I have stove top 3 wire 120/208 240 volt. is this 110 or 220?

[Dan]

I have it plugged into 110 and takes forever to heat up, is this the problem?

Dan

[homeowners]

It's a three-phase stove with a hookup similar to the one on the picture below. If you connect it to one 120V (which is commonly referred to as 110V) phase only, you're using only one of two or three heating elements in it, depending on how it was wired. These things are factory wired for a certain type of power feed and to rewire them differently would void the warranty AND you can easily exceed the maximum current that the 120V wiring is capable of carrying safely, so I would not do it unless you're in a commercial location and you're absolutely sure about the amp capacity of your wiring and circuit breakers.

So, to answer your question directly, it's neither. It needs the third phase, too.

[Anonymous]

So hooking it up to regular 110 is why its heating slow, do I need 220 line?

[homeowners]

Well, let's go back for a second and clarify the terminology first. Since 110 is commonly used in place of 120, we may end up mashing together a 240V three-wire three phase service and 120/208 (or another option 120/240) three wire single phase service. So, I think I think what you call "220 line" is actually single phase 120/240 but, again, given that we use 110 in place of 120, it could be referred to as single phase 110/220V.

Given that three phase service is normally used for motor loads and this is a stove, it's most likely single phase 3-wire 240 and you will be fine with a "220 line". The line would be officially called "3-wire 120/240 volts single-phase service", similar to what you have for an electric water heater or an electric dryer.

[Anonymous]

Ok I think I got you, so can we tie in with line going to oven? It has 4 wires which ones doe I use?

[homeowners]

Red and Black should both go to the same color wires of the cable that feeds the oven.  The third is the ground connection that could either be isolated Green or bare conductor. Note that the diagram I posted before has a neutral (white) in its place - the diagram came from a 240V commercial coffee machine - the only one I had handy at the moment.   In your case the third conductor is almost certainly ground (Green or bare) because it is a code-recognizable connection for residential appliances. Be sure to verify that by the markings on the connector block that the stove cable connects to on the stove. <strong>Be careful and be sure to disconnect the circuit and verify that it has been disconnected before approaching it. Remember that you're working with two wires - Black and Red - that will be live on a connected circuit.</strong>

[Anonymous]

Ok thank you very much!