Electrical question

[Jack Gilvey]

Howdy,

In my basement I have two outlets which appear to be for plugs like this :



The electrical box labels them as 30A circuits for washer/dryer. I've never used them for anything as my washer and dryer have standard plugs on 20A circuits. Would it be possible to run my new table saw (Ryobi 3100, 15A) on one of these circuits?

[Dennis H]

That's a 240 volt connection.

[GrahamT]

That would be a 230/240 volt outlet. You may be able to get an electrician to modify it (115/120 volt) so that you can hook up the table saw.

Edit: Damn you Dennis, you beat me to it!

[Jack Gilvey]

Ahh, ok...thanks!

[Bent]

JAck, that plug looks like a 30 amp RV plug - 30 amps at 120 volts.

I asume your Ryobi is a 120 volt saw?
you can use it if you have a cord to match, just make sure you identify which is the hot leg and which is the neutral, or there is a small chance (very small) your saw could either short to ground or (slightly greater, nut still quite small) that your saw's case/frame can become energized.

If the same is 120/240 volt, them you can't use it, as there is no provision for both hot legs, a neural and a ground (four seperate conductors).

[Dennis H]

[Bent]

oops, ya got me Dennis.
I didn't notice the centre plug was "L" shaped.

ops: ops: ops:

[Jack Gilvey]

Yeah, it's definitely the second from the left on the bottom row. Would it be a huge undertaking for an electrician to make it usable for standard power tools? I'd love to have the 30A circuit available. I want to run a wet/dry vac for dust collection at the same time, and 20A goes quickly.

[PMazz]

Depends on your electrician and if the box has a seperate ground. A 220V circuit is simply 2 110 legs and a neutral. On newer circuits a seperate ground wire is also present in the box. So, for a std receptacle, you could use 1 of the 110 legs and the neutral and bare ground wire. If there's no seperate ground wire, then you'll only have a basic 2 prong ungrounded receptacle. You'll also have to change the breaker out from a dbl pole to 2 singles. You can still leave the 10G wire and just use 20 amp breakers. So, getting back to "Depends on the electrician"..... Most won't, especially if there's no ground.

Pete

[Jack Gilvey]

Thanks, Pete.