Doug,
You're talking some serious stuff here. If you have limited knowledge and
experience with electrical wiring you're literally "playing with fire" or a
potential fire. You commented:
... and that I could just connect one of the hot leads to neutral and install a single phase
breaker...
Did you mean that you thought of connecting a "hot" lead in the junction box
to the "neutral" on the duplex to simply use one of the existing wires
(probably red color) as the neutral wire? That would be acceptable if you
clearly mark it white as someone suggested (Wite-Out or white tape). The
other end in the panel would then be connected to the neutral bar after also
marking it white. That's acceptable by most codes for a reno.
But first... use your DVM across one hot and the ground at the duplex. If you
read 110 volts then you know you have ground. Check the other hot across the
ground and you should also pull 110 volts. Now have someone throw breakers
until you lose power across each hot side of the duplex and identify the
breaker(s) feeding that circuit. Don't ignore any 20 amp dual pole breakers
you may have in the panel. Someone may have wired that 15 amp duplex to a 20
amp breaker.
After identifying the breaker(s) and cutting power, remove the duplex and see
what wiring configuration you have in the box. If you have red and black
"hot" leads and a copper ground you can rewire the duplex to 110 volt by
using one hot (use black) to the brass colored "line" screw on the new duplex,
the other hot (red now colored white) to the silver colored "neutral" screw.
Copper ground wire goes to the green ground screw on the duplex AND back to a
ground screw on the box (you may need to pigtail an extra copper wire if the
existing one is too short to reach back into the box) . At the panel, your
hot black goes to your new breaker, the white (red now colored white)
connects to the neutral buss and the copper ground should already be
connected to a ground buss. Power the circuit and test it.
If you don't have one, I'd recommend buying a circuit tester for $6.00 at
your local home center. It plugs right into the duplex and has a red and 2
yellow LED's that light up to show that the circuit is properly wired (it has
a chart printed right on it and it not only shows that the circuit has power
but that it's correctly wired and grounded). It'd be a good idea to test all
your receptacles with it 'cuz the circuits will work even if the polarity is
mis-wired... but they are a fire hazard).
If you find that you have a dual pole breaker with a tie bar, don't be
tempted to use only one side of that breaker to power a 110 volt circuit
unless you cut or remove the tie bar... which effectively creates two
separate breakers. Using one side of a dual pole breaker with the tie bar
intact is very dangerous 'cuz if the circuit should short, the spring in the
inactive side of the breaker may prevent the active side from tripping. And
remember to trip the main breaker when messing around inside the panel box,
especially when changing breakers or poking around with a screw driver... I
have some melted tools to remind me of the arrogance of working in a "live"
panel.
I'm the last guy to ever discourage a DIY project, but when it comes to
electrical wiring I'd recommend getting professional help unless you're
confident about what you're doing. You, your home and your family are worth
the 50 to 100 bucks an electrician would charge to OK your handiwork. (Sorry
for the long post but I can't be brief when safety is at issue).
Good luck and let us know how you make out.
Cheers
Michael
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