Dryer outlet to 20 amp 120 volt box

[Lonny]

I made my own converters today. I decided that if Mytee could do it, so could I. Course these were only about $25 each including tax., not including the small soldering burn on my poor little finger . This may be old news- but they work and I am a happy camper. Good day all I am out for now.

 

[John Watson]

Are they Grounded properly???? The one we made up 15 years ago, we had to have an extra wire we clamped to an external ground or somebody could get killed if they became the ground standing in a damp area.. They got somethin knew out there now???

What say Jim Martin, he seems to be sparky smart....John LaB might want to comment too..

 

[Al]

I've been thinking about making some too, curious to know about the ground wire though?

8)

 

[Nate The Great]

Are they Grounded properly???? The one we made up 15 years ago, we had to have an extra wire we clamped to an external ground or somebody could get killed if they became the ground standing in a damp area.. They got somethin knew out there now???

What say Jim Martin, he seems to be sparky smart....John LaB might want to comment too..

Grounding wire, I got 2 of those boxes. The grounding wire with the clamp on the end. Course the one we have only has 2 outlets on it, not four. I did get shocked couple of times using it. Works though.

 

[Jim Martin]

I am assuming you took a dryer cord and put one hot wire on one outlet ..... the other hot wire on the other outlet .....then used the neutral and ground for both outlets....??

If you have a problem or a short you are going to be in trouble.....what everyone keeps forgetting is that you have to separate each outlet with its own fuse/breaker......if something was to happen to the outlet on the right or the left individually .... it would have a hard time tripping the dryer breaker because it is 30 amps and phased together....

It is like what Tim did at his house..he over amped his lighting..... so if there is a short it will probably over heat the wire and start a fire before the amperage gets high enough to trip the breaker...and once the amperage does get high enough it don't matter from that point the fire has already started....this is the same thing..you have over amped the outlets because a dryer is on a 30 amp double pole breaker ...you separated the poles/phases with each outlet to a single pole and expect each side to trip a 30 amp double breaker by itself ......
so because the breakers are phased together at the panel ..when you separate them in your box you made you have to isolate each one...........

and before anyone goes down the GFI outlet road.....yes you could of used them and that would of half/assed isolated each outlet...but you would of probably kept tripping it and wore it out before to long..they were not really designed for this type of usage...I have seen some fuse themselves on the inside and lose there ground fault when not used for the right application...make it like I described above and it will last forever...and be trouble free..not to mention safe for everyone....

as far as the grounding............. both boxes and outlets have to have a physical ground on them...so if you have the old dryer/range outlets with the 3 prong cords this can not be done because they have no physical ground..they only have a neutral ground....

 

[SRI Cleaning]

All you have to do is take the box with the 3 prong plug and have another pigtail coming out of it and going to the ground terminal of a standard male plug. And simply plug that into a nearby standard outlet. problem solved.

 

[Jim Martin]

that is true........and I really tossed around adding that to my post because if you get into the older home that only have the 2 prong outlets they still do not have a physical ground....
you could bond the outlet to the box and add a separate wire with a clamp on the end and clamp it to a water pipe and that will give you a physical ground...that will work and is pretty safe as long as it is done correct and not a bare ground wire....

 

[SRI Cleaning]

that is true........and I really tossed around adding that to my post because if you get into the older home that only have the 2 prong outlets they still do not have a physical ground....
you could bond the outlet to the box and add a separate wire with a clamp on the end and clamp it to a water pipe and that will give you a physical ground...that will work and is pretty safe as long as it is done correct and not a bare ground wire....

Yeah a clamp is a good idea too! But! You have to be careful because not all cold water pipes are grounded sufficiently. When the water meter is added inline, they are threaded in and the telfon tape can significantly degrade the ground connection. There is supposed to be a ground jumper from before the meter to right after it to "reground" the pipe but sometimes this connection becomes loose over time and sometimes it is simply non existant.
Maybe you could set it up with the male plug and then have a female plug that goes to a clamp so in the chance that you only have 2 prong outlets you can plug it into your "clamp."

 

[Jim Martin]

the clamp on the pipe just gives the short someplace to go/release away from the outlet.. (physical ground)

like I said..this is why I did not add all this to my post.... there are things that can be done..but I only try to stay with what is 100%

 

[Larry Cobb]

Lonny;

I applude your innitative, but the National Electrical Code is very strict on the proper technique.

They insist on approved circuit breakers for every 115 VAC circuit from the box:

The four black 20 amp breakers in our distribution box above, prevent wiring overheating, in a short circuit condition.
Proper grounding is also required for shock prevention.

You could be liable for improper wiring.

Larry Cobb

 

[Numero Uno]

Buy from Larry,nuff said. Unless you want a boom in yer basement...

 

[John Watson]

Hot Damn, Jim was you one of those "Sparky' guys in your previous life time??? Just knew you would have an answer that us, "The ones who know a little bit bout everyting, but not the whole enchalata" could understand and relate to.

Another thing I was told during my WISHA (OSHA) vist by the agent, He said sumthing like this " During the walk around inspection I look for all types of infractions. I will give you 5 minutes in your shop before I enter incase you have any ungrounded plugs, bad extension cords, or illegal power boxes which you might want to hide for now and dispose of later. I can fine you wery heavily just for having them...)

After the inspection (He found 3 infractions just in the shop, our cleaning crews and trucks were out in the field so he didn't get to inspect them.) I had Helen call their pagers and told them to stay away till we called them back in. I asked about his warning and giving me time to go through the shop first. He said the last 2 water damage companies he inspected both had illegal power boxes that they thought were legal. No proper ground.

 

[Lonny]

The 4 prong is proper, the 3 prong, erm, will be :mrgreen: I will be adding said pigtail to it. I dunno why I didn't think of that. How do you suppose the Mytee style pigtails are grounded with the 3 prong older style units? I have seen no indication of a breaker box inside, nor an extra pigtail or other extrusion for a ground? Not that it really matters, curiosity and all.

 

[Larry Cobb]

Lonny;

The biggest problem is the lack of overload protection for the 20 amp circuits and equipment you plug into the circuits.

The 4 Pole plug does have a ground, but the 3 Pole plug does not.

Larry

 

[Lonny]

Larry-
Gotcha. I don't think I will be using the 3 prong then. I really hadn't considered the overload protection. The last thing I need is a house fire. I have plenty of cord, but we loves our conveniences we do. Besides, everything runs so nice on the actual 20 amp plugs.