Hi, I am remodeling my kitchen and in the process relocating the electric range about 20 feet from where it is now. Can the existing 240v electric line be extended or does the whole line need to be rewired from the box? If it can be extended, how is it done? Are there special connections for doing this?
Thanks, Chris
You can splice it IF the splice is protected in an electrical box and accessable. Use large wire nuts or "Bugs" at the splice and the proper cabl;e for the amperage of the circuit
Yes, it most likely can be extended. The new connection must not be hidden in the wall. If you can put the splice in a junction box located in an exposed area, you are good to go. If you don't know what connectors are needed, I'd recommend getting help from someone that does know what they are doing. We all have to learn, but do it under the eye of experience.
My range is aluminum wire. If yours is also, be sure you take proper precautions. Heavy aluminum is considered safe, if it is treated right.
Thanks. I will pull the wire down into the basement, splice it there and then extend the wire onto its destination. Due to the high amps and voltage, I was concerned that maybe splicing would not be acceptable.
I have copper. Thanks anyway.
I wasn't sure if splicing that way was acceptable. I thought that perhaps there was a special grid or connection box for splicing higher voltage/amperage connections. According to your post and a previous one, it sounds like it is ok to splice with wire nuts as long as the box and wire nuts are rated appropriately.
You probably have #8 or #10 wire. While you can find nuts for that gague, you get a cleaner tighter splice using a split nut (like a clamp you put both wires in and tighten a screw or nut) or you can solder and tape (just use a very big iron (50W-100W), a regular electronics grade iron (14W-35W) will not be hot enough for that much metal and you'll get a cold solder joint)
One thing to be sure of before extending the existing cable, is that it is a four wire cable, which is the only acceptable feeder for ranges currently
ANY aluminum wire is safe if installed properly.
Ranges like dryers can be run on either three or four wires. Even the new ones. They even asked me before they brought mine out if I needed a 3 or 4 wire pigtail put on. Not to mention, the OP was only moving his existing range.
No, he is extending it and the NEC specifically does not allow "new" installations with three wire feeders, regardless what some salesman may have offered you
a: extending is not a "new" installation b: I didn't mention any salesmen. c: You can't be expected to rewire your house just because you buy a new appliance. If you have 3 wire outlet, then you use a three wire pigtail. That's why they offer both.
The NEC has been in a transition on this subject since 1996. Thanks to the copper shortages of WWII, 3-wire dryer and range circuits were permitted. 50 years later the NEC is finally getting around to addressing the potential hazards and now requires 4-wire installations. IOW, the NEC knew of the potential hazards even back then, but allowed it to happen as long as certain conditions of installation were met. Even today, since the NEC is not intent on causing economic hardship, exception still is made for 3-wire _existing_ installations, since there are millions of them out there.
I would strongly suggest that you check the connection of that pigtail on your appliance as many times the job of changing the pigtail is left to unqualified delivery people who don't know or care that when installing a 4-wire pigtail that the factory bonding jumper _MUST_ be removed or rendered ineffective, or worse, that when installing a
3-wire pigtail that the bonding jumper MUST be attached from the appliance frame to the neutral terminal so that the frame is grounded. Case in point, as an electrician, I wired a 4-wire dryer circuit for my mother's new dryer some years back. The dryer came with a 4-wire cord (because they had asked her if she had a 3 or 4 wire outlet), and sure enough, when I removed the terminal cover the bonding jumper had _not_ been removed, effectively rendering the appliance as a 3-wire.IIRC, the old codes, while permitting 3-wire installtions, also required that the cable be _unsliced_from the _service_ panel (not a subpanel) to the outlet. IOW, splicing an existing 3-wire range/dryer circuit to extend it would not be allowed even by the old codes. Additionally, as far as good wiring practice goes, it's not a good idea to splice high current conductors any more than one must.
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