Hardwiring Light Controller to Dryer Outlet

[jm420]

Great info Rives,I prefer things more on laymens terms thats why I liked the way powerbox explains it ,and if its conservrtive thats fine by me .It will make me sleep better at night knowing I went overkill versus maxing my lights .

But the old wiring, length, and gauage may cause problems..Anything that has the old screw in fuses wich would make me nervous.I 'm a boston native These fuses blow when I plug my wet saw in .It doesnt draw as much as my 1K..What would be the case if its a 12-3 or some hack and wack wiring job .or if the original wires are dry rotted from being 50+ years old ?

 

[rives]

Great info Rives,I prefer things more on laymens terms thats why I liked the way powerbox explains it ,and if its conservrtive thats fine by me .It will make me sleep better at night knowing I went overkill versus maxing my lights .

But the old wiring, length, and gauage may cause problems..Anything that has the old screw in fuses wich would make me nervous.I 'm a boston native These fuses blow when I plug my wet saw in .It doesnt draw as much as my 1K..What would be the case if its a 12-3 or some hack and wack wiring job .or if the original wires are dry rotted from being 50+ years old ?

JM, I agree, overkill is underrated. For me, though, knowing exactly what the case is and the reasoning behind it is more comforting than a guesstimate with plenty of "Kentucky windage" built in.

Fuses actually can be a far superior circuit protection than breakers - certainly not the old screw-in style, but more modern cartridge fuses can be much more closely matched to the load than breakers will ever allow. The reason that the fuses are blowing with your saw and not a higher-amperage lighting circuit is because of the characteristics of the load. A motor is damn near a direct short until it gets up in speed - motors can pull from 300-900% of full-load amperage while they are accelerating. Lighting inrush is usually nearly instantaneous, so the protection doesn't get a chance to react.

I agree that his wiring from the panel to the dryer plug could be an issue. However, his question was relating to getting from the existing plug to his light controller.

 

[watts]

The fuse that the dryer runs on is the cartridge / pull out blocks. Bedrooms and other rooms are the screw in fuses. All major appliances are the pull out block / cartridge type of fuses. Never had any problems with it.

that 10/3 SJO cable is about $300 for 100 ft and the 8/3 SOOW (not available in SJO) is nearly $700 for 100ft. It seems easier this way to me as I'm not very confident in how the wiring and all is run to this fuse panel. The panel isn't in the attic. It's in a utility type of room in the garage. All the wires are hidden behind the panel I guess so i'm not sure how everything is run and connected to it. I'll still try my best to see if i can just figure out how to run straight wire to the circuit itself.

 

[chase]

Het guys quick ?

Het guys quick ?

I want to hook up my 1000watt + 10000btu portable ac to a dryer outlet .

I have seen , an extension cord that fits the dryer outlet , with a standerd female socet on the other side .This product is sold as a way to hook power up to an r.v .

I think its 50 amp

Will this work?

 

[jm420]

the dryer to the controller is the easy partpeace to you Rives seems your a pretty knoweledeble person and an asset to ICMAG.
Peace JM

 

[rives]

Thanks JM, I appreciate it!

Chase, I'm not sure what you are calling a "standard female socket". If there is no further circuit protection in the assembly, and it is simply an extension cord, the socket needs to be rated for the same voltage and amperage as the one that it is plugged into. In other words, if the male plug and the dryer plug are 240v, 50amp components, it wouldn't be safe to have a 5-15 receptacle (the "standard" 120v, 15a receptacle) on the end of it because the cord can deliver far more power than either the receptacle or the equipment plugged into can safely handle.

 

[watts]

I want to hook up my 1000watt + 10000btu portable ac to a dryer outlet .

I have seen , an extension cord that fits the dryer outlet , with a standerd female socet on the other side .This product is sold as a way to hook power up to an r.v .

I think its 50 amp

Will this work?

I believe most dryers are on 30 amp.

 

[growshopfrank]

I want to hook up my 1000watt + 10000btu portable ac to a dryer outlet .

I have seen , an extension cord that fits the dryer outlet , with a standerd female socet on the other side .This product is sold as a way to hook power up to an r.v .

I think its 50 amp

Will this work?

if the adapter has a single regular 120v socket the ballast and AC will exceed 15a making it a sketchy solution
do yourself a favor and take a look through this section of the forum for control boxes there some good tutorials as well as some folks selling them

 

[chase]

if the adapter has a single regular 120v socket the ballast and AC will exceed 15a making it a sketchy solution
do yourself a favor and take a look through this section of the forum for control boxes there some good tutorials as well as some folks selling them

I cant giv e a rep point right now , but thank you.

 

[chase]

I believe most dryers are on 30 amp.

Your right Watts it is a 30 watt. I have been thinking , that if I flower the at night . I might be able to unplug the stove , & plug my 1000watt in there , & the ac in the dryer socket.Or vice versa.
The range is 40 amps.

I guess i,ll just play around with my options till it works.

 

[chase]

Thanks JM, I appreciate it!

Chase, I'm not sure what you are calling a "standard female socket". If there is no further circuit protection in the assembly, and it is simply an extension cord, the socket needs to be rated for the same voltage and amperage as the one that it is plugged into. In other words, if the male plug and the dryer plug are 240v, 50amp components, it wouldn't be safe to have a 5-15 receptacle (the "standard" 120v, 15a receptacle) on the end of it because the cord can deliver far more power than either the receptacle or the equipment plugged into can safely handle.

Thank you for the info !(out of rep points)

 

[AnD1]

I have the same prob/question just not sure if i can plug everything in!! Heres my page n see if anyone can answer my ?...
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=252263

 

[rives]

I have the same prob/question just not sure if i can plug everything in!! Heres my page n see if anyone can answer my ?...
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=252263

Your pictures aren't showing up. Check your albums and make sure that they are set to "public". Pull up the album, select "edit album" on the the top right, and the option is at the bottom of the page.

 

[Skunkfunk420]

Hey guys, I'm new to icmag and am In need of a second opinion. I plan on running electricity to my garage for my garden. I plan on adding a new 50 amp breaker connected to 6-3 ufb cable running it outside around the foundation of house then direct burying 26 inches underground for about 25 ft. I plan on using pvc conduit to run the cable up the side of my garage then directly hooking it up to my light controller. My room will be pushing just over 35 amps. I'll be running 2 600w bulbs and 2 400w bulbs with all digital ballest. I definitely plan on adding more lights in the future. Any input would be greatly appriciated. Thanks

 

[rives]

A few things here -

You are limited to 80% of the breaker rating for continuous loads, which are defined as anything over 3 hours in durations. This will drop you down to 40 amps continuous loading, but short term loads can bump up to the full breaker rating. If you can foresee 35a now, you are probably going to be light.

Make sure that you use 6/3 w/ground. They make both a 3-conductor and a 4-conductor 6/3, and the straight 6/3 designation does not include a ground wire.

Rather than hooking directly up to the light controller, I would suggest that you feed a sub-panel and then feed the controller out of that. They are cheap, anywhere from about $15-80 at Home Depot, and will give you the additional benefits of a local breaker to shut off the controller and the ability to add other circuits that you will undoubtedly find a need for.

 

[botany]

I didn't read all of the comments, but #10 stranded copper wire will get you there with a 30A breaker. If you don't need 30A, install a smaller breaker, run smaller wire; save money!