In article , Chris Friesen wrote:
On 09/01/2009 05:25 AM, Dave - Parkville, MD wrote:
I just had an upgrade for my electric service to a 200 Amp panel as
part of an HVAC upgrade. At the same time, I had the electrician put
in 2 220 circuits and 2 120 circuits for my shop (lights were already
separate). Last night I switched over my table saw to 220. Wow,
start up is almost instant.

If it makes that much difference, there was probably something wrong
with the 120V circuit or wire size. If everything was sized properly
there shouldn't really be any difference.

Sorry, but that's not correct. At 240V, it will draw half the current that it
did at 120V. This will provide a much faster start, even if the 120V circuit
was properly sized.

The question: I plan to switch over my bandsaw to 220 as well. What
happens to the gooseneck lamp? The switch over instructions don't
mention it. Rewiring for the motor is pretty straightfoward. Am I
missing something?

My bandsaw has a separate plug for the lamp. If it's not mentioned
they're probably using the safety ground as a neutral which you're not
really supposed to do.

More than "not supposed to do". It's unsafe, because it energizes the ground
conductor, thus energizing the chassis of *everything* that's plugged into
that circuit. Remember that electricity does not "follow the path of least
resistance" as many people believe; rather, it follows all possible paths.
That includes the path that goes through the grounding conductor to the
chassis of the saw to the saw table to the hands of the operator.