Shopsmith Forums

Hi all, I am going to change the power cord on the Mark 7 from 120v to 220v. Total length will be 15 feet. What gage wire should I use?

If we talking about a new Mark 7, you don't have to change the power cord. The one that came with the machine works fine for 110vac or 220vac. Just change the plug.

Did you get a manual with the machine.

If you are talking about an old model Mark VII, a 12 gauge power cord is plenty large enough and 15' is not too long.

putter wrote:Hi all, I am going to change the power cord on the Mark 7 from 120v to 220v. Total length will be 15 feet. What gage wire should I use?

I recommend an adapter so that you can run on 120 if you need to. I would strongly recommend you not change the cord.

If you do make a cheater cord for 110 to 220 please only make it about a foot long. A cheater with a 220 plug and a 110 style socket for the new
Mark7 could give someone a nasty surprise if they plug into 220 and try to use a 110 tool on the other end. Also has the potential to be lethal. Which is probably the reason that they are illegal for an electrician to make or even to give instruction to make.
Bill V

wa2crk wrote:If you do make a cheater cord for 110 to 220 please only make it about a foot long. A cheater with a 220 plug and a 110 style socket for the new
Mark7 could give someone a nasty surprise if they plug into 220 and try to use a 110 tool on the other end. Also has the potential to be lethal. Which is probably the reason that they are illegal for an electrician to make or even to give instruction to make.
Bill V

Absolutely. If they were no hazard at all, Shopsmith would most likely have assigned them a part number and offered to sell you one. They do not. I think that says it all. Are they hazardous in themselves? Probably not as long as nothing other than a Mark 7 or PowerPro Headstock (not to be confused with a Mark VII) gets plugged into them.

Thank you all for your input. There are a lot of wise people in the world and I believe this forum more than it's share. I can make an extension cord, I just wanted to eliminate the plug into this then plug into that situation.

The problem with a 'cheater' cord is due to the possibility of an uninformed user getting hold of it and misusing it. If only used as intended here, it is not a hazard(used to provide a 230v plug on the end of the 115v power cord).

It is the great possibility of misuse that involves a potential hazard.

wa2crk wrote:If you do make a cheater cord for 110 to 220 please only make it about a foot long. A cheater with a 220 plug and a 110 style socket for the new
Mark7 could give someone a nasty surprise if they plug into 220 and try to use a 110 tool on the other end. Also has the potential to be lethal. Which is probably the reason that they are illegal for an electrician to make or even to give instruction to make.
Bill V

They are used in Europe all the time and you can buy them on Amazon for $3. The trick is to have your 220 wall plug be European. You can also purchase them in the US but they require changing the plug on the 110 device to avoid what you are worried about. Or you get a locking plug cover that goes over the junction between the standard Shopsmith 110 plug male plug and the incorrect 220 female adaptor.

dusty wrote:Absolutely. If they were no hazard at all, Shopsmith would most likely have assigned them a part number and offered to sell you one. They do not. I think that says it all. Are they hazardous in themselves? Probably not as long as nothing other than a Mark 7 or PowerPro Headstock (not to be confused with a Mark VII) gets plugged into them.

Or a laptop, iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android phone or tablet or a billion other consumer electronic device with universal input. When you take one of these devices to Europe you just use a $3 adapter and plug in into a 220 volt outlet, if you plug your hair dryer into the adapter very bad things will happen but they still legally sell the devices in the US.