"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
At a friend's house, there's a covered box over a work bench, with a
really fat wire going into it, nothing coming out. We suspect the previous
owner had some sort of 220v tools there, maybe. My friend would like a
regular 110v outlet. The house was built around 1985. Am I correct in
thinking there are two hot lines in there, and that I can pick off just
one of them plus neutral in order to get 110v? We're hoping to not have to
run another line back to the breaker box. What's the color arrangement for
a 220v line, assuming that's what's there? (Haven't gone in with a meter
yet to measure).
Depending on what was used there (and assuming it was a 240v line...) there
will be either 3 or 4 wires. There is always 2 hots and a ground, there
might also be a neutral.
If you have a neutral you can create a circuit between one of the hots and
the neutral. Without a neutral you must change the whole circuit to 120v by
changing one of the hots to a neutral.
You will almost certainly have to replace the breaker. If the wires are
large, it is probably more than a 20a breaker, and that is the max normally
used for 120v. Having the wires too big is good, but the breaker must be
correct.

This "sounds" like it should be doable in an hour (assuming that it really
is a 240v circuit...) but it would be nice if you could find another friend
who knows something about electricity. Replacing a breaker and installing
an outlet is easy enough, but doing it wrong can be fatal.