If I wanted to have a dedicated 240v outlet installed, who would do that,
the electric company or an independent electrician? Would they have to wire
it special from the street, or is there already a line at my circuit box
that's 240v? How much would it cost? thanks.

"jeffc" wrote in message
om...
If I wanted to have a dedicated 240v outlet installed, who would do that,
the electric company or an independent electrician? Would they have to
wire
it special from the street, or is there already a line at my circuit box
that's 240v? How much would it cost? thanks.

You'd call a regular electrician. You have 240V capability at your service
entrance (e.g. breaker box) -- they just need to run a line from there to
wherever you want the outlet.

Cost will vary depending on distance from the box and difficulty in running
the line.

-Tim

jeffc wrote:

If I wanted to have a dedicated 240v outlet installed, who would do that,
the electric company or an independent electrician? Would they have to wire
it special from the street, or is there already a line at my circuit box
that's 240v? How much would it cost? thanks.

There should be 240v into your electrical panel and meter. A contractor
will be the one to call.
The cost depends upon the difficulty of the installation and upon the
contractor's rates. You can expect anywhere from $100 to $500, depending
upon several factors. Ask around for references. Usually you get what
you pay for.

hvacrmedic

"RP" wrote in message
...
Ask around for references. Usually you get what you pay for.

I hear dat. I did some contracting for awhile (not electrical). I showed
up on time, sober, and did what I said I was gonna do. They thought I was
the mac daddy contractor of all time.

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:12:10 GMT, "jeffc" wrote:

If I wanted to have a dedicated 240v outlet installed, who would do that,
the electric company or an independent electrician? Would they have to wire
it special from the street, or is there already a line at my circuit box
that's 240v? How much would it cost? thanks.



All you need to do is to buy a 240V breaker for the main breaker box
and wire it to your outlet receptacle. You can do that yourself.
Read up the wiring instructions from DIY home wiring book or ask the
hardware store salesman. Install an incompatible 240 type receptacle
so that someone won't make the dangerous mistake of plugging in a
regular 115V device and start a fire. I presume you know the usual
precautions about work safety when doing your own electrical
installations.

I have a feeling you have a 240V appliance from a 240V system country
that is too pricey to throw out. If it is only a single 240 consumer
appliance that doesn't draw too much power its a lot easier just to
buy a 115V to 240V step up transformer from the sewing machine dealer
which has a ready to use unit complete with plug and socket
connections.

One easy alternative way to get a dedicated outlet is to modify the
duplex outlet already in your kitchen. Duplex outlets in Canadian or
US kitchens are normaly wired to separate 115V breakers for the upper
and the lower outlet. The reasoning is that often these outlets are
overloaded with one too many kitchen gadgets like a toaster, coffee
pot, egg beater, etc. so that popping a breaker is not uncommon.
Having a separate circuit for the upper and the lower outlet means
that when one outlet is popped the other one can still be used
(assuming the wife and the kids are not knowledgeable about resetting
the breaker.)

Okay, the way to get 240V out of this is to connect the hot wire of
the upper outlet to your 240 outlet live wire screw. Then connect the
live wire of your lower outlet to the neutral of the 240 outlet screw.
Tape off/snip off the neutral wires of the original duplex receptacle
so that there is no bare wire to cause a short. The ground wire stays
connected to ground. Be sure you use a 240V type outlet that is
incompatible with your regular 115 V plugs.

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
All you need to do is to buy a 240V breaker for the main breaker box
and wire it to your outlet receptacle. You can do that yourself.

A person that does not even know who does that work is not qualified to do
it.



I have a feeling you have a 240V appliance from a 240V system country
that is too pricey to throw out.

Or they have a large AC, or they want to use a welder, or the want to put in
a dryer or electric range. All common US appliances.

PaPaPeng wrote:
On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:12:10 GMT, "jeffc" wrote:

If I wanted to have a dedicated 240v outlet installed, who would do
that, the electric company or an independent electrician? Would they
have to wire it special from the street, or is there already a line
at my circuit box that's 240v? How much would it cost? thanks.



All you need to do is to buy a 240V breaker for the main breaker box
and wire it to your outlet receptacle. You can do that yourself. ...

I have a feeling that anyone who does not know who to call is not going
to be qualified to DIY even with a book.



I have a feeling you have a 240V appliance from a 240V system country
that is too pricey to throw out. If it is only a single 240 consumer
appliance that doesn't draw too much power its a lot easier just to
buy a 115V to 240V step up transformer from the sewing machine dealer
which has a ready to use unit complete with plug and socket
connections.

If that is true, they may also have an issue with 50 vs 60 cycle.

....
--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 10:21:30 GMT, in alt.home.repair
Electrical service - 240v line "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
All you need to do is to buy a 240V breaker for the main breaker box
and wire it to your outlet receptacle. You can do that yourself.

A person that does not even know who does that work is not qualified to do
it.

Good advice.

--
To reply to me directly, remove the CLUTTER from my email address.

And only that, this advice is pretty bad:

Tape off/snip off the neutral wires of the original duplex receptacle
so that there is no bare wire to cause a short.

Yea, but now you might have just opened up the neutral on the
downstream line. I say "might", because maybe it had a pigtail (in
which case there might not even be neutral "wires" as you write, but
only a single neutral wire pigtail, to cut).

And here is another interesting point that I have never thought about:

Then connect the live wire of your lower outlet to the neutral of the 240 outlet screw.

So does a 240V foreign-made plug have polarity, like modern US 120V
plugs? You seem to suggest that it does, by calling one of the screws
the "neutral screw". So, you just told the OP to put hot 120V on
sometihing that is meant to be neutral. Way to go.

And the kicker:

I presume you know the usual precautions about work safety when doing
your own electrical installations.

As pointed out, the OP doesn't even know who to call. Why would you
presume anything like this?!

What you are suggesting is, first of all, senseless, since 240V
circuits do not have a neutral.

Most do. In fact, it is 120v circuits that do not have neutrals.
Still, his advice is idiotic.

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 14:25:28 GMT, Ignoramus9053
wrote:

What you are suggesting is, first of all, senseless, since 240V
circuits do not have a neutral.

Second, what you are suggesting is dangerous because if you connect
these two circuits in the described manner, the circuits will no
longer be safe to work on if only one circuit breaker is turned off
(if a device is plugged into the 240V outlet and turned on).


I have just such a 240V set up in my kitchen for 20 years now. I do
all my own wiring and so do a lot of people I know who are not
electricians or engineers. If you don't feel comfortable handling
live electrical work then don't. But there are lots of ordinary
people who do like to do their own stuff and can do it without
injuring or killing themselves. That's why there is a healthy market
for DIY books and TV programs. For your info I also put in a lot of
sweat equity to build the house I am living in. Never did it before
or since. But that was the only way I could afford a house. Its one
solidly built house.

I didn't read your whole post, but what you are suggesting is using a
multiwire circuit for a 240v circuit. Since that is what a multiwire
circuit really is, there is no fundamental reason it can't be converted;
assuming it is on a 240v breaker rather than a pair of 120v breakers. And
if all the other outlets were removed from the circuit, to avoid mixing 120v
and 240v on the same circuit, it might even meet code.

However, even then it does not seem like a reasonable solution for someone
who doesn't know if he has a 240v service; even if he has a multiwire
circuit he is willing to sacrafice. (though the OP said little about his
problem, so it is hard to be sure)

"What you are suggesting is, first of all, senseless, since 240V
circuits do not have a neutral.

Second, what you are suggesting is dangerous because if you connect
these two circuits in the described manner, the circuits will no
longer be safe to work on if only one circuit breaker is turned off
(if a device is plugged into the 240V outlet and turned on). "


I think this is a classic. The OP didn't even know that he already has
240V at the electric panel, or who to call to get the 240V outlet
installed. Then along comes PaPaPeng, telling the guy how to do it
himself. And by what's he's told him to do so far, eg, unhook two
seperate 120V outlets on different legs and run that to the 240V
outlet, it's pretty clear that he doesn't know what the hell he's even
talking about. Following he's advice, someone could easily wind up
dead.

"I didn't read your whole post, but what you are suggesting is using a
multiwire circuit for a 240v circuit. Since that is what a multiwire
circuit really is, there is no fundamental reason it can't be
converted;
assuming it is on a 240v breaker rather than a pair of 120v breakers. "

I think you read it right the first time. This PaPaPeng is a hack. He
never mentioned a word about the necessity of the need for a 240V
breaker, so that both legs get disconnected together. And only a hack
would think of re-routing wiring already in place in kitchen outlets to
make a 240V outlet. And there are some very good reasons why this
advice is bad and dangerous. For, example, the OP doesn't know
anything about even who to call to put in an outlet, you think he's
going to know that typical 14 gauge wire you find at a 120V outlet is
going to melt if you try to run a dryer with it? I hope PaPa has lots
of fire extinguishers and insurance!

wrote:
"I didn't read your whole post, but what you are suggesting is using a
multiwire circuit for a 240v circuit. Since that is what a multiwire
circuit really is, there is no fundamental reason it can't be
converted;
assuming it is on a 240v breaker rather than a pair of 120v breakers. "

I think you read it right the first time. This PaPaPeng is a hack.

And so is toller. If he doesn't know that one leg of 120 is neutral then
he should go learn something about electrical wiring before posting his
opinions.

hvacrmedic



He
never mentioned a word about the necessity of the need for a 240V
breaker, so that both legs get disconnected together. And only a hack
would think of re-routing wiring already in place in kitchen outlets to
make a 240V outlet. And there are some very good reasons why this
advice is bad and dangerous. For, example, the OP doesn't know
anything about even who to call to put in an outlet, you think he's
going to know that typical 14 gauge wire you find at a 120V outlet is
going to melt if you try to run a dryer with it? I hope PaPa has lots
of fire extinguishers and insurance!

And so is toller. If he doesn't know that one leg of 120 is neutral then
he should go learn something about electrical wiring before posting his
opinions.

First, look "neutral" up in the dictionary.
Second, drop dead you dumb POS.

toller wrote:
And so is toller. If he doesn't know that one leg of 120 is neutral then
he should go learn something about electrical wiring before posting his
opinions.


First, look "neutral" up in the dictionary.
Second, drop dead you dumb POS.



Now, now. We should all remain neutral about this.

G Henslee wrote:
toller wrote:
And so is toller. If he doesn't know that one leg of 120 is neutral
then he should go learn something about electrical wiring before
posting his opinions.


First, look "neutral" up in the dictionary.

Frankly most dictionaries don't list technical definitions. The
generic electrical definition for neutral is not the same as used in home
wiring.

Second, drop dead you dumb POS.



Now, now. We should all remain neutral about this.

I like that one.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

Joseph Meehan wrote:
G Henslee wrote:

toller wrote:

And so is toller. If he doesn't know that one leg of 120 is neutral
then he should go learn something about electrical wiring before
posting his opinions.


First, look "neutral" up in the dictionary.


Frankly most dictionaries don't list technical definitions. The
generic electrical definition for neutral is not the same as used in home
wiring.


Second, drop dead you dumb POS.



Now, now. We should all remain neutral about this.


I like that one.


Afterall, it's not as important an issue as say... top posting vs.
bottom posting.

In article , "toller" wrote:

What you are suggesting is, first of all, senseless, since 240V
circuits do not have a neutral.

Most do. In fact, it is 120v circuits that do not have neutrals.

Geez, there you go again, wrong as usual - you got it exactly backward.

Still, his advice is idiotic.

No more so than your statement above.

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

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

In article , "toller" wrote:

And so is toller. If he doesn't know that one leg of 120 is neutral then
he should go learn something about electrical wiring before posting his
opinions.

First, look "neutral" up in the dictionary.
Second, drop dead you dumb POS.

s******

*You* wrote that most 240V circuits *do* have neutrals, and 120V circuits
*don't*.

So who's the "dumb POS" ?

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

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 16:04:16 GMT, Ignoramus9053
wrote:

I do electrical work in my house myself, however, what you are
suggesting is a bad way to go. Your setup will make it difficult to
make "live electrical" into "not live", by tying two circuits
together.


I know what I am doing but may not have described it in a way that
makes it easy to understand. If it doesn't make sense to any reader
then don't do it. All I have done is to point out that it can be done
and I have done it with perfect safety. If the OP is that ignorant
about DIY wiring I did give a source (sewing machine dealership) where
he can buy a step up transformer that is ready to plug in and use.
The transformer cost me something like $20 back then and its a lot
cheaper than a 240V breaker and the cost of wiring that.

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message

All I have done is to point out that it can be done
and I have done it with perfect safety.

Good for you. I know a guy that does heart surgery too, but I'm not about
to try it myself and he does not tell people how to do it either.
..

If the OP is that ignorant
about DIY wiring I did give a source (sewing machine dealership) where
he can buy a step up transformer that is ready to plug in and use.
The transformer cost me something like $20 back then and its a lot
cheaper than a 240V breaker and the cost of wiring that.

If they work so well, you'd see them all over the pace instead of dedicated
circuits for table saws with 3 HP motors, you'd see them on clothing dryers,
etc. You have no idea what the OP is using the circuit for so don't
recommend a solution that may not be at all possible, cold even be a
danger..

toller wrote:
And so is toller. If he doesn't know that one leg of 120 is neutral then
he should go learn something about electrical wiring before posting his
opinions.


First, look "neutral" up in the dictionary.
Second, drop dead you dumb POS.

Moron.

hvacrmedic

wrote:
I do electrical work in my house myself, however, what you are
suggesting is a bad way to go. Your setup will make it difficult to
make "live electrical" into "not live", by tying two circuits
together.

I know what I am doing but may not have described it in a way that
makes it easy to understand. If it doesn't make sense to any reader
then don't do it. All I have done is to point out that it can be done
and I have done it with perfect safety. If the OP is that ignorant
about DIY wiring I did give a source (sewing machine dealership) where
he can buy a step up transformer that is ready to plug in and use.
The transformer cost me something like $20 back then and its a lot
cheaper than a 240V breaker and the cost of wiring that.

Greetings PaPaPeng,

Your posting expressed good creative thinking which may well have lead
the original poster (if he is ambitious) on the road to a viable
solution. Although the poster probably couldn't install a 240V outlet
safely or to code based on your posting alone and many details were
omitted, it was the best one at the time. You filled in a few blanks
where you didn't have enough information but I don't think you should
be strung up for that.

Keep at it,
William

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 01:54:18 GMT, Ignoramus9053
wrote:

The transformer cost me something like $20 back then and its a lot
cheaper than a 240V breaker and the cost of wiring that.

A step up transformer would be fine, provided that the appliance in
question requires relatively little power.


The one I am recommending has a 200 watt capacity and therefore
suitable for most household appliances but not a rice cooker.

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 02:33:50 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

If they work so well, you'd see them all over the pace instead of dedicated
circuits for table saws with 3 HP motors, you'd see them on clothing dryers,
etc. You have no idea what the OP is using the circuit for so don't
recommend a solution that may not be at all possible, cold even be a
danger..


The OP has practically no idea of how to get a 240V outlet and
probably wants to DIY for a small appliances. I get questions like
this from a lot of oriental immigrants who value their TV sets,
expensive home entertainment equipment, rice cooker, kitchen
appliances etc. that they ship over with their possesssions. The TV
and VCR are ******* as they are PAL standard, unless all he wants is
to view HK soap operas on tape. Don't laugh. They do exactly that.

Lets put it this way. A guy thinking of using a 240V supply for a
welder or a table saw knows enough about tools, machines and
technology to have a pretty good idea of what is needed or knows where
to look it up. If he doesn't the machines will maim or kill him long
before he gets zapped by a electrical outlet.

PaPaPeng wrote:

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 02:33:50 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


If they work so well, you'd see them all over the pace instead of dedicated
circuits for table saws with 3 HP motors, you'd see them on clothing dryers,
etc. You have no idea what the OP is using the circuit for so don't
recommend a solution that may not be at all possible, cold even be a
danger..



The OP has practically no idea of how to get a 240V outlet and
probably wants to DIY for a small appliances. I get questions like
this from a lot of oriental immigrants who value their TV sets,
expensive home entertainment equipment, rice cooker, kitchen
appliances etc. that they ship over with their possesssions. The TV
and VCR are ******* as they are PAL standard, unless all he wants is
to view HK soap operas on tape. Don't laugh. They do exactly that.

Lets put it this way. A guy thinking of using a 240V supply for a
welder or a table saw knows enough about tools, machines and
technology to have a pretty good idea of what is needed or knows where
to look it up. If he doesn't the machines will maim or kill him long
before he gets zapped by a electrical outlet.

Did it occur to you that you could have just asked him? Now having said
that, I'm going to agree that you can assemble a 240 circuit as you
described, but it'll only be rated for the same 20 amps as the original
120V circuits. But you'll need to abandon the single pole breakers that
these were on and install a two pole breaker. This will work, but it's
stupid as hell, because you've now got two hot legs running different
paths through the attic or whatever. I don't know if this is legal or
not, but it is required that both conductors be run through the same
conduit or raceway, when the conductors run through these, but I'm not
sure whether this applies to romex runs. OTOH, lighting circuits can be
split into different romex runs, so I doubt there would be any more
safety issues with your method than with these, legal or not.

Now I'll show you a better way: Take the white wire from your 120 volt
receptacle and wrap it with black electrical tape, or paint it black. It
is now a legal hot conductor, and you can pull it loose from the neutral
buss and insert it into the other pole of your two pole breaker. We're
assuming that this was a dedicated and isolated circuit to begin with.
You now have converted a single 120 circuit into a 240 circuit, and you
can leave the other circuit going to your duplex as 120V. You can buy
duplex receptacles in which one is configured for 240 and the other 120.
Or, even better, you can use any 120 receptacle at all that has only
one circuit running to it to form your 240V circuit.

Now if, OTOH, this isn't a light duty application, but is going to be
used for a range, water heater, dryer, welder, pool pump, well pump,
etc., then all bets are off.

If anyone has some NEC code to add to the above then by all means let's
get it clarified.

hvacrmedic

On 1 Jul 2005 20:46:47 -0700, "
wrote:

Greetings PaPaPeng,

Your posting expressed good creative thinking which may well have lead
the original poster (if he is ambitious) on the road to a viable
solution. Although the poster probably couldn't install a 240V outlet
safely or to code based on your posting alone and many details were
omitted, it was the best one at the time. You filled in a few blanks
where you didn't have enough information but I don't think you should
be strung up for that.

Keep at it,
William


Thanks for the vote.

I could have made things a lot easier this way.

Hey guys. Go to your kitchen duplex outlet with a multimeter set to
measure VAC. Measure across the top and bottom small slots on the
right hand side. It should read 240 Vac thereabouts. Measure across
the top and bottom larger slots on the left hand side. It should read
0 Vac.

Replace that duplex with a 240 V type receptacle that won't allow a
115V plug to be plugged in. The wires to the right hand side of the
duplex receptacle should both be black. Use only these two black
wires to connect to the 240 V receptacle. The left hand side wires
should be white. Snip off the bare ends or tape them up. They are
not used. These white wires should not have any bare ends to cause a
short circuit. The ground wire goes to ground. Now you have a 240
Vac outlet rated for 15 amps.

PaPaPeng wrote:
On 1 Jul 2005 20:46:47 -0700, "
wrote:

Greetings PaPaPeng,

Your posting expressed good creative thinking which may well have lead
the original poster (if he is ambitious) on the road to a viable
solution. Although the poster probably couldn't install a 240V outlet
safely or to code based on your posting alone and many details were
omitted, it was the best one at the time. You filled in a few blanks
where you didn't have enough information but I don't think you should
be strung up for that.

Keep at it,
William


Thanks for the vote.

I could have made things a lot easier this way.

Hey guys. Go to your kitchen duplex outlet with a multimeter set to
measure VAC. Measure across the top and bottom small slots on the
right hand side. It should read 240 Vac thereabouts. Measure across
the top and bottom larger slots on the left hand side. It should read
0 Vac.

Replace that duplex with a 240 V type receptacle that won't allow a
115V plug to be plugged in. The wires to the right hand side of the
duplex receptacle should both be black. Use only these two black
wires to connect to the 240 V receptacle. The left hand side wires
should be white. Snip off the bare ends or tape them up. They are
not used. These white wires should not have any bare ends to cause a
short circuit. The ground wire goes to ground. Now you have a 240
Vac outlet rated for 15 amps.

Which may be protected by two independent breakers, meaning one side may
stay hot when the other has been tripped which is a really big NO NO.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

In article , wrote:
On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 01:54:18 GMT, Ignoramus9053
wrote:

The transformer cost me something like $20 back then and its a lot
cheaper than a 240V breaker and the cost of wiring that.

A step up transformer would be fine, provided that the appliance in
question requires relatively little power.


The one I am recommending has a 200 watt capacity and therefore
suitable for most household appliances but not a rice cooker.

Excuse me? What 240V 200W household appliances would those be?

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

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

In article , wrote:

Hey guys. Go to your kitchen duplex outlet with a multimeter set to
measure VAC. Measure across the top and bottom small slots on the
right hand side. It should read 240 Vac thereabouts.

Not in most installations in the United States, it won't. You'll see ZERO.

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

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

In article ,
wrote:

Replace that duplex with a 240 V type receptacle that won't allow a
115V plug to be plugged in. The wires to the right hand side of the
duplex receptacle should both be black. Use only these two black
wires to connect to the 240 V receptacle. The left hand side wires
should be white. Snip off the bare ends or tape them up. They are
not used. These white wires should not have any bare ends to cause a
short circuit. The ground wire goes to ground. Now you have a 240
Vac outlet rated for 15 amps.

This is dangerous, illegal, and there's a 50% probability that it won't work.

Code requires that all conductors for a given circuit must run in the same
raceway or cable. You've just built a 240V circuit - maybe - from two
conductors that run in different cables.

The probability is exactly 50% that any two random 120V circuits will be on
the *same* leg of the 240V service. Thus, there's a 50% probability that there
is ZERO potential between the two hot wires, and the outlet won't work at all.

If there are any outlets downstream of this one, congratulations, Ace - you
just disconnected their neutrals.

The only positive thing I can find here is that kitchen outlets (in the US, at
least) are very UNlikely to be wired as you describe, and thus it will be
impossible - thank God - to implement your absurd advice.




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

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. com...
In article ,
wrote:

Hey guys. Go to your kitchen duplex outlet with a multimeter set to
measure VAC. Measure across the top and bottom small slots on the
right hand side. It should read 240 Vac thereabouts.

Not in most installations in the United States, it won't. You'll see
ZERO.


Yes, and when you DO see 240 volts, in most cases there would be a red
wire...

I don't know why he thinks all receptacles are split wired

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 13:11:38 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

Excuse me? What 240V 200W household appliances would those be?


The knick knacks people (many immigrants) bring over such as cake
mixers, juicers, entertainment systems (TVs, VCRs, stereo equipment) ,
electronic toys, stuff that make them groan when they see that they
could have bought the same at WalMart for peanuts. If you have grown
up in North America you won't encounter them. You'd have bought
stuff that you can plug into your household receptacles and not worry
about its voltage compatibility. If you need 240 V for some
application you will normally know what you are doing and won't be
asking for how to hook up a 240 V service on this newsgroup.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message

.com...
In article ,
wrote:

Hey guys. Go to your kitchen duplex outlet with a multimeter set to
measure VAC. Measure across the top and bottom small slots on the
right hand side. It should read 240 Vac thereabouts.

Not in most installations in the United States, it won't. You'll see
ZERO

.

Yes, and when you DO see 240 volts, in most cases there would be a red
wire...

I don't know why he thinks all receptacles are split wired

Greetings Rick,

While I have never seen a non-switched split-wired kitchen receptacle
within the US I understand that they are the norm in Canada. In Canada
the kitchen receptacles would use a 240V breaker and therefore one
would be on Pole A and the other on Pole B.

What PaPaPeng suggests is not too far out of the question under these
circumstances. PaPaPeng simply didn't know the circumstances so he
made some up. He went a little too far filling in the blanks and he
overgeneralized wiring based on his one reference implimentation.

To be very clear I am NOT saying that PaPaPeng suggestion is the way to
go -- only that it isn't the product of a raving lunatic's mind and
could almost work under special circumstances likely NOT what the OP
will encounter in his home.

The OP is probably not in Canada and PaPaPeng does not appear to have
all the information but what he suggests is not too far out of the
question under these circumstances.

Hope this helps,
William

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 01:54:18 GMT, Ignoramus9053
wrote:

The transformer cost me something like $20 back then and its a lot
cheaper than a 240V breaker and the cost of wiring that.

A step up transformer would be fine, provided that the appliance in
question requires relatively little power.

The one I am recommending has a 200 watt capacity and therefore
suitable for most household appliances but not a rice cooker.

Excuse me? What 240V 200W household appliances would those be?

--

Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again

Greetings Doug,

Millions of 240V 200W or less houshold appliances are purchased (even
by Americans) every year. The AC adapter for the laptop that I am
writing this very post on accepts input from 100-240V at 50/60Hz at
140W. Unlike my laptop, my PAL VCR REQUIRES a 240V and I doubt it uses
more than 200W. Not every appliance from oversees can run on 60Hz but
many can.

Hope this helps,
William

"The knick knacks people (many immigrants) bring over such as cake
mixers, juicers, entertainment systems (TVs, VCRs, stereo equipment) ,

If you're trying to use a foreign TV or VCR in the US, the voltage
issue is the least of your problems...

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 13:25:55 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

The probability is exactly 50% that any two random 120V circuits will be on
the *same* leg of the 240V service. Thus, there's a 50% probability that there
is ZERO potential between the two hot wires, and the outlet won't work at all.



The main power supply that goes into you breaker box is 240 Vac. The
cable has four conductors - black, red, white and ground. The black
and the red conductors are each connected to its own common bar that
you insert your breakers to. The two banks of breakers correspond to
the two bars. Each bar measures 115V against the common neutral
(white). If you measure across the two bars (Black and Red) you will
get 240 Vac.


Now go take a look at your table saw motor. All the motors I have
come across have an option to wire it for 115V or for 240V, single
phase. Whether it is wired for 115 V or 240 V the power cord that
comes out of the motor is pretty ordinary and has only three
conductors. So how do you get 240 V to flow through a 3 conductor
cord? The answer is the neutral (white) is not used. One pole of
the motor is connected to the black wire and the other pole to the red
wire. Ground is ground. That's how my garage workshop is set up for
115 Vac and for 240 Vac through its own sub panel. Its humming along
fine after 20 years. For safety the 240 V plug has both pins
horizontal so that an ordinary 115 V plug cannot be inserted into it.
These plugs and receptacles are available from any hardware shop.

Major 240 Vac household appliances like stoves, ovens and dryers use
specific four conductor cables and 4 conductor receptacles. Those are
mandated by code and come from the manufacturers that way. Why do
anything different anyway.

Only KITCHEN receptacles are connected to a paired 115 V breaker in
the breaker box. The paired breaker straddles the two bars on the
breaker box. If you measure the voltage across the wire that comes
out each breaker you should get 240 V. Therefore you can rewire a
KITCHEN outlet to give 240 V.

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...

I have a feeling you have a 240V appliance from a 240V system country
that is too pricey to throw out. If it is only a single 240 consumer
appliance that doesn't draw too much power its a lot easier just to
buy a 115V to 240V step up transformer

Actually the situation is the opposite. I want a balanced line for my
pretentious, snobbis audiophile dedicated sound room. But I'm really not
keen on buying amplifiers specially keyed for this puropse, although they do
sell them. What I'd prefer is to have the balanced line, but to use it with
regular 120v audio gear. What I might actually want is a step *down*
transformer. What do you think?