>But judging from the amount of negativity I received back then WRT powering my welder, I wouldn't be surprised if very few are being resourceful in this way. E

>But judging from the amount of negativity I received back then WRT powering my welder, I wouldn't be surprised if very few are being resourceful in this way. Even if they have an attached garage and access to appliance outlets somewhere in a rental, people seem to have an irrational fear of electricity. It seems like the only topics that can be discussed on the internet are ones that are so far removed from practical application that they are immune to people showing up and crapping all over the discussion in search of virtue points for caring about other people's safety/money/health/whatever. We can discuss code compilers no problem but god forbid you ask a question about tiling your bathroom and you will be inundated with people singing praises to GFCIs, quoting the building code, citing statistics about slip and fall injuries. It all makes more sense when you realize they don't actually want to answer your question, discuss bathroom tiles or provide anything of value. You've simply provided them an opportunity to signal to each other. But making sense doesn't make it any less frustrating. I bet if you had opened up your welder and installed the long cord as though it were the OE power cord those people wouldn't have said anything. I would have wired up a 220v cord that plugs into two 120v outlets just to piss them off. (And it should go without saying that your extension cord is perfectly safe if sized properly)