4 wire usa gfci spa box possible to convert to 3 wire?

[Vincanity]

Ah got it, thanks for the clarification! @itsnotrequired sure learning a lot about electricity! Gonna finish the project up today and hopefully test boil some water and my welders

 

[Vincanity]

Finished up the Spa Panel! Mounted the panel, wired everything up and tested the 50 amp GFCI by pushing the test button and it tripped like its supposed to. I then plugged in a GFCI tester to the 20 amp socket and everything works great! Plugged in my 115v Lincoln MIG to the 20 amp socket and it fired up just fine. The real test will be doing a boil from one of my kettles that has a 3500watt element installed, only issue is I will have to make a trip to HD to get new 10 Gage flexible wiring as the wiring I have my element hooked up to is European 2.5mm which is equivalent to 14 guage AWG. This confuses me because this was the gage wire recommended for running an element off of the 220v in Europe. Maybe they have a different standard?

 

[processhead]

Running your 3500 watt element on 240 volts will pull 15 amps, which is right at the nominal ampacity limit of a 14 gauge service cord.

You would be better off with a larger cord, although you were probably safe for intermittent-duty operation.

A 12 gauge service cord is certainly adequate for a 3500 watt element.

 

[itsnotrequired]

2.5 mm2 is slightly larger than 14 awg. 16 amp is a standard breaker size in europe, works fine with a 2.5 mm2. all that aside, get yourself a #12 awg cord.

 

[Vincanity]

Awesome makes sense! Thanks for all the helpful advice and knowledge guys, hopefully this will help out someone else down the line. Another question, If I wanted to run an extension cord how much would I have to worry about voltage drop? Say If I wanted to move my brew cart outside I would probably need a 20-25 ft extension cord to get me outside.

 

[itsnotrequired]

at those lengths and with a 'standard' cord, voltage drop shouldn't be an issue. the real impact of reduced voltage is reduced power output at the element. worst case, it will take slightly longer to heat compared to full voltage.

 

[processhead]

Agree with itsnotrequired.
Using an extension cord, you will see a longer time to reach boil, but should be adequate power to maintain that boil once you reach it.

You can minimize the effects of using an extension cord by using a heavier 12-3 cord.