220 to 110 volt change

[Russianwolf]

Okay, I freed up a 220v outlet by ridding my home of one of the baseboard heaters (replaced with a propane fireplace), so how can I make use of this in my shop? So far all my tools are wired for 110v.

Do I simply run this to a location and take one of the hot wires to one outlet and the other to a second and the neutral to both?

[gary]

No, you could overload the Neutral. Why not use the breaker space to run a 60A subpanel to your shop?

[Russianwolf]

sounds complicated. what would I need to do?

[LCHIEN]

is the outlet close to your shop? Are you trying to use the wiring?
If the outlet is elsewhere in the house and the wiring goes nowhere near your shop then all you really have gained is a breaker slot, but most breaker boxes will have spare slots, anyway. Maybe you gained some extra current availability, if you main breaker was heavily loaded...

what do you need?

[LinuxRandal]

Anything ELSE on the outlet? Some 220 are required to be seperate, others are not. It WILL make a difference as to what can be put on that and to what extent.

[Russianwolf]

the outlet is 6 inches above and 10 foot from my shop space. But the wire runs even closer.

I'll have to check what else is on the circuit. Most likely another baseboard heater, but It will likely give me another reason to kill another heater, especially if it's in a little used room.

What do I need? I would like another circuit in the basement/shop so that I will have less problems with running things at the same time. Or if nothing else more lighting.

[reddog552]

220 volt

What wire size are we talking about. also what size breaker.

[Crash2510]

overloading the neutral is typically not a problem with 220 because you are pulling current from both legs of your panel. Because the the neutral from both legs fluctuate on a different sine wave sharing a neutral is usually not a problem. The reason this is usually not done is becuase the hot wires could be hooked up to the same phase therefore call for the neutral at the same time. If you are sure that both hots are hooked up to seperate phases sharing the neutral will not be a huge problem.

[Crash2510]

sorry tried to find something to show you what i mean

from http://www.dotznize.com/electric/?a=sh

Q: Can two circuits share one neutral?
A: Yes, if it is done right.
Consider a three-conductor cable (red, black, and white) that originates at two circuit breakers which are connected to opposite poles, and the neutral buss bar. One can connect a 120-volt load between the red and white wires, placing that load on one of the circuit breakers, and one can connect another 120-volt load to the black and white wires to place it on the other circuit breaker. The breakers, of course, are sized appropriately to protect the wiring. But what about the current in the white wire? The white wire is the return for both loads. Won't it be carrying more than its rated current?

The answer is that the neutral does not carry the sum of the two currents; it carries the difference. If both loads draw the same amount of current, the neutral will carry no current. The voltage on one "hot" wire is always of opposite polarity to the voltage on the other "hot" wire. Therefore, the current returning by way of the white wire for each circuit flows in the opposite direction to the current for the other circuit, so that the two currents subtract, and the white wire can never carry more current than one of the two "hot" wires. This technique is called a multiwire circuit.

Beware, however, of connecting to the wrong breaker. If the two breakers supplying the two "hot" wires are connected to the same pole, the voltage on both hot wires will be of the same polarity, and the current for each of the two circuits will return in the same direction through the white wire, and thus add together. The white wire may carry as much as twice the rating of the circuit. This is a dangerous condition.

To check that a multiwire circuit is supplied correctly, measure the voltage between the two "hot" wires. If the two "hot" wires are connected to opposite poles, as they should be, there will be a difference of 240 volts between them. If they are incorrectly connected to the same pole, there will be zero (or nearly) volts between them.

There are some restrictions on the use of multiwire branch circuits, including these (2002 NEC 210.4):

"All conductors must originate from the same panelboard."
If a multiwire circuit in a "dwelling unit" supplies "split-wired" receptacles, a means must be provided to disconnect both ungrounded conductors simultaneously. This can be done with a two-pole switch, but usually it is done by tying the handles of the two circuit breakers together.
The same simultaneous disconnection requirement also exists if the circuit supplies a mixture of 120v and 240v loads (whether or not in a "dwelling unit"), but the disconnection means must be the "branch circuit overcurrent device" (the circuit breaker).

[LinuxRandal]

Your going to have to look at your tools and usage. I have tried to make mine, so I could have one tool going, and start up something else (in the very rare event I ever had help).

For me, the 220, in a woodshop, would then be something that would need to run when anything else ran, like a dust collector, or maybe a compressor.

[Russianwolf]

It's either a 15 or 20amp double circuit. (I have 1 15amp and 2 or 3 20 amp circuits for my heaters that take up two breaker spaces each, no clue why the two amperages).



But I also just noticed something else. I have a 30 amp double circuit and a 50 amp double circuit. The 30 if for "outdoor" so I'll have to figure out what exactly it is, likely the A/C. The 50 amp though is for the electric range. Well, we swapped out the electric range for a propane burner when we moved in........ So I have a free 50 amp 220 circuit also that is right above my shop.

Can I assume that since these are using 2 breaker spaces, that they are wired as Crash mentioned above?

[reddog552]

unused 50 amp ckt.

Ok now were getting somewere. I would take your unused Range 50 amp circuit and use it for a sub pannel for your shop. A 50 amp ckt. should be run with 6/3 w grd. you can install a small panel say 100 amp with 8 spaces for breakers. this will give you a lot of options.As for the unused 220 volt ckt I would take it back to a 110 volt ckt just swap out the breaker for a single pole breaker take the black wire to the breaker ground & white to the side bars.

[Black wallnut]

Can I assume that since these are using 2 breaker spaces, that they are wired as Crash mentioned above?

Yes, I think that is a good assumption but it would be best if you were to check it at the breaker as Crash detailed with a multimeter to confirm. FWIW I used split duplexes when I did my shop wiring. One with both my saw and shop vac (current DC) plugged into one outlet with two circuits leading to it and then six seperate outlets feeding my celing mounted flourescent lighting, each duplex split feeding seperate fixtures on seperate circuits.

So to answer your origional question you may split the wires to either two outlets or a single outlet, but I think you will need to keep the outlets in the same box and keep the disconnecting means tied together.

[reddog552]

So to answer your origional question you may split the wires to either two outlets or a single outlet, but I think you will need to keep the outlets in the same box and keep the disconnecting means tied together. I have to dissagre with you here,SORRY. You need to replace the double pole with 2 single pole breakers of the same rating.This is the only both circuts will be protected.

[Hellrazor]

Don't split a 220 into 2 110 circuits. Either bump it up to the 50A, pull #6 wire and put in a subpanel or install 2 15A breakers in the place of the 15A 220.