220/240v Electrical Question (1 Viewer)

[pjohnson]

Thanks for asking the question and thanks to the experts who chimed in. I'm looking at a similar situation and will be calling the original subcontracted electrical company to put in my 220v outlet in my garage.

 

[Vincenzo]

Hopefully it can be done with a switch as to not overload anything, i'll update after I speak to a certified electrician. Thanks for the input all.

 

[Azca]

The manual transfer switch can be done with hardware cost at about $100. Here is an example of one: Reliance Controls 60 Amp Utility / Generator Transfer Switch-TCA0606D - The Home Depot

 

[Vincenzo]

Thanks AZCA

 

[Prairie Swamp]

The old farmer that owned my house for decades was supposedly an electrician. Uhhh yeah. What I have found since I have owned the house:

• He had apparently drug home a "split buss" panel from a job site. There was no main breaker in the panel. If I loaded up the panel by turning everything on the only thing limiting current was the fuse out at the pole.
• 2-pole (220V circuits) being split to feed 120V receptacles in the house.
• 3-prong receptacles wired with 2 conductor (no ground) wire.
• And the grand daddy of them all. Last fall I heard the steel siding on my pole barn buzzing at 60Hz. Very long story but the old boy has used old recycled fabric coated wire as a service entrance. Instead of doing it right he drilled a hole in the wood soffit and looped the wire over the sharp top edge of the siding. The siding eventually wore thru to the wire. The grounds for the siding had corroded to the point of being useless. The whole thing acted as a current splitter. The more loads I turned on in the barn, the more current, the louder the buzz. Turns out the current was getting to ground by jumping from the siding, to an old license plate jammed behind the black pipe for the gas line, then thru the gas line. The license plate was burned.

So yeah please do it right.

 

[Vincenzo]

The old farmer that owned my house for decades was supposedly an electrician. Uhhh yeah. What I have found since I have owned the house:

• He had apparently drug home a "split buss" panel from a job site. There was no main breaker in the panel. If I loaded up the panel by turning everything on the only thing limiting current was the fuse out at the pole.
• 2-pole (220V circuits) being split to feed 120V receptacles in the house.
• 3-prong receptacles wired with 2 conductor (no ground) wire.
• And the grand daddy of them all. Last fall I heard the steel siding on my pole barn buzzing at 60Hz. Very long story but the old boy has used old recycled fabric coated wire as a service entrance. Instead of doing it right he drilled a hole in the wood soffit and looped the wire over the sharp top edge of the siding. The siding eventually wore thru to the wire. The grounds for the siding had corroded to the point of being useless. The whole thing acted as a current splitter. The more loads I turned on in the barn, the more current, the louder the buzz. Turns out the current was getting to ground by jumping from the siding, to an old license plate jammed behind the black pipe for the gas line, then thru the gas line. The license plate was burned.

So yeah please do it right.

The license plate must have been from an old Landcruiser, saved your barn......Well noted though