Help, is this a 220V Plug?

[Alan Wong]

I currently rent a house, and just moved in. I didn't think it was pre-wired for 220V, but i noticed this plug next to the washer/dryer area. Is this a 220V plug? Is there a way I can test to see if its live?

If you can't read the picture the brand is "LEVITON" and it says "30A-125/250V"

[Tony Bilello]

How to test it? Buy a $3 electric meter and test it.

[Alan Wong]

So does that mean I can use this 220V plug for a table saw or any other 220V tool?

My current dryer is using gas.

[Jude Tuliszewski]

Chances are it is 220 for the dryer, but as said before, get a cheap volt tester and make sure. Also look in the breaker box and look for a breaker marked dryer as 220 will have its own breaker, and I would say it is for that reseptical. Yes you could run 220 woodworking tools from it. You will have preanty of juice as it will probably be 30 amps, but be warned it will also have pleanty of juice to fry them as well as a lot of woodworking tools are rated at much less than 30 amps. Having said that, I have been running various tools form a dryer line for a long time with no trouble.

[Alan Wong]

Sorry I am not too electrical saavy. I am pretty sure it is a for the dryer, since its right above the dryer area. So a dryer 220V recepticle is not compatible with normal 220V table saws? I will go right now to pick-up a voltage tester at lowes.

[Bruce Page]

Alan, it likely is 220 for a clothes dryer but as Tony suggested you should check it with a volt meter to be sure.
I tapped into my unused dryer outlet to power some 220 shop tools (one at a time) before I had an electrician hard wire 220 out to the shop.

[Alan Wong]

I just checked out my breaker box, and indeed I believe its for the dyer. I'm still a little confused, so yes i can run a table saw off this outlet? I don't have a table saw yet, I was going to buy a hybrid saw since I thought I couldn't run 220V, but noticed this plug. Can i just buy the correct plug and use a 220V table saw right up to it?
Do I need to swap it out for a higher power breaker?
Its a rental so I don't think I can do any wiring on my own.

[Jim Becker]

If your table saw is 240v, then you can run it off that outlet if it is also 240v. You just need the correct mating plug. Table saws (cabinet saw variety) typically do not come with a plug installed since you have a choice of different types and amperage ratings involved. There is an actual alpha-numeric type designation on that outlet...you'll need that to match the male plug to it.

[Duncan Horner]

Do I need to swap it out for a higher power breaker?


Do not do this. The proper breaker size is determined by the gauge of the wire and the length of the run. Unless you know your stuff don't mess with it.

What voltage is the breaker supplying?

What amperage is the breaker rated at?

Is the rated amperage/voltage sufficient for your equipment?

Does the receptacle have all the wire connections you need on your equipment?

Those are the questions you need to answer. If they all add up, then it is usable, provided you can find a plug to match.

[Tony Bilello]

1). You can use any 220V power tools with this socket. 220/240V ac is the same all over America. There is no difference whether you run a a dryer an Air Conditioner or tools. 220/240 is 220/240. Its that simple. YES YES YES It will work with your tools. Just find a matching plug and use 10 gauge wire and you will be fine.
2) That socket is a standard Dryer Plug and can be bought in just about any hardware store. Chances are it would be harder to find a hardware store that doesn't have it in stock.
3) Someone on here is bound to mention 3 phase. Don't even think about 3 phase. That is a whole different story and you wont find that in the normal tools you will buy nor will it be provided in a home. Just make like 3 phase doesn't exist.

Buy the plug and hook it up and enjoy your 220/240 V tools.
Sometimes it will say 220V and sometimes it will say 240 V. For all intents and purposes, it is one and the same.

[Robert Payne]

Based on the picture of the breaker box you posted Alan, the dryer has a 30 Amp 220/240 Volt breaker -- as Tony said, with the correct plug connected to your 220/240 volt tool, you can run anything up to a 5 HP motor in it. The outlet you showed int he first post is a standard 3-wire dryer outlet used in the 90's -- most homes now have a 4-wire outlet to provide a dedicated equipment ground lacking from the 3-wire outlets.

I prefer to use 3-wire twist lock plugs on my 220V tools, either the L5-20P or L6-30P with corresponding receptacles. All of mine are wired with 10 ga. wire.

[Denny Rice]

Alan,

Take it from a guy that works with 110V and 220V electricty everyday, if you have any doubt what you are doing find a friend or relative that has expierence with electrial work. About 10 yrs ago my brother in law got in over his head trying to replace his 220V water heater, needless to say he got the old one out but could not get the new one in. I got a phone call that Saturday night while the Red Wings were on TV and my wife ask me to go to her sisters house and help him! When I got there it was a mess and he had not labeled any wiring. I finished the install of his water heater and had a basic 3 wire 220 volt wiring job, not a big deal so I thought. That night I was hit with 220 volts and thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. It should of been no big deal white to white, black to black and a green ground. What my brother in law did not tell me was that someone before me had been in his breaker box and fooled with the water heaters breaker and this fool had taken both hot wires going to the 220V breaker and cut them and wire-nut both wires with a new piece of wire but the problem was this person ran a piece of white wire to the black wire and black wire to white wire and hooked these wires back into the breaker. So for his old water heater to work the white wire had to be hooked to the black wire coming from the bb and so on. From that night, I not only cut the power by flipping the breaker off but I also remove the 4 screws that hold the cover on the breaker box and check out the handy work of others before I take something for granted. Its not the voltage that will kill a person but the pressure which moves the voltage that can kill you.

[Tom Veatch]

I currently rent a house, and just moved in. I didn't think it was pre-wired for 220V, but i noticed this plug next to the washer/dryer area. Is this a 220V plug? Is there a way I can test to see if its live?

If you can't read the picture the brand is "LEVITON" and it says "30A-125/250V"


As mentioned before, use a circuit tester or VOM to verify the voltages. If the voltage is correct, the blade configuration of the receptacle isn't a factor in whether or not the circuit will support the table saw. Likewise if the circuit breaker is a 30A breaker, the breaker and receptacle are in balance and nothing needs to be changed.

I can't really tell for sure what the blade configuration is from the photograph due to the low light/low contrast as displayed on my monitor. However, it will be one of two possible straight blade configurations, NEMA 10-30 or 14-30. As best I can tell there are only three opening in the receptacle. If that's the case it's a 10-30 and there is a small problem with using it for your table saw. There is no provision for a ground connection.

Assuming it's a NEMA 10-30, the two angled blades are the hot connections and the L shaped blade is the neutral connection. The 10-30 configuration is intended to be used for loads which require both 240 and 120 volt supplies, like a dryer. There will be 240 volts between the two angled blades and 120 volts between either angled blade and the L shaped blade. The table saw only requires 240 but it should have a ground wire, not a neutral wire. For your application the receptacle really should be replaced with a 6-30 device. That also has 3 connections but one is for ground and there is no provision for a neutral wire.

Technically that receptacle, with its mating plug can be made to work in your application. It would require wiring the ground wire from the table saw to the neutral connection in the mating plug and leaving everything else as it is. That, of course, is assuming the the receptacle is properly wired as it now sits. Even so, there may be problems with that approach.

The proper way to do it, for a number of reasons, is to replace the receptacle with the correct 240v receptacle, a NEMA 6-30. But that leaves you with the question of a ground wire. If the circuit was wired with a 10/3 cable that included a ground wire, there's no problem. Simply connect the two hot wires (black and red) to the hot terminals and the bare ground to the ground terminal. Cap off the white neutral wire and leave it disconnected.

If there is no bare or green wire in the circuit you may be able to get away with using the receptacle's neutral wire as your ground wire. There are two conditions that must be met before you even consider this. First, there must be NO OTHER OUTLETS on the circuit, either now or in the future. Second the breaker for that circuit must be in a panel in which the panel's ground bus and neutral bus are bonded together. Normally that will only be the case in the main or service entrance panel. If either one of those conditions are violated there is a potential hazard to converting the circuit's neutral wire to a ground wire and should NOT be done.

If both conditions are met, and your local codes permit, the white neutral wire should be marked with a green identification in a manner acceptable to your local jurisdiction. Usually a length of green heatshrink tubing on each end of the wire will meet that requirement. Check with the local code authority.

If you use the existing neutral conductor as a ground when there are other outlets on the circuit you will put your saw's chassis in the current carrying circuit any time the other outlet on the circuit is being used. That will guarantee that when the other circuit is in use, there will be some voltage to ground on the saw's chassis. It may not be enough to feel. I may only be enough to cause a slight tingle when you touch the saw. But, it's also possible that under some conditions it could be enough to be dangerous.

So, what would I do under the circumstances? IF AND ONLY IF it is a single outlet circuit, I'd swap the 10-30 for a 6-30 outlet, reidentify the white wire as a ground wire, and, if the ground and neutral busses are physically separated in the breaker box, relocate the reidentified wire to the ground bus.

[Don Abele]

Alan, I'm going to echo what Tony and others have said and take into consideration what you stated - you are renting and can not make any wiring/circuitry changes.

I have rented A LOT of houses in my 21 years in the Navy and none would allow me to rewire anything for 220/240. But almost all of them had it available through dryer plugs or in my current house (which I own) a welder outlet.

The outlet you have has two hots (the angled ones) and a neutral. In your main panel (the photo), the neutral and ground buses a "bonded" or connected together. So the straight blade at the bottom is technically a ground. No, it's not colored correctly, but you can't fix that (adding the colored shrink wrap is altering the wiring). But it IS still a ground.

So you have all you need to run a 220/240 tool. Get the correct mating plug and wire the two hots to the top and the ground to the bottom. It will work perfectly with no problems. Use 10 gauge wire, which is easily available at the borgs. When you move, you unplug it and there's been no change to the properties wiring and you never violated your lease.

The ONLY thing I would caution you on is the breaker. It's 30 amps. So if you run a tablesaw that only needs a 20 amp breaker you'll burn the motor up well before that breaker ever trips. BUT...the breaker is really there to protect the wiring, not what's plugged in to it. Just something to be aware of, but not something that would stop me from using it.

Last bit of advice...if you are not 100% certain in your ability to wire the tablesaw cord correctly, get help from someone that is. But I can personally assure you from many, many years of experience that using this outlet will work and will work safely.

Be well,

Doc

[Tom Veatch]

Alan, I'm going to echo what Tony and others have said and take into consideration what you stated - you are renting and can not make any wiring/circuitry changes...

Ahhhh, missed the comment about renting. In that case this intended use isn't permanent and there won't, or shouldn't, be any circuit modifications down the road that could cause a hazard. So, if the circuit is a single outlet circuit and the busses in the breaker box are bonded, I'll echo the advice to use a 10-30 plug and wire it with the equipment ground to the L shaped blade and enjoy.

[Alan Wong]

thanks for all the replys guys. I tested the socket last night and indeeed it is 240V and working. Hopefully I'll be purchasing a table saw soon.

So I'll be fine wiring say :
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tls/888084075.html

that table saw up and should work fine? I've never owned a table saw, so I thought there is just a plug on the back of the table saw. But there are just exposed wires I have to solder to a cable and plug?

[Lucas Bittick]

No solder. Visit your local electrical supply to get a 240v wire-in plug.

http://www.managemyhome.com/mmh/ideas/ViewCategoryNavigationAction.action?level1=Topics&level2Index=4&level3Index=1&uid=10c1ca4b-e33c-11db-8a44-b57745f8a18d&contentType=Article

It shouldn't be too complicated, but if you are really unsure/uncomfortable about wiring the plug, then play it safe and find an electrician. The consequences of a mistake drastically outweigh the cost of hiring out the work.

[Don Abele]

Alan, that outlet will take care of that saw you posted, no problem. The link that Lucas posted shows the basic idea of wiring a plug. No all plugs wire exactly the same, but that article gives you the basic idea of it and should guide you through it.

Best of luck and be sure and let us know (with pics) when you get your table saw.

Be well,

Doc

[Alan Wong]

I just wanted to thank everyone that helped me out. I got the my new Grizzly G1023SLW on friday and a good portion of the weekend setting it up.

I'm just starting woodworking and this is my first table saw. Based on research everyone seemed to advise investing most of their money into a good cabinet saw. So hpoefully this will be a good start. Pictures below! I don't have a shop, its just the corner of my garage, but its a start!

taking the protective gunk off of the tops was the most time consuming part, picture shown below.

[Jim O'Dell]

Congrats Alan!! Man, that shiny top sure is pretty. I think you made a wise choice. If I end up buying a new TS next year, it will probably be the 1023. But I am also looking at used for a great deal on something. Enjoy your saw, and be safe! Jim.

[Curt Harms]

No "my first tablesaw", that one. A very good choice (though I'm biased...I have its older relative:)) and it's unlikely you'll feel the need to upgrade anytime soon. Enjoy.

Curt

PS Now you need the router table extension that's in the free stuff drawing by quality grinding.:D

[Don Abele]

Alan, congrats. That's a real purty lookin' saw...time to get 'er hooked up and start making some dust.


Curt...doesn't look like he needs that extension. There appears to be a router insert already in the right hand extension. Either that or something chewed a hole in the table :D.

Be well,

Doc

[Chris Padilla]

Ah, one's first new table saw!! Congrats!!

[Luther Oswalt]

Alan - Please be sure you use all the safety devices on your saw as well as the safety warnings from the mfg. I have use table saws for a good part of my life and Sept 11 while working on extention table for my present saw I got a bad kick back ... a 2' x 2' x 3/4" ply came flying back and mashed the index finger on my right hand. The Doctor had to do a skin graft (approx 1-1/2" x1-1/2") before he could do any work on the break. I don't tell you of this to scare you but show the need for never dropping your guard or for thinking you can get away with a little gamble! I was sitting here doing my therapy and reading ....The Doc said there were "100s" of pieces of bone in the hand ... and it will be sometime before I am able to use this hand and even longer before I regain the use of this damaged finger!


Now having told you my story ... just be safe and you will enjoy your beautiful new saw!
Leo