Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Home Repair (alt.home.repair) For all homeowners and DIYers with many experienced tradesmen. Solve your toughest home fix-it problems. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks
like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. |
#2
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
|
#3
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks
like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Shouldn't be asbestos, most likely cloth wrap wire. Very common back then and put inside of BX (armor). Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. THat does not sound correct, are you in the US? or some 240 land country? This is USA. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. Measure from the ground to each lead, see if you're getting 120v then.. Measures 110v from each to ground How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? It's possible that one particular line was wired for something like a hot water heater or something that needed 230 volts. And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. Look on the box and see if the black and white are both going to the L1 and L2 legs, not ground/neutral. If so, it was wired for a 230 volt application. Simply move the white wire over to the ground bus at the panel.. Jamie This was a circuit that in hindsight was definitely 230/240v. Was hoping to not do any work at the panel, because I'm not sure what else is on that line. Wanted to just split the 240 at the terminal end. |
#4
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On 12/28/13 6:26 PM, Stumpy wrote:
I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. A small transformer might be an alternative to replacing a lot of wiring etc. |
#5
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
It happens that Dean Hoffman formulated :
On 12/28/13 6:26 PM, Stumpy wrote: I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. A small transformer might be an alternative to replacing a lot of wiring etc. A small transformer will not be TO CODE. Get an electrician and do it properly :') -- John G |
#6
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
"Stumpy" wrote in
m: I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? *Very* bad. The cable armor will then become electrically live whenever the circuit is in use. And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. That's not the right standard. You need to call an electrician if you start to *act* dangerous. And you're at that point now. What you propose doing is potentially deadly. |
#7
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On Saturday, December 28, 2013 6:26:50 PM UTC-6, Stumpy wrote:
I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. Any chance of running a neutral wire from the panel to where you want to split the 240V circuit into two 120V circuits. Are we talking 10 feet or 30 feet or a mile, or what??? |
#8
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On Saturday, December 28, 2013 6:26:50 PM UTC-6, Stumpy wrote:
I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. |
#9
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
wrote in message ... On Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:26:50 -0800, "Stumpy" wrote: I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. If you are not using the 240v, re identify one of the wires white (tape works) at both ends and connect that one to the neutral bus in the panel. You then made a 120v circuit from the 240v circuit. All right. I'm getting the impression that the right way to do this is to change it at the panel. It's a 1953 panel and I'm reluctant to even open it up right now. The extension cord solution is OK for now, hardwire later. |
#11
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:26:50 -0800, "Stumpy"
wrote: I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. DO NOT use safety ground as neutral!!!!!! 100% against code - for good reason |
#12
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
wrote in message ... On Saturday, December 28, 2013 6:26:50 PM UTC-6, Stumpy wrote: I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. Any chance of running a neutral wire from the panel to where you want to split the 240V circuit into two 120V circuits. Are we talking 10 feet or 30 feet or a mile, or what??? ----------------------------------------------------------- No. The panel is now in the interior of the house. It has had additions added so that what was the exterior is now in the center of the structure. walls are very thick - maybe lathe and plaster construction. It would be very hard to add a neutral wire from the panel. I could easily add a neutral wire from some other junction box - hope an inspector never sees it. I think I'll drop this project and just get by on a male plug plugged into an outlet that then goes through a conduit to a duplex outlet. I'll get a pro to do it right if I ever sell the house. |
#13
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On 12/28/13 9:05 PM, John G wrote:
After serious thinking wrote : On Sun, 29 Dec 2013 12:26:49 +1100, John G wrote: A small transformer might be an alternative to replacing a lot of wiring etc. A small transformer will not be TO CODE. Why not? The SMALL transformer would have to be as big as the circuit 10 or 20 amps or whatever and I dont think you will find that setup anywhere in the NEC. You cannot just pick a transformer to do your current (sic) job and put a normal outlet on the end. Anyway the low side of the transformer will not be tied to ground etc etc DONT DO IT :-@ . There are probably some correction factors to this but 125 volts times 20 amps equals 2500 watts. That's only 2.5 kva. A ten kva transformer is probably a bit smaller than a five gallon bucket. The two hot leads from the house supply the 240 and the shield would be the equipment ground for the transformer. The secondary of the transformer would be the 125 volt hot lead, and the neutral or grounded conductor if you prefer. That wire would be tied to the transformer equipment ground right in the transformer. So what am I missing specifically? |
#14
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On Sat, 28 Dec 2013 19:18:19 -0800, "Stumpy"
wrote: wrote in message ... On Saturday, December 28, 2013 6:26:50 PM UTC-6, Stumpy wrote: I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. Any chance of running a neutral wire from the panel to where you want to split the 240V circuit into two 120V circuits. Are we talking 10 feet or 30 feet or a mile, or what??? ----------------------------------------------------------- No. The panel is now in the interior of the house. It has had additions added so that what was the exterior is now in the center of the structure. walls are very thick - maybe lathe and plaster construction. It would be very hard to add a neutral wire from the panel. I could easily add a neutral wire from some other junction box - hope an inspector never sees it. I think I'll drop this project and just get by on a male plug plugged into an outlet that then goes through a conduit to a duplex outlet. I'll get a pro to do it right if I ever sell the house. It is against code to run a separate neutral even if it WAS possible. |
#15
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
Dean Hoffman was thinking very hard :
On 12/28/13 9:05 PM, John G wrote: After serious thinking wrote : On Sun, 29 Dec 2013 12:26:49 +1100, John G wrote: A small transformer might be an alternative to replacing a lot of wiring etc. A small transformer will not be TO CODE. Why not? The SMALL transformer would have to be as big as the circuit 10 or 20 amps or whatever and I dont think you will find that setup anywhere in the NEC. You cannot just pick a transformer to do your current (sic) job and put a normal outlet on the end. Anyway the low side of the transformer will not be tied to ground etc etc DONT DO IT :-@ . There are probably some correction factors to this but 125 volts times 20 amps equals 2500 watts. That's only 2.5 kva. A ten kva transformer is probably a bit smaller than a five gallon bucket. The two hot leads from the house supply the 240 and the shield would be the equipment ground for the transformer. The secondary of the transformer would be the 125 volt hot lead, and the neutral or grounded conductor if you prefer. That wire would be tied to the transformer equipment ground right in the transformer. So what am I missing specifically? Not accepted in any jurisdiction I know of for fixed wireing.. Neutral must be ONLY tied to GROUND at entry panel and ground must not be used as a current carrier. DONT DO IT :-@ . -- John G |
#16
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
|
#17
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
No. The panel is now in the interior of the house. It has had additions added so that what was the exterior is now in the center of the structure. walls are very thick - maybe lathe and plaster construction. It would be very hard to add a neutral wire from the panel. I could easily add a neutral wire from some other junction box - hope an inspector never sees it. I think I'll drop this project and just get by on a male plug plugged into an outlet that then goes through a conduit to a duplex outlet. I'll get a pro to do it right if I ever sell the house. It is against code to run a separate neutral even if it WAS possible. And its most likely against code to run a cable from an OUTLET thru a conduit to a duplex outlet. DONT DO IT :-@ . -- John G That is the equivalent of running an extension cord through an obstacle. I can unplug it at any time and would not be considered a permanent improvement. |
#18
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On 12/28/2013 10:14 PM, Stumpy wrote:
No. The panel is now in the interior of the house. It has had additions added so that what was the exterior is now in the center of the structure. walls are very thick - maybe lathe and plaster construction. It would be very hard to add a neutral wire from the panel. I could easily add a neutral wire from some other junction box - hope an inspector never sees it. I think I'll drop this project and just get by on a male plug plugged into an outlet that then goes through a conduit to a duplex outlet. I'll get a pro to do it right if I ever sell the house. It is against code to run a separate neutral even if it WAS possible. And its most likely against code to run a cable from an OUTLET thru a conduit to a duplex outlet. DONT DO IT :-@ . -- John G That is the equivalent of running an extension cord through an obstacle. I can unplug it at any time and would not be considered a permanent improvement. Not rocket science...call the building inspector. His opinion is the only one that counts. |
#19
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
|
#20
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On Saturday, December 28, 2013 9:11:14 PM UTC-5, Stumpy wrote:
wrote in message ... On Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:26:50 -0800, "Stumpy" wrote: I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. If you are not using the 240v, re identify one of the wires white (tape works) at both ends and connect that one to the neutral bus in the panel. You then made a 120v circuit from the 240v circuit. All right. I'm getting the impression that the right way to do this is to change it at the panel. That gets my vote too. It's a 1953 panel and I'm reluctant to even open it up right now. The extension cord solution is OK for now, hardwire later. |
#21
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On 12/29/2013 10:08 AM, Fred Abse wrote:
On Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:26:50 -0800, Stumpy wrote: How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. I think you mean "endangered". Having read your post, I think you are already dangerous. I don't think Miss Manners would have used that choice of wording. But, the sentiment is there. And, I agree. -- .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
#22
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
On Sat, 28 Dec 2013 21:42:32 -0600, Dean Hoffman
" wrote: On 12/28/13 9:05 PM, John G wrote: After serious thinking wrote : On Sun, 29 Dec 2013 12:26:49 +1100, John G wrote: A small transformer might be an alternative to replacing a lot of wiring etc. A small transformer will not be TO CODE. Why not? The SMALL transformer would have to be as big as the circuit 10 or 20 amps or whatever and I dont think you will find that setup anywhere in the NEC. You cannot just pick a transformer to do your current (sic) job and put a normal outlet on the end. Anyway the low side of the transformer will not be tied to ground etc etc DONT DO IT :-@ . There are probably some correction factors to this but 125 volts times 20 amps equals 2500 watts. That's only 2.5 kva. A ten kva transformer is probably a bit smaller than a five gallon bucket. Perhaps you work for the power company, but I don't consider something the size of a 5-gal bucket to be a "small transformer". Nor would it be cheap. The two hot leads from the house supply the 240 and the shield would be the equipment ground for the transformer. The secondary of the transformer would be the 125 volt hot lead, and the neutral or grounded conductor if you prefer. That wire would be tied to the transformer equipment ground right in the transformer. So what am I missing specifically? |
#24
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Solution
On 12/28/2013 06:26 PM, Stumpy wrote:
I've got a junction box with some 1953 sheathed cable feeding it. Looks like asbestos fiber sheath with silver spray paint on the exterior. Only 2 wires, both black. Measures 240V rms. Leaving the junction box are some armored cables containing 2 wires each, one black, one white. They also put out 240V rms. There are no neutral wires or ground wires that I can see. The armored cable is well grounded however. I had expected that the black/white pairs were 120V, but they are not. How bad an idea would it be to choose either the black or white wire and connect it to the hot side of a 120V outlet, and then connect the neutral side of the outlet to the armored cable? And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. Here is the acceptable way to get 115v if you do NOT need 230v Remove the white wire from the circuit breaker and connect it to the panel neutral. At your outlet, the white wire will be the 115v return and the black wire the 115v "hot" . The sheath should of course be ground. This will work fine but assumes there is no 230v device anywhere that was using the wiring. |
#25
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
And yes, I will call an electrician if I start to feel dangerous. I think you mean "endangered". Having read your post, I think you are already dangerous. -- "Design is the reverse of analysis" (R.D. Middlebrook) Hopefully only to myself. I think and talk about many more things than I actually do. I try to avoid undo risk. |
#26
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Solution
Here is the acceptable way to get 115v if you do NOT need 230v Remove the white wire from the circuit breaker and connect it to the panel neutral. At your outlet, the white wire will be the 115v return and the black wire the 115v "hot" . The sheath should of course be ground. This will work fine but assumes there is no 230v device anywhere that was using the wiring. Yeah. I think that would be simplest too. |
#27
Posted to alt.home.repair,sci.electronics.basics
|
|||
|
|||
Splitting 240V
|
#28
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Solution
On 12/29/2013 1:29 PM, Stumpy wrote:
Here is the acceptable way to get 115v if you do NOT need 230v Remove the white wire from the circuit breaker and connect it to the panel neutral. At your outlet, the white wire will be the 115v return and the black wire the 115v "hot" . The sheath should of course be ground. This will work fine but assumes there is no 230v device anywhere that was using the wiring. Yeah. I think that would be simplest too. If you're skilled in panel boxes, that is. Call an electrician if you feel dangerous. -- .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Redneck log splitting | Woodworking | |||
splitting wood | Woodworking | |||
Splitting ledge | Home Repair | |||
Splitting Question | Woodworking | |||
Basswood splitting | Woodworking |