need clarification ..electrical guru's please help

[SiR-GrOwS-aLoT]

this item was posted on another thread and need clarification if i can use this

this is a 220 to 110 covnverter, with 2 recepticles each on its own 20 amp breaker... can i get this, the 4 prong one , and put a 20 amp power strip in eack 20 amp outlet and run my lights and a/c?

i figure
1-1000 and 2-400 on one 20 amp outlet and on the other the 10amp a/c 1-400 and maybe 3 amps of fans..

what u all think?

http://refreshyourhome.com/new-steamer-windows/220-110V-CONVERTER.html

if someone here can build me something better plz speak up i would need something like this but with a timer wired in





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[Guest]

Thats pretty deceiving really,its stated as if you have two 20A circuits that you can load up,thats not the case.Remember the circuit feeding the dryer is a #10 AWG size wire on a 30A breaker,this circuit has a max continuous rating of 24A.You must add up the nameplate ratings in amps of all loads to be plugged into the converter and it must not exceed 24 amps.Other than that it looks like a cool gizmo..

 

[Ganoderma]

okay, what this deal does is, it splits the 240v into 2-120v recepticals. the 2 pole breaker basically is two breakers which feed a 240 circuit, so you wind up with two breakers that that have the same amperage as the 240v breaker.

I could build the samething for like $20-$35 just depending on how much parts are.

now if you 240v breaker is 50amps, you'll have two circuits able to handle 50amps each, if its 30amps you'll have two circuits able to handle 30 amps ect.

 

[Guest]

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[Guest]

What he said's right American.

You forgot that the 240 isn't fed by a 10 guage wire.

It's fed by two.

Each one is individually good for 30; therefore when split, each is good for that.

However:

The weak link in this case is the return path: i don't remember if 10 guage wire has a 12 guage ground or not; i think it does. It's neutral would be a 10, but don't those 10 guage Romexs' have 12 guage ground?

I believe so. Which would explain the 20 amp max for the receptacles they offer.

 

[Guest]

Yep you're right man,too early for me I guess.

 

[SiR-GrOwS-aLoT]

so my understanding that by splitting a 30 amp 220 u can get 2-30amp 110's? is this correct?

so this gizmo will spit 30 amps at 220 into 2-20amp 110's?????

is this also correct?

if the above is true does this mean that because the 220 is a 30 amp breaker and the 110's on the gadget are 20 amp does this mean i can load up the recepticles with the full 20 amps on each circut, because they should actually be able to handle 30 amps each but are only using 20amps?

sorry for all the questions but i have a real problem grasping electricity.

 

[Ganoderma]

the reason that they say its 20 amps is because the outlets that they are using are most likely only rated for 20 amps. if they use outlets like the ones that are in your walls, then they are only rated as 20 amps max.......

the max load that you should place on a circuit is 75-80% of what its rated for.

If the circuit is romex,,,,,,, then all of the wires are going to be the ame size. the few times that you have one of the wires being smaller would be if you have single wires that are pulled into conduit, and that smaller wire would be the ground wire. the nuetral has to be the same size as the hot wires.

 

[Guest]

I just looked up some romex type cable it said they were all the same size, i thought the ground in 10 gauge was 12 but i guess i'm wrong.

And yea Sir Grows A Lot that's all right. These guys got you lined out.

 

[Guest]

Open the dryer electrical outlet cover at the plug-in. If you have 4 wires, usually 1 red 1 black (line) and a bare wire (ground) and a white (neutral). If you have these you are in business. Purchase a 60 amp sub-panel and wire the red to one bar and the black to the other with the bare and white to the ground/neutral bar at the bottom of the panel.

If you don't have a white (neutral) and try to hook this up it is called a "center tap" and is illegal and dangerous. Go outside and look at the service drop and you will see 3 cables, usually 2 black and one bare wire. The bare wire is the neutral. The service panel ground is established by a copper clad grounding rods, usually on modern structures (5 to 6 feet in length) driven into the ground close to the main panel with a common wire connecting them and running to the main panel grounding/neutral bar, or in some applications #6 or heavier bare wire is buried in the concrete foundation when the home was built and connected to the main panel.

While it may be a pain in the butt resetting clocks and the like, TURN OFF the main breaker before doing anything. Modern residential main panels are 100 to 200 amps, and up to 4 hundred if you have a lot of power equipment in your shop/garage.

You grab a hold of, or touch the hot wire(s) and you will likely be DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If a neutral is lacking, run one from the main to the sub panel and all will be well.

If the main panel is to far away install your 4 prong outlet, apply white tape over the green/bare ground wire (identifying it as a neutral) and secure to the neutral on the outlet and add a ground wire from the sub- panel to the outlet, using the grounding rods as noted above to ground the sub-panel.

Be Safe, Grow Happy

Peace