51
votes
240 V dryer outlet is reading 245 V
That is well within ANSI C84.1 North American Utlity Standards.
- 14.2k
46
votes
Why am I getting an electric shock from the water in my hot tub?
Edit: This is sounding more and more like a problem with either a neighbor's electrical or the utility's supply. See last entry.
DON'T get in that hot tub again!
The "very small" shock was due to ...
37
votes
Why would replacing this 240 V outlet with a 120 V outlet trip my breaker?
You can't do that! Don't switch any wires. That a 240 volt outlet, a 120 Volt line to each of the two brass screws and a ground on the old outlet. You plugged a 120 Volt appliance into a 120 Volt ...
- 53.6k
35
votes
Accepted
240v Outlet with 120v and 215v - How?
Wrong socket! Wrong socket! Wrong socket!
That obsolete, dangerous NEMA 10 socket is bad news anywhere you see it. You wired this? Never use a NEMA 10 socket ever again. It should not have been sold ...
34
votes
Accepted
A 240V heater is wired w/ 2 hots and no neutral. What should the voltage between two hots read?
Call the power company and report an outage
You lost a phase. (one of the two hot wires from the service).
I can tell, because if someone had been monkeying around in the service panel just prior to ...
33
votes
Accepted
Can I safely plug a 15A 100V appliance into a 20A 250V wall outlet?
No. That is a NEMA 6-20 receptacle. Your NEMA 5-15 appliance is specifically designed to not plug into it.
Because it would destroy the appliance if you did.
That is why the system of plugs works ...
28
votes
240 V outlet is not delivering 240 V
I bet if you go to your service panel, you're going to find a completely full service panel, and a unique creature we call a "double-stuff breaker". Quite likely the landlord does his own electrical ...
27
votes
Why would replacing this 240 V outlet with a 120 V outlet trip my breaker?
This could have easily been done correctly if you had done the research beforehand that you are doing now... as things are, you have created a 120V socket that is supplying 240V... it did fry your ...
25
votes
Accepted
Do travel voltage transformers really not have grounding?
All this stuff is cheap Cheese junk
You describe a genre of travel transformers, not just a specific one... but who's kidding who? The "genre" you're talking about is "the infinite ...
23
votes
3 prong range outlet
For an old installation, there are some "shortcuts" grandfathered in, but even those are based on "no ground but have a neutral". You have the opposite - and much worse - problem of "no neutral but ...
22
votes
Accepted
What purpose does a 3+1 outlet/circuit provide when the neutral bus is grounded?
Yeah, the root problem is, you see they are both tied together in the panel, but you don't know what that thing is... or you don't even realize that is a thing.
Its name is the Neutral-Ground ...
21
votes
3 phase (delta) power to single phase space heater
Here's what 3-phase delta looks like.
This happens to be 240V and uses the common 3-phase colors of black, red, blue.
It's that simple, folks. 3 phases, No Neutral.
One error of belief is ...
21
votes
Confusion over 220 and 230 volt outlets
Two issues:
In the world of electrical power devices, there is a "Distribution Voltage" that your utility is providing to you, and there is a "Utilization Voltage" that your devices are designed to ...
- 14.4k
20
votes
240 V dryer outlet is reading 245 V
240 V is the "nominal" reading. You'll usually get ±10% voltage from the utility lines, and your appliances are designed to accommodate that variation.
- 29.4k
18
votes
240 Volts - No Neutral Required - How does Power Return to Earth?
Power doesn't want to return to earth. It wants to return to source.
For natural power, ESD and lightning, yeah, source is earth. However, for human power, source is the transformer or battery. ...
18
votes
Why would replacing this 240 V outlet with a 120 V outlet trip my breaker?
Just to make it clear, in simple language, since some of the other answers are rather technical:
The outlet is just a connector - it just lets you plug in cords to the electricity supply. It doesn't ...
- 309
17
votes
I’m trying to make a 220V power cord
What Ed Beal says, but let me backfill some details.
Here is our cast of characters.
If you're confused about neutral and ground, perhaps it's the welder has a NEMA 10 connector. (Hot hot neutral). ...
16
votes
Using Only 3 out of 4 wires on 220 wire run
Go ahead and cap the unused white (neutral) wire off
Your plan to cap the unused white wire off is fine, and for the best even, as it'll leave it available in case someone else wishes to run a 4-wire ...
- 72k
15
votes
Replacing 240V outlet with 120V
It can be done, but you'll have to swap out the breaker.
A "standard" US receptacle is rated for 125 volts, and 15 or 20 amperes. So you'll be going from a 30 ampere double pole breaker, to ...
- 128k
15
votes
Confusion over 220 and 230 volt outlets
220/230/240 are the same thing, really
US single phase line-to-line mains voltage is interchangeably referred to as 220V, 230V, and 240V. This is because it started off as 220V, but was raised ...
- 72k
15
votes
Why am I getting an electric shock from the water in my hot tub?
I had an electrician to check out the problem and:
I am in the UK and there is only live and neutral at the meter (earth and neutral are the same wire at that point)
The Hot Tub water is directly ...
- 569
14
votes
Accepted
Splitting a 240V line into two 120V lines
Yes, you can certainly do this. It is referred to as a Multi-Wire Branch Circuit. The two hot legs share the neutral. It is quite common.
Note: Make sure you pigtail the neutral and ground wires, do ...
- 19.3k
14
votes
Accepted
When do I need a neutral on a 240V branch circuit?
A nema 6 outlet has two hots and a ground, it is used for pure 240V equipment.
A nema 14 outlet has two hots, a ground and a neutral. It is used for equipment that has both 120V and 240V components.
A ...
- 4,189
14
votes
Accepted
Using 10/2 and/or 8/2 for a 240 only 3-prong
No, that's illegal and has always been illegal.
You are confusing neutral and ground, which is understandable since they go to the same place in the main panel. However they are actually different ...
14
votes
A 240V heater is wired w/ 2 hots and no neutral. What should the voltage between two hots read?
It means that the hots are on the same phase.
They need to be on opposite phases for your heater to work. Make sure that both hots are fed from a 2 phase breaker in your panel And not a narrow double ...
- 8,118
13
votes
240 V outlet is not delivering 240 V
One possibility is that the two hots, labelled X and Y, are on the same line or leg of the service.
The 240V electrical service typical in the US is a three wire Edison circuit, with two of the ...
- 24.3k
13
votes
I want to install generic capability for future car charging. What 240v outlet on the outside of the house is acceptable?
In my humble opinion, I'd run #6-3 w/ground from the panel to a outlet box accessible from the outside and just cover it with a water tight cover. Wait until you get your car and then get the breaker ...
- 53.6k
13
votes
Do travel voltage transformers really not have grounding?
TL/DR: there is no way this abomination is certified to any of the usual standards like UL. If a device that requires Earth is plugged into that, it won't be safe. If they ignore such basic safety ...
- 5,810
13
votes
Alternative GFCI Wiring in Strict 240V Scenario?
Put the GFCI breaker at the supply panel. Done & dusted!
Now, I think it’s very prudent (and generally mandated) to have a local disconnect with a GFCI breaker...
Not quite right. There is no ...
12
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between three phase 240 V and standard household 240 V?
Input Phase Angle and number of transformers needed. For High-Delta, type of transformer.
All voltages below are expressed in RMS Average, not Peak...
I find it really hard to refer to Split-Phase ...
- 11k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible