I thought that I saw an electrician floating around here?

Hi All
First time poster here at RIU hope that I'm doing this right?
I have a question about how to hook up 120/240 electrical outlets.
I have a 3 wire 240 dryer outlet established that I would like to run 2 - 110 outlets and 1 - 240 outlet off of.
I don't want to start fires and I'm no electrician so I thought that I would see if I could get some help here.
Thanks for any input, ideas or expertise.

Peace MBT

just a thought about any advice you get from here or anywhere else for that matter - if you mess up and have a fire your insurance will peobably not cover it if the work was done by someone without a license.

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One good idea is to get a plug that would fit into the drier outlet then take the electrical lines from that and make all your plugs. If you need anything else I can get you a diagram and maybe a pic just let me know.

mikeybfshn2 said:

Hi All
First time poster here at RIU hope that I'm doing this right?
I have a question about how to hook up 120/240 electrical outlets.
I have a 3 wire 240 dryer outlet established that I would like to run 2 - 110 outlets and 1 - 240 outlet off of.
I don't want to start fires and I'm no electrician so I thought that I would see if I could get some help here.
Thanks for any input, ideas or expertise.

Peace MBT

Click to expand...

no you cant, unless you use a step down transformer that goes from 240 to 120. They are cheap and bulky to mount. Then if you did that you couldnt use the dryer. You really need to run a seperate line from a seperate breaker. you simply cant run a line from the 240 outlet and make an outlet.

First of all you can run 120 receptacles off of a 240 receptacle. And if you get the plug it wouldn't be that bulky to build and it's easy.

technically you should remove the outlet, do your splicing in a junction box and hook up your outlets in boxes... is you ground wire insulated?

240 it just both 120 phases together... then uses the ground in case...
4 wire dryers use both 120, neutral, and ground because the dryer runs it's motors off 240 and the control panel off 120... the 4th wire is so 120 has two paths to ground...

in 240 the ground is the extra path to ground.. but if it's insulated on your wire i say wtf why not... if not... maybe you shouldn't do this.. but if you do... wiring up the cord to the outlets you need or wahtever will work... it's functional.. just not the safest way.. and not the "correct" way

buggin69 said:

technically you should remove the outlet, do your splicing in a junction box and hook up your outlets in boxes... is you ground wire insulated?

240 it just both 120 phases together... then uses the ground in case...
4 wire dryers use both 120, neutral, and ground because the dryer runs it's motors off 240 and the control panel off 120... the 4th wire is so 120 has two paths to ground...

in 240 the ground is the extra path to ground.. but if it's insulated on your wire i say wtf why not... if not... maybe you shouldn't do this.. but if you do... wiring up the cord to the outlets you need or wahtever will work... it's functional.. just not the safest way.. and not the "correct" way

Click to expand...

his dryer prob has a step down transformer for the control panel. the 240 outlet prob has a double throw breaker anyways. There is no way you can make a 120 outlet out of a 240 outlet.

A 240 outlet is just 2 separate 120 lines. That's why there are two separate (connected via a connection bar in the breaker box) breakers.

yeah he could remove the breaker, wire one 15 or 20 amp breaker and use it as a 120 volt outlet, but im sure he wants to use his dryer too. if he uses his dryer and lets say 300 watts of lighting he is going to be tripping his breaker all the time, and if the breaker doesnt trip burn his house down. Sometimes you just have to tell people no so they dont do more harm than good.

I'm an insurance agent by day, and toker at night. If you do the electricity yourself, you most likely will be covered, depending on your policy. Ask your agent if electrical fires are covered. He'll know more about your policy than me, as I'm not your agent. Most policies we write are an all perils coverage, which means they cover everything. Many homeowners do remodels and electricity is one of those projects. So when a customer asks us if he's covered by his insurance, we tell them he is. Hey, stupidity is a covered. I'm not saying anyone here is stupid, but some of my clients are. And I wouldn't let them work on my house, let alone the electricity. Just don't tell your agent what the electricity work is for, because in some states your insurance can deny coverage because you are performing an illegal act. Just tell them your adding some electrical outlets, and you might even get a discount for updating your electricity.

stonesour said:

his dryer prob has a step down transformer for the control panel. the 240 outlet prob has a double throw breaker anyways. There is no way you can make a 120 outlet out of a 240 outlet.

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take a volt meter and stick it in one hot and then in ground on your 3 prong 240... tell me what it reads

the circuitry is there... it's just a matter of safety really