Question regarding gfci breakers

[Jbrown57]

I am building an electric brew system. I plan on using the 50A gfci breaker in the dist panel for my brew rig and wanted to use the same plug for my AC welder when I am not brewing.
Will the breaker trip under load or do I need to install a separate unprotected circuit for the welder?
I was thinking maybe enough voltage would leak thru the metal welding table to ground (concrete floor) to trip. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Jbrown

 

[fizzix]

No experience other than reading elsewhere about your situation on welding forums.
You are indeed correct that the stray current to ground will likely cause the GFCI to trip.
It's just doing its job. Sorry for the inconvenient news.

Can you can try isolating from earth with a plywood or ceramic tile floor base?

 

[Kmo4040]

You could get a spa panel that has extra room in it for a second breaker. Unprotected circuit breakers are much cheaper. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Midwest...el-Disconnect-with-GFI-UG412RMW250P/100686230

 

[doug293cz]

Isn't welding done at very low voltage but high current? I would think a quality welder would have a transformer to convert from line voltage to working voltage, and if that were the case, it would be trivial for that transformer to isolate the input power from the output power, so that leakage on the output power would not trip the GFCI. If the welder just used a switching power supply type circuit to lower the voltage, then I can see leakage of the welding current to ground being a problem. So, what kind of circuitry is inside a welder?

Brew on

 

[Drumminguy81]

I used to have a welder 30a plug wired off my 60a gfci spa panel for a little lincoln mig. It worked fine no issues at all.

 

[Jbrown57]

Thanks for all the responses.
I will give it a try and run a second circuit if there is a problem.
Jbrow

 

[itsnotrequired]

check the owner's manual for the welder, it should indicate if it is suitable for use on a gfci circuit. from my limited experience, older stick welders are the ones that have trouble working with gfcis. the newer ones are better but can still vary by manufacturer. mig and tig welders typically work with gfcis but again, this can vary by manufacturer.