240 to 110 wiring
 

guys,

my existing outlet for my AC is 240V now we bought a new unit w/c is
110V, but when i opened my 240V receptacle it ony has 3 wires, 2 hot
wires w/c is both 110V & 1 ground, no neutral wire, my question
is:

1. i used 1 of the 110V wire & put the ground wire on the other
line & its now working as 110V, how dangerous is this?

2. i have no neutral wire, what is my other option to make my outlet a
110V w/o using the ground as the other line

thanx

my existing outlet for my AC is 240V now we bought a new unit w/c is
110V, but when i opened my 240V receptacle it ony has 3 wires, 2 hot
wires w/c is both 110V & 1 ground, no neutral wire, my question
is:


line & its now working as 110V, how dangerous is this?

Extremely. Kill the breaker ... now!

2. i have no neutral wire, what is my other option to make my outlet a
110V w/o using the ground as the other line

You say you have 3 wires. Open your panel, replace the 220 volt (double)
breaker with a 120 volt (single) breaker, put the black wire on the breaker,
use the red as the neutral, (mark it with white tape to indicate this is
it's new purpose), and use the ground as the ground.

If you've never worked in a panel before - stop, call an electrician.

Best of luck.
Matt

Listen to what Matt told you. What you did is extrememly dangerous.
"zackde" wrote in message
news:70fdb$425157cb$455da0d2$10444@allthenewsgroup s.com...
guys,

my existing outlet for my AC is 240V now we bought a new unit w/c is
110V, but when i opened my 240V receptacle it ony has 3 wires, 2 hot
wires w/c is both 110V & 1 ground, no neutral wire, my question
is:

1. i used 1 of the 110V wire & put the ground wire on the other
line & its now working as 110V, how dangerous is this?

2. i have no neutral wire, what is my other option to make my outlet a
110V w/o using the ground as the other line

thanx

According to Matt Morgan :

my existing outlet for my AC is 240V now we bought a new unit w/c is
110V, but when i opened my 240V receptacle it ony has 3 wires, 2 hot
wires w/c is both 110V & 1 ground, no neutral wire, my question
is:

line & its now working as 110V, how dangerous is this?

Extremely. Kill the breaker ... now!

2. i have no neutral wire, what is my other option to make my outlet a
110V w/o using the ground as the other line

You say you have 3 wires. Open your panel, replace the 220 volt (double)
breaker with a 120 volt (single) breaker, put the black wire on the breaker,
use the red as the neutral, (mark it with white tape to indicate this is
it's new purpose), and use the ground as the ground.

Codewise-speaking, you can mark a white wire black, but not vice-versa.

It'd be better if the wire was already black and white. It might be.

If you've never worked in a panel before - stop, call an electrician.

Ditto.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

Codewise-speaking, you can mark a white wire black, but not vice-versa.

It'd be better if the wire was already black and white. It might be.



Doh! Don't know what I was thinking, I've never seen any cable with just
black and red wires. One is always white, as far as I've ever seen anyway.

Anyway, thanks for the code pointer, I wasn't aware of that.

On Mon, 04 Apr 2005 16:01:59 GMT, "Matt Morgan"
wrote:

Codewise-speaking, you can mark a white wire black, but not vice-versa.

It'd be better if the wire was already black and white. It might be.



Doh! Don't know what I was thinking,

You are incapable of it. You're an unemployed plumber, and
yet you insist on giving electrical advice.

I've never seen any cable with just
black and red wires. One is always white, as far as I've ever seen anyway.

You just said it all, right there. Moron. Where do you get
the balls offering electrical advice when you've never even SEEN
anything other than 12/2 Romex ?


Click every day here to feed an animal !!! http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me
'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'

HVAC/R program for Palm PDA's
Free demo now available online http://pmilligan.net/palm/
Free Temperature / Pressure charts for 38 Ref's http://pmilligan.net/pmtherm/

Zack,

I am not trying to flame you, but the question that you asked is extremely
elementary and if you don't already know the answer, then you shouldn't be
doing this wiring without doing a lot of reading and studying on home wiring,
the NEC, etc. Or get a very reliable friend to assist you on this project.

You want to create a new setup which is (1) 100% functional for your new
requirements, (2) 100% safe, (3) 100% conforming to the NEC and (4) 100%
non-confusing to ANYBODY moderately competent who ever works on that
wiring in the next 100 years. Please note that some wiring which conforms
to the NEC may still be confusing to a friend or neighbor who may work on
your wiring in the future when you may not be around.

Good luck,
Gideon

In article m, lid (zackde) wrote:
guys,

my existing outlet for my AC is 240V now we bought a new unit w/c is
110V, but when i opened my 240V receptacle it ony has 3 wires, 2 hot
wires w/c is both 110V & 1 ground, no neutral wire, my question
is:

1. i used 1 of the 110V wire & put the ground wire on the other
line & its now working as 110V, how dangerous is this?

Very. Turn off the breaker now. This is unsafe. A person could get a fatal
shock from touching the case of the unit, if some other part of his body is
grounded.

2. i have no neutral wire, what is my other option to make my outlet a
110V w/o using the ground as the other line

Replace the 240V breaker with two 120V breakers. Connect the black wire to one
of those breakers, and the white wire to the neutral bus bar in your panel.
You now have one 120V circuit going to the AC outlet, and one free 120V
breaker. Now wire the 120V receptacle properly, with the black wire on the hot
side (the gold-colored screw), the white wire on the neutral side
(silver-colored screw), and the bare wire to the ground (green screw).

Then, please, for the safety of you and your family, go to the library and get
a book on residential electrical wiring. Read it, and learn how to be safe,
before you do *any* more work on your wiring. You don't know enough (yet) to
avoid being dangerous.



thanx


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

....
Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me
'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'

So, uhh, why do you then? Chew through the restraints I mean. You're one
myopic, egoncentric, anti-social narrow minded, antagtonistic,
oppositionally disposed bass turd of an excuse for a human being, IMO.
I normally lurk here a lot more than I post and it's been pretty clear
that you hold some pretty strong prejudices for some reason. I soak up
information, make observations on the validity (or non) of the information
and the concensus over the last several years has 100% of the time hit right
on target. I've gotten a lot of good ideas from this group.
From appearances you think that whatever job one holds is the only area
a person can hold any amount of expertise in. That's an attitude of
ignorance and it severely limits your ability to develop the self worth
you're so afraid is missing in your life. If you like to flame and
disparage so much, why don't you travel over to warez where you'll be with
your own kind?
Correcting a posting error is one thing, and a laudible effort, almost
always appreciated, sometimes intelligently debated in most cases.
Bellyaching and childish name calling is not only silly to the point of
being comedic, but it's also a serious sign of ignorance of the world about
one's self.
No, I'm not trolling and you aren't going to get much of a debate out of
me, simply because when I read crap such as you have been spewing lately,
it's more for the entertainment value than anything else. I quite honestly
opened your post, expecting to find you quibbling over 240 divided by two
does not equal 110. But you were even funnier than I thought you would be.
I guess pathetic would be a better word, but it'll come eventually if you
continue to spew your mistargetted hatred.

Thanks,

Pop

On Mon, 4 Apr 2005 18:41:37 -0400, "Pop"
wrote:

...
Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me
'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'

So, uhh, why do you then? Chew through the restraints I mean. You're one

Could I talk you into ****ing yourself, asshole ?


Click every day here to feed an animal !!! http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me
'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'

HVAC/R program for Palm PDA's
Free demo now available online http://pmilligan.net/palm/
Free Temperature / Pressure charts for 38 Ref's http://pmilligan.net/pmtherm/

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 4 Apr 2005 18:41:37 -0400, "Pop"
wrote:

...
Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me
'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'

So, uhh, why do you then? Chew through the restraints I mean. You're one

Could I talk you into ****ing yourself, asshole ?

just cause u can do it, don't mean anyone else can. or can you.