Convert 220 to 110

[greencat]

I want to add some electrical outlets to my deck. The previous owner had a 220 plug put in for a pool that is no longer there. Can I tap into this and make 110 out of it? When I run the wires under my deck do I need conduit?

Thanks

[ssmith1627]

Are you used to doing any electrical work ?

I think IF you know what you're doing, you would trace it back to the service panel and find the breaker associated with that outlet. Please be careful and don't just follow my suggestion if you're not familiar / comfortable with electrical work !! You MUST shut off the power to the whole service panel before you open up that service panel. And you must shut off that breaker before you go trying to remove the outlet on the other end. Not trying to be condescending but you have to be careful and I don't know what you know about this sort of thing.

At the box, to get 220, you put both the black and white wires to a double-pole breaker. So basically they are BOTH hot. For a normal 110 outlet, you put the black wire to the breaker which connects it to the hot. The white wire goes to the neutral bus bar in the service panel and the ground goes to the ground bar or the neutral bar (depending on whether it's the main or a sub panel). Does that make any sense to you ?

I think you'd want to replace that breaker with a 15 amp or 20 amp single pole breaker. The black wire should go to it and the white to neutral (where all the other white wires in the box go). On the other end, you remove the outlet that's on there and replace it with the same amperage type outlet as you used for the breaker -- 15 or 20.

Be glad to discuss with you further but certainly don't want to lead you into trying something you're not familiar with !

Steve

[DaveS]

(disclaimer: not an electrician)

Well, my first advice is to call a licensed electrician and get an estimate. It might cost less than you think.

Having said that...

There are a couple "safe" ways to do this (and some unsafe ways I won't talk about).

First, you could put a sub-panel at the 220 outlet, and feed the 110 outlets with a couple new circuits from that. This would allow you to keep the 220v feed intact, in case a future owner wants to do a little arc welding back there , whatever.

Second, you could remove the 220v "double" breaker in the main panel, and replace it with two 110v breakers. Sharing a neutral is allowed if both circuits are on different phases (which they would be if you replaced a 220v breaker with 2 - 110v breakers). Of course, you have to remove the 220v outlet, and replace it with a weather proof box, from which the new circuits could be fed.

I'm not sure if a 15 or 20 amp single breaker will accept the larger gauge wire that is most likely used on the 220v circuit. If not, you would have to make a "pig tail" (in this case, a smaller piece of thinner wire, connected to the larger wire with a wire nut) inside the main panel, which is not allowed in some areas.

The reason you can't just attach 2 - 110v circuits to the 220v feed is that the breaker used for the 220v feed is likely larger than the 15 or 20 amps that regular outlets are rated. In addition, even if the 220v breaker was 15amps (which would be pretty weird), I'm not sure how well a double pole breaker would protect a fault on a single leg... anyone know?

Regardless of what you do, code requires exterior outlets be protected by GFCI. You can protect multiple outlets with one GFCI device.

I don't know for sure if using conduit is required, but it certainly is a good idea.

[ssmith1627]

For a little more clarification, here's a picture of the sub panel I installed in my garage, fed from the main service panel at the other end of the house.

http://ssmith1627.myphotoalbum.com/v...d=142_4254_IMG

The switch (breaker) at the top turns off power to all of the breakers in this panel. HOWEVER, the thick red and black wires that come in from the top and go TO that breaker are STILL HOT. So you can't touch where they tie into the breaker. I wouldn't dare touch those metal bars that go down the middle either just to be safe -- it's what all the breakers hook onto and it's how they get power. They SHOULD be off with that main breaker off but I sure wouldn't touch them anyway.

You can see the thick white wire that also comes in from the top. That attaches to the neutral bus bar on the right side. And thus all the wires for the circuits I've run through the house go to that bar as well. If this were the main panel and not a sub panel the neutral bar and the ground bar on the other side would be tied together.

On the left is the ground bus bar and that's where all the exposed copper ground wires are attached.

If you already know all this, just smack me. Just trying to give you a basic understanding. But again, this isn't something you should jump into if you're not comfortable with it and have some type of experience. You'd be better off having an electrician rewire that circuit for you. You don't want to be dead and I don't want to be sued ! haha

Hope it helps.

Steve

[scorrpio]

If this 220V is a dedicated circuit, it is easy:
Take out the 220V receptacle, cap off the red, and put in a 110V receptacle between black hot and neutral.

At main breaker panel, take out the double-pole breaker for this circuit, and put in a single pole breaker instead.

If you want to make two separate 110 circuits, you'll need to run at least an extra neutral - though I'd recommend running a whole new 2+ground cable.

I think you dont *NEED* a conduit if you use a outdoor-rated wire, but I personally prefer to hide wire into conduits. Less chance to accidentally damage them that way. I prefer to use the PVC kind.

[just4funsies]

I would recommend that you check your local codes before doing any electrical work. That said, if you are no longer going to use the 220v feed, you can probably do as outlined above. If you are needing to maintain the 220, DO NOT tap one leg of it to get a 120v circuit. This will imbalance the load, and possibly make other bad things possible. Be aware of limitations due to wire size and distance. As for the need to use conduit, many codes call for exposed circuits of 120v or higher to be in conduit, others say use conduit up to 8' above ground, and others are different still. That's why it's best to check the local codes first.

[greencat]

Thanks - I appreciate all of the answers. I'm always nervous when I'm working in the service panel but I think the hardest part will be crawling under the deck. There is only about 18 inches of clearance.

Thanks Again.

[Tom Miller]

Mike, I'm assuming you want to wire your outlets from the box where the 220V receptacle is, correct? (Rather than just using that breaker, and rewiring from the box.) I.e. the 220 receptacle is still there, it's the pool that is not, right?

If the previous use of this ckt was only for 220, there is the possibility that there's no neutral wire. If this is the case, then you'll have to rewire from the breaker.

Otherwise, you should be able to run the four conductors from that receptacle box to your outlet boxes, connecting your outlets from one phase or the other to neutral.

Regards,
Tom

[greencat]

Mike, I'm assuming you want to wire your outlets from the box where the 220V receptacle is, correct?
Regards,
Tom

Tom - You are correct that I want to use the existing wiring. To re-run the wire I would need to go through a finished basement. If there are 3 can I use one as the ground?

Thanks

[Crash2510]

if you have three wires there is no problem just the previous wiring was drawing its nuetral from the ground. all you have to do is find the existing breaker and remove it. Then run the white wire to the nuetral bar ie where all the white wires are and put the black on a single pole breaker. Then install your normal outlet. If there are four wires black white red ground you could split it into two circuits with a share nuetral which isn't terrible, but not that great either or just utilize one leg of the circuit.

[Hellrazor]

What size wire is the 220 line? Good luck trying to get #10 or bigger on an outlet. You will have to use #12 pigtails to make it work. Remember you need #12 wire for a 20amp circuit.

Depending on wire size, how many circuits you really want, etc.. I would just install a subpanel.


Just remember to play it safe working in the panel if you swap breakers. I have been dealing with electric both at work and home for 15 years and I still do not like working in a hot panel if I dont have to. Has a lot to do with it being 3phase at work..