the US is reading this in the future, a standard wall outlet is 110V and will not work for a 220V device).

The breaker is sized to protect the wiring, not your device. It will allow greater than 10A for a small period of time (say 15A for 30 seconds) for start up loads. If you exceed 10A for a length of time the circuit breaker will trip to protect the wiring. This will not harm your device, it is just like unplugging it or the power going off. You can increase the load and trip the breaker a couple times to test how high you can run your welder, but like agenpt mentioned in the comments, you should not run it in a way where you are tripping the breaker frequently. Breakers are only rated for so many trips (say 100) before they risk not operating correctly and need to be replaced.

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  • $\begingroup$ So it seem my fear with low factors, generating inverse current through other devices, etc.. is unfunded. Thanks $\endgroup$
    – Adrian Maire
    Sep 23, 2017 at 11:55

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