I know what I am doing but may not have described it in a way that
makes it easy to understand. If it doesn't make sense to any reader
then don't do it. All I have done is to point out that it can be done
and I have done it with perfect safety. If the OP is that ignorant
about DIY wiring I did give a source (sewing machine dealership) where
he can buy a step up transformer that is ready to plug in and use.
The transformer cost me something like $20 back then and its a lot
cheaper than a 240V breaker and the cost of wiring that.
The knick knacks people (many immigrants) bring over such as cake
mixers, juicers, entertainment systems (TVs, VCRs, stereo equipment) ,
electronic toys, stuff that make them groan when they see that they
could have bought the same at WalMart for peanuts. If you have grown
up in North America you won't encounter them. You'd have bought
stuff that you can plug into your household receptacles and not worry
about its voltage compatibility. If you need 240 V for some
application you will normally know what you are doing and won't be
asking for how to hook up a 240 V service on this newsgroup.
"The knick knacks people (many immigrants) bring over such as cake
mixers, juicers, entertainment systems (TVs, VCRs, stereo equipment) ,
If you're trying to use a foreign TV or VCR in the US, the voltage
issue is the least of your problems...
Greetings,
I prefer to view videos originally shot in PAL video in PAL format.
The NTSC disc would involve both frame-rate conversion and a slight
lowering of picture resolution. It isn't a problem -- it's a better
product.
Hope this helps,
William
PS: Would you throw out all your home videos if you moved abroad?
Greetings Doug,
Millions of 240V 200W or less houshold appliances are purchased (even
by Americans) every year. The AC adapter for the laptop that I am
writing this very post on accepts input from 100-240V at 50/60Hz at
140W. Unlike my laptop, my PAL VCR REQUIRES a 240V and I doubt it uses
more than 200W. Not every appliance from oversees can run on 60Hz but
many can.
Hope this helps,
William
Good for you. I know a guy that does heart surgery too, but I'm not about
to try it myself and he does not tell people how to do it either.
.
> If the OP is that ignorant
If they work so well, you'd see them all over the pace instead of dedicated
circuits for table saws with 3 HP motors, you'd see them on clothing dryers,
etc. You have no idea what the OP is using the circuit for so don't
recommend a solution that may not be at all possible, cold even be a
danger..
The OP has practically no idea of how to get a 240V outlet and
probably wants to DIY for a small appliances. I get questions like
this from a lot of oriental immigrants who value their TV sets,
expensive home entertainment equipment, rice cooker, kitchen
appliances etc. that they ship over with their possesssions. The TV
and VCR are tossers as they are PAL standard, unless all he wants is
to view HK soap operas on tape. Don't laugh. They do exactly that.
Lets put it this way. A guy thinking of using a 240V supply for a
welder or a table saw knows enough about tools, machines and
technology to have a pretty good idea of what is needed or knows where
to look it up. If he doesn't the machines will maim or kill him long
before he gets zapped by a electrical outlet.
Did it occur to you that you could have just asked him? Now having said
that, I'm going to agree that you can assemble a 240 circuit as you
described, but it'll only be rated for the same 20 amps as the original
120V circuits. But you'll need to abandon the single pole breakers that
these were on and install a two pole breaker. This will work, but it's
stupid as hell, because you've now got two hot legs running different
paths through the attic or whatever. I don't know if this is legal or
not, but it is required that both conductors be run through the same
conduit or raceway, when the conductors run through these, but I'm not
sure whether this applies to romex runs. OTOH, lighting circuits can be
split into different romex runs, so I doubt there would be any more
safety issues with your method than with these, legal or not.
Now I'll show you a better way: Take the white wire from your 120 volt
receptacle and wrap it with black electrical tape, or paint it black. It
is now a legal hot conductor, and you can pull it loose from the neutral
buss and insert it into the other pole of your two pole breaker. We're
assuming that this was a dedicated and isolated circuit to begin with.
You now have converted a single 120 circuit into a 240 circuit, and you
can leave the other circuit going to your duplex as 120V. You can buy
duplex receptacles in which one is configured for 240 and the other 120.
Or, even better, you can use any 120 receptacle at all that has only
one circuit running to it to form your 240V circuit.
Now if, OTOH, this isn't a light duty application, but is going to be
used for a range, water heater, dryer, welder, pool pump, well pump,
etc., then all bets are off.
If anyone has some NEC code to add to the above then by all means let's
get it clarified.
hvacrmedic
Greetings PaPaPeng,
Your posting expressed good creative thinking which may well have lead
the original poster (if he is ambitious) on the road to a viable
solution. Although the poster probably couldn't install a 240V outlet
safely or to code based on your posting alone and many details were
omitted, it was the best one at the time. You filled in a few blanks
where you didn't have enough information but I don't think you should
be strung up for that.
Keep at it,
William
On 1 Jul 2005 20:46:47 -0700, " snipped-for-privacy@wdeans.com"
Thanks for the vote.
I could have made things a lot easier this way.
Hey guys. Go to your kitchen duplex outlet with a multimeter set to
measure VAC. Measure across the top and bottom small slots on the
right hand side. It should read 240 Vac thereabouts. Measure across
the top and bottom larger slots on the left hand side. It should read
0 Vac.
Replace that duplex with a 240 V type receptacle that won't allow a
115V plug to be plugged in. The wires to the right hand side of the
duplex receptacle should both be black. Use only these two black
wires to connect to the 240 V receptacle. The left hand side wires
should be white. Snip off the bare ends or tape them up. They are
not used. These white wires should not have any bare ends to cause a
short circuit. The ground wire goes to ground. Now you have a 240
Vac outlet rated for 15 amps.
Kitchen splits in Canada have always required tiebarred breakers.
I'm not sure about kitchen splits in the US. They existed, but I don't
know of the codes then.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It\'s not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.
Greetings Rick,
While I have never seen a non-switched split-wired kitchen receptacle
within the US I understand that they are the norm in Canada. In Canada
the kitchen receptacles would use a 240V breaker and therefore one
would be on Pole A and the other on Pole B.
What PaPaPeng suggests is not too far out of the question under these
circumstances. PaPaPeng simply didn't know the circumstances so he
made some up. He went a little too far filling in the blanks and he
overgeneralized wiring based on his one reference implimentation.
To be very clear I am NOT saying that PaPaPeng suggestion is the way to
go -- only that it isn't the product of a raving lunatic's mind and
could almost work under special circumstances likely NOT what the OP
will encounter in his home.
The OP is probably not in Canada and PaPaPeng does not appear to have
all the information but what he suggests is not too far out of the
question under these circumstances.
Hope this helps,
William
to
the
see
red
receptacle
Canada
They're out there in the US, too-guess it depends on the electricians
and inspectors preference. Of course they have to be on opposite
poles.
these
Like just disconnecting the neutral and taping it up? Fine, if there
are no recepticals downstream...
Making up circumstances is not the best thing to do when offering
advice on electrical wiring to someone who doens't have basic
skills...
Yes, it is. As I noted in another post, it's dangerous, it violates Code, and
there's a coin-toss probability that it won't work anyway.
Yeah, that's always a good idea when giving electrical advice...
Somewhat of an understatement. :-)
Perhaps not, but it certainly *is* the product of someone who doesn't know
what he's talking about.
So why are you defending it?
Yes, it is "too far out of the question." It absolutely *is* a Code
violation. It absolutely *is* dangerous. It absolutely has only a 50%
probability of working at all IF the wiring is as he suggests - which, in the
US, is vanishingly unlikely.
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
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