51
votes
240 V dryer outlet is reading 245 V
That is well within ANSI C84.1 North American Utlity Standards.
- 19.7k
49
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 ...
43
votes
Need to reduce voltage from 245v to under 240v for large printer
Note that AC power system voltage drifts all over the plane normally due to ordinary changing demands. So saying "it's 245V" - it may be 239V or 247V in another minute when an A/C unit ...
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 ...
- 86.2k
37
votes
Will installing European outlet in US change frequency to 50Hz?
TL;DR A different receptacle will not change voltage, frequency or anything about the electricity. It just changes the physical configuration.
But there are devices to change voltage and/or frequency. ...
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 ...
35
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 ...
32
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 ...
32
votes
Will installing European outlet in US change frequency to 50Hz?
No they do not convert the frequency.
- 1,844
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 ...
26
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 ...
25
votes
Will installing European outlet in US change frequency to 50Hz?
No, sockets don't change frequency. Changing frequency requires very complex electronics comparable to a VFD (Variable Frequency Drive). Basically a DC power supply coupled to a DC/AC inverter. The ...
24
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 ...
- 15.1k
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 ...
23
votes
Connect electric cable with 4 wires to 3-prong 30 Amp 125-Volt/250-Volt outlet?
This is an obsolete, dangerous, configuration, which gets perpetuated as follows:
Original 3-wire receptacle without ground (e.g., 1960s or earlier)
Code changed to require new circuits to use 4-wire ...
22
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 ...
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 ...
22
votes
Connect electric cable with 4 wires to 3-prong 30 Amp 125-Volt/250-Volt outlet?
Don't change the dryer socket. Change the dryer cord. They are designed to be easy to change and the dryer instructions (google the model number) or the labeling will show what to do with the ground ...
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.
- 48k
19
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. ...
19
votes
Accepted
Should my 240v electric stove be grounded to the neutral like this?
This appears to be a combination of errors:
Neutral vs. Ground
The installer is used to typical US 240V/120V stoves which require neutral. So they naturally connected the "not black, not red&...
18
votes
Accepted
Is this 240v circuit to garage for electric charger good or did I miss something?
I'll be adding a new 60amp gfci breaker to the panel.
I will be direct wiring the charger.
STOP!
These two statements are in conflict.
If you hardwire a charger then you do NOT need a GFCI/breaker. ...
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). ...
17
votes
Why does each leg of my 240V outlet measure 125V to ground, but 217V across the hot wires?
TL;DR Your voltages are normal and should pose you no trouble.
There are two main voltage setups for residential use in the US:
120V/240V
This is the most common. The 120V neutral is the midpoint on ...
16
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 ...
- 86k
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 ...
- 86k
16
votes
Should my 240v electric stove be grounded to the neutral like this?
According to the linked manual, you are correct and the installer should not have connected anything to the condo's neutral wire.
The red and black cooktop wires are for the 240V supply and the yellow ...
- 7,404
16
votes
Accepted
Can I use a 60amp AC disconnect box for a 30amp circuit?
TL;DR Yes
As long as there is already a breaker protecting the wire and equipment (which you indicated is the case), the disconnect is not there to provide any overcurrent protection but rather to ...
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