is it hard to wire a 30-amp plug into a panel?

[secondascent]

if a main panel has an unused 30-amp clothes dryer breaker (2x 15 taking up two slots)...would it be safe to unwire the current dryer wire form the panel and replace it with another dryer plug to run to a 1000w in a close by area? i got some electrical smarts and have done basic wiring (lamps, ballasts, etc). thanks

-second

 

[iamtallpine]

Quickly,,, Yes! You can run this at 220v. You can buy a box to run up to four lights from this thirty amp breaker. You can ofcourse run at 110v too.

 

[secondascent]

four lights form 30 amps? 4 x 9.5amps (1000w) = 38 amps? should i through in a 40 amp breaker...even then would it still be safe to run 38 amps on 40 amp circuit...thats about 95% max load...i heard it shouldnt exceed 80%...thanks for your help

-second

 

[Guest]

didn't I read somewhere that if you run a ballast at 220...it uses half the amps to power? Something like that I'm sure.

Cheers,
SH

 

[Guest]

yes half the current is needed to maintain the same wattage with double the voltage.

Volts x amps= watts

220 x 30 = 6600 watts available.

 

[secondascent]

that helps, thanks. so say i am running a wire from a dryer at 220v, then this will alot me 6600 watts...if i break that feed into say X number of 110v does the math change at all? am i still able to run 6600 watts, say about 16 400w lamps?

i know there are some wiring specifics to pay attention to if you break to 110v from 220v, i got a heads up on that from another post

-second

 

[Medical_Man_420]

id like to see a thread on how to build a subpanel for a 4wire 30a dryer circuit. having like 1 110v line and 1 20a 240 line for lights.

peace

 

[Guest]

If I had a 4 wire 30A dryer circuit,I'd simply remove the dryer plug and mount the panel directly over the elec box,bringing the wires in through a knockout in the back of the panelbox.From there you can run 240V or 120V circuits,the difference being single pole and 2 pole breakers.Secondacent I wish I understood exactly what it is your asking,I've read it over and over and cant make heads or tails of it lol

 

[iamtallpine]

Don't mess around with elect. Buy a 4 outlet box from the store and be happy using four lights up to 1000w each @220v. Don't forget this is a box made for this purpose. Go to the hydro store and ask for a muliple light timer. Four-light 240v is about $350 or you can get into the eight light timer but more messing around in the panel box. If you like to fuck with electric stuff do it on Hallowen so no one will notice when you light up like a cartoon.

 

[iamtallpine]

Also You have to buy the newer ballast that run both 110v or 220v by changing the plug. Here in the States we use 110v and 220v not 120v and 240v.

 

[Guest]

Thats a load of crap.Your actual voltage will fall somehwre between 110 and 120V or 220 240V depending on how close your service is to the transformer.Spending 350 dollars is pretty goofy when you can spend around 50 getting an intermatic WH 40 "little gray box" hot water heater timer and a 4 sq. in. metal box to hold your 2 duplex receptacles.O yea a 2 pole breaker,thats about it.Sorry if I came off like a dick I just hate when people talk about getting "light up" and all that sort of crap,its bad mojo.

 

[secondascent]

skeletor - the plan is to have four 1000w lamps running off of one big circuit all on the same light schedule.

i'd go a green air lt-4 240v wired into my panel (2 pole)...it'll provide 4 outlets, you can even get it with 8. a little expensive of a device, but i'll be a little more sure about safety versus building a box myself.

the lt-4 comes with 4x 120v outlets or 4x 240v to plug your lights in, the wiring of the device running to the panel is 240v in both...would it make a difference electrical wise? should i pick one configuration over the other? the ballast would be chosen based on 120 or 240 configuration of the box.

-second

 

[Guest]

I would run my 4 1K fixtures at 240V for sure,I run 3 1K fixtures off my intermatic WH 40 "little gray box" hot water heater timer for years now,thats what I'd do in your case also.The total for the timer,box receptacle and breaker would be around 70 dollars.Very easy to wire in if you have a 240V circuit handy.You'd have to have a #10 wire 240V circuit and your good to go.