Workshop electrical opinion

[woodturner]

Lesson learned was to spend an hour and test every receptacle when moving into a new home.

Just a word of caution, the cheap plugin type testers check for ground and neutral faults but not excessive voltage - so they would likely not detect a 120 VAC socket wired to 240 VAC.

I use a DVM in addition to the plug in tester, just to be safe.

[os1kne]

I use 2 separate testers.

First - one like this -
http://www.amazon.com/GB-Electrical-...714581&sr=8-23

Then one like this (assuming 120v) -
http://www.amazon.com/50542-Receptac...7714690&sr=8-2

[toolguy1000]

FWIW, here in NY, ~ 8 years ago, shared neutrals were permitted. i have 2 110v 20A home runs installed by a friend who is a licensed electrician and they were run using 12/3 romex. i'm pretty sure that wouldn't be allowed today, but it's serviceable and safe. just my $.02.

and os1kne...those 2 tools will find most of the things you need to know in residential wiring.

[twistsol]

This thread is timely and relevant as I'm planning my new shop wiring. I'd planned to do the common neutral route so I could easily change any outlet to a 220v as needs change. I completely forgot about the GFCI. throwing out that plan.

Question: when running a 220v circuit in a garage, is there a GFCI for 220v circuits?

[jdon]

It is possible to have GFCI with a shared neutral circuit, by using a 2 pole GFCI breaker such as this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA0ZC09F2216

Note that the cost of the breaker likely exceeds any savings using 12/3 instead of 2 12/2 runs.

[jdon]

The previous post wasn't to imply using a 30 amp breaker for 12 gauge wire! Just a quick and dirty search for 2 pole breakers. sorry!