I have a 220 volt line that powers my pool pump. I want to run 110 volt lights near the pool pump and would like to convert 220 to 110. Is this as simple as taking the 220 wires, and connecting only one hot wire side with the common wire and ground wire to a standard 110 volt outlet?
I am not an electrician, but....
I believe that is how they do it on 220V electric ranges.
Yes, it's that simple. No, it's not legal or proper.
s
They make 220 v lightbulbs you know.
Living temporarily in Europe where it's all 220V, 50 Hz, we use our same lamps and just buy the 220V bulbs. Works fine.
Sure you can buy transformers but for lights there's no point.
Then perhaps you should consider not answering electrical questions...
.. especially when you don't know the answers.
To the OP: ignore Tater.
No, it's not.
Go sit in the corner with Tater.]
Just for future reference, it's 240 and 120 -- hasn't been 220 and 110 for a long, long time.
No. You probably need to pull a new cable. A 240V circuit consists of two hot conductors and a ground -- and NO neutral conductor. A 120V circuit consists of one hot, one neutral, and one ground.
In other words, to get a 120V circuit, you need a neutral, and you probably don't have one. It's possible, although unlikely, that your pool pump circuit contains an extra conductor -- check the cable going to the pump, and count the wires in it. If there are four of them (black, red, white, and bare), then you can do this easily and safely: black and red to the pump, black and white (or red and white, doesn't matter) to the 120V outlet, and bare to everywhere that needs a ground. Verify at the breaker box that black and red go to a double-pole breaker and white to the neutral bus bar.
If you only have three wires in the cable going to the pool pump (black, white, and bare), then you don't have a neutral, and you need pull a new cable that does have one. Rather than remove the existing 3-wire 240V circuit and replace it with a 4-wire 240V/120V circuit, it's much less trouble to simply install a new 120V circuit.
There is a major difference between making something work, and making it work safely. Equipment grounding conductors are NEVER used to conduct anything but fault currents. You'd create an electrical hazard by using a ground instead of a neutral for your 120 volt circuit
The question is the neutral. Does the wiring out to the pool pump provide a neutral? If not, you really should not do this.
If there is a neutral, you can take a 110 volt socket off the circuit for low wattage appliances. It is not acceptable to use the ground as a neutral.
No: You cannot safely use the ground as one side of an electrical circuit! Especially in the vicinity of a pool electrical safety is extremely important. Also non standard wiring might invalidate any liability insurance, if discovered, even if an an accident did not occur.
The use of ground as one side of a circuit, even an electrical cooking stove, is not standard or approved in any jurisdictions that anyone with an electrical background is aware.
The ground wire is there to safely connect items to ground and prevent electrical shock and/death 'in the event of a fault condition'. Under normal no-fault conditions the ground wire does not carry any electrical current.
Suggest you get someone competent and probably licensed, to reduce you r liability for something dangerous. Also suggest that the circuit you are proposing be equipped through a GFI, either an outlet or GFI type circuit breaker. This may be mandated by regulation anyway in your jurisdiction.
Respectfully suggest that anyone asking that question in that manner does not have the knowledge to safely do such work. Yes; it might work, the lights may come on an everything 'appear' to be OK until something happens! With any electricty in or near a pool make sure someone present knows CPR.
Also depending on regulations in your jurisdiction it likely may not be legal to connect pumps and lights to the same fuse/circuit breaker. many of these items may seem onerous but they make sense and in some ways are to protect us from ourselves.
Suggestion: If all you need is a convenience light 'near' the pool it may be possible to use a transformer. The transformer would convert/ step down the 220 to 110 volts to feed a conventional lamp. A transformer for say 100 watts would not be too expensive or large. The metal frame of such a transformer and the box it is mounted in should be grounded for safety. The output of the transformer could have switch to control the light. But again everything should be wired/ mounted in standard way to conform with approved electrical safety and insurance practices.
Far cheaper to buy 220V lightbulbs.
While several people have pointed out you should never use a safety ground as a return, the OP did not say that. He uses the word common, a term sometimes still used for neutral. He therefore may or may not have a safe way to do this. He says common wire AND ground wire, implying he has both available.
Or he may simply be unaware that 240V circuits don't have a neutral, leading him to think he has one when he really doesn't.
Being a 240V line to a pool pump, this raises another issue. Where is the GFCI? If it's in the panel, then he needs one that will accomodate both 240V and drawing 120V on the same circuit. Some GFCI are strictly 240V and if you unbalance it by drawing 120V from one leg to neutral, it will trip.
Exactly! Just too many open questions.
The OP has not posted sufficiently concise information to make a complete conclusion. In other words the OP may not be knowledgeable enough to ask; let alone complete the work safely and in accordance with code.
That's often a problem with these "If I did this ..... " questions. We, trying to help, are all asking more questions, perhaps jumping to or postulating reasonable conclusions and/or saying "If this, or If that .... ."
Still think for safety and insurance purposes the OP needs to consult a 'knowledgeable' electrician; not just some Joe around the corner who 'says they know what they are doing' (and by the way I am not a licensed electrician so this is not a comment protecting an association or anything!).
Electricity around pools should not be taken lightly! There are several ways to arrange things that would 'work'; but whether safe or satisfactory to insurance or electrical codes ....... ?????
Nobody asked you the most important question. Is your pump motor
240/120 convertible? Most are with a simple swap of a jumper under the bell cap. The next question is, what does it draw at 120v? Generally speaking I would say you can do this if it is 1HP or less. Probably not if it is 1.5HP. I bet you have 14ga wire going out there (15a). This will need to be GFCI protected.On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:20:28 -0500, "Stormin Mormon" wrote Re Re: 220 volt to 110 volt:
Finally, a correct and useful answer.
Since the code requires an insulated 12ga copper ground wire to a pool pump it will usually be wire in conduit. Adding a neutral should not be that hard. For that matter pulling in 2 wires for a totally separate circuit is not that hard either. Just be sure you put the GFCI on the load end of that conduit.
Or just put two 120 volt bulbs of the same wattage in series across the
240 volt line.It's likely not to code, but thinking about it, each side of the 240 volt circuit is only 120 volts above ground, and for a zillion years table lamps didn't have polarized cord plugs, so there was a 50-50 chance that the threaded portion of the light bulb sockets in them were
120 volts off ground.Jeff
Why should he be converting the pump motor to 120V, when by all indication he has a 240V circuit with neutral and ground and he just wants to add a 120V load?
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