remember that watts x volts =amps total your watts x if 240 take it times
240 if 120 take x 120 this will give you a idea if your over loaded your
breaker and yes a neutral dose carry some voltage if your circuit are
unbalanced the amps will go up on the neutral it's also the return of
current. some 240 stuff doesn't take a neutral
"Keith Carlson" wrote in message
news:%zEyd.245829$V41.11293@attbi_s52...
I know I'm going to get the "DAGS" for this question, but I just came from
there, and I didn't see this specific information. Lots of debate about how
much current the neutral wire carries, though :-)

With a 3-wire circuit, is it okay to wire both 120V and 240V outlets on
that same circuit? I know it's *possible* by using the two hots for 240
and either hot and neutral for 120, but is it recommended? Maybe this is
the main reason for this type of circuit, so I didn't see reference to it
on Google. Much of the discussion I read was on balancing the load, which
could imply using the 3-wire circuit with all 120V outlets.

I've got a dust collector coming soon, and the extra 6-7 continuous amps
is going to result in some frequent breaker trips when I start a saw or
planer. Looked at my electrical service, and found there's an unused
double-pole 30A breaker, feeding an unused dryer outlet (house had a gas
dryer when I moved in). That should give me the 2 hots for a 3-wire
circuit.

My thought on this type of circuit is to wire one outlet at 240V (re-wire
DC motor to 220V), and the rest wired at 120V. With that 30A breaker and
10 AWG wire, should have no problem handling the loads from a DC and air
cleaner running, and startup surge from another tool.

An electrician would be a good idea, too. Hopefully I can find someone
willing to consult with me; I can do the wiring myself.
But I'm hoping to get some idea if this is the way I want to go so I can
cost materials. Won't get an electrician or the inspector on the phone
until next week.

TIA