110 tap off 220 plug?

[Tony M]

Then what do you do with the 15A and 20A plugs that don't fit?

(imagining an electric clock modified with a NEMA 5-50P)

[Mark Lloyd]

But you DO have a currently unused second hot. Couldn't you use that?

It may even be the right color.

[Doug Miller]

I think the OP wanted to be able to use both 120V and 240V. If that's the case, then, no, he couldn't.

Not if the circuit was installed using one of your mythical black & red cables...

[Steve Barker]

that'd be cool. A fuggin 40 dollar cord cap on a four dollar clock. LMAO! Kind of like these punk assed kids putting a $2000 stereo in a junkassed $50 ricer.

[ls1mike]

In one of my previous homes built in 1980, a three wire 50A range outlet was still code. It was also common for ranges widely available at the time to include a 120V convenience outlet (usually controlled by the broken clock). I'm assuming that such configurations are grandfathered into the more recent code, suggesting that safety is not a major issue (otherwise, rewiring would have been mandated along with subsidies for those unable to pay for such a change). I see that newer ranges provide a jumper between neutral and ground to accommodate three wire installations. What is the real downside to such a configuration? Why was the code tightened up?

[Bud--]

LOL

The code prohibits using a ground as a neutral and vice versa (this being a grandfather exception, one of very few). If the neutral-ground opened, the frame of the range would be hot. With separate neutral and ground that would take 2 failures.

My favorite response is from gfretwell: "The stove end was wired like they did in the WWII days when copper was in short supply and we used a 3 wire cable. NFPA finally figured out the war was over in 1999 (96?) and changed the code, requiring a 4 wire circuit and plug."

-- bud--