110VAC from 220VAC How to?

[chopped]

Just click above to un-subscribe.It wont show up on your home page then.:thumbsup:

 

[SPYDERLK]

?

the ground path is the path back to a breaker that results in opening the circuit. I have seen circuits shorted into the earth, but not connected with a ground wire , continue to run power thru the circuit, and the breaker doesnt trip. even though the circuit IS shorted to ground.

The breaker wasnt seeing trip current then. Ground should be bonded to the box and tied in with neutral there too. I dont think anyone here is talking about using the earth as a conductor. It is of course somewhat of a conductor, but the ground wire provides the true conductor path. If the ground wire carries current and is also connected to the case of a tool youll get a tingle if youre far from the box. Any breaker will still blo if the tool overdraws its rating and a 220 GFI breaker would trip regardless of load because it wants to see a zero sum of the 2 hots and neutral. Current in the ground would skew the sum and it would trip the hot lines off.
larry

 

[brien]

This is an old thread I know. But for others searching this as I was here is how a 240V circuit works without a neutral. Usually 12-2 UF is used. The white neutral is adopted as the second hot or L2. So because it is alternating current both of these hot wires have "holes" in the delivery of energy about 60 times a second. That's why you feel that stutter when you get shocked. So when the black wire is hot at +120VAC the other hot wire (the white wire in this case) is at at -120VAC and the circuit from the black wire is actually completed inside this hole on the white wire. So when L1 is +120VAC, L2 is -120VAC. On a 240VAC circuit the bare ground wire carries no current.

This is all possible because the utility company delivers 240V on opposite phases.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I strongly disagree with the idea that only licensed electricians should give advice here. If the proposed setup is a BAD IDEA, anyone, including convicted felons in prison, should speak up and say so. I'm even sure that somewhere, sometime, a non-electrician has learned from experience that even though it meets code, it is still a BAD IDEA because ....

There is lots of good practical advice here from non-professionals. That statement is not intended to detract in any respect from the licensed professionals who also give a lot of good advice here. If some setup doesn't meet code somewhere, and an electrician says "don't do it", that is also appreciated by those who just want information. Electrical codes are written to eliminate some risk of property loss, death, or injury, and the laws of physics do not change when you cross political boundaries.

For example, if the OP wanted to tie one wire of his electric drill into one of the 110v wires, and run the other wire to a ground rod and run the high risk of death or injury, personally I think anyone recognizing the dangers should speak up.

 

[SPYDERLK]

The problem is in understanding and sorting advice. Critical thinking is necessary to assess and integrate info streams that are somewhat skewed . Its hard to get there unless you know enuf to get to the bootstrap level ... and practice.
larry

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Wish someone would 'pull the plug' on this thread. :confused2:

That would cause the thread to SHORT, and that would be dangerous. :laughing:

 

[k0ua]

Ok so why is the 240 volt to 120 volt transformer not a good idea for this. I don't see how that could be unsafe. You would have to size the transformer to the current load you intend to draw.. They are common and cheap. And I don't see how it would violate the NEC. Any yea's or Nay's?

James K0UA

 

[jonyyuma]

87 pops and it is still going???Sorry, but i just have to see what is being spelled out..Arguement over thousands of miles apart? Anybody hooking up a windmill today?

 

[SPYDERLK]

Ok so why is the 240 volt to 120 volt transformer not a good idea for this. I don't see how that could be unsafe. You would have to size the transformer to the current load you intend to draw.. They are common and cheap. And I don't see how it would violate the NEC. Any yea's or Nay's?

James K0UA

Just so you dont try using an autotransformer [like a Variac], I dont see why that would be unsafe. Neither output on the secondary would have a reference to ground so neither lead alone would shock you. Yould have to touch both leads somehow. Perhaps someone else can tell us of any pitfalls.:confused3:
larry

 

[k0ua]

Just so you dont try using an autotransformer [like a Variac], I dont see why that would be unsafe. Neither output on the secondary would have a reference to ground so neither lead alone would shock you. Yould have to touch both leads somehow. Perhaps someone else can tell us of any pitfalls.:confused3:
larry

The only thing I can think of is the usual risk of any transformer and that is a breakdown of the transformer itself from primary to secondary.. But billions of transformers are used every day, and it could happen to any of them.(by the way I saw a video once of a local service 5KV transformer, that went primary to secondary, and let me tell you that house just about came apart at the seams) I don't see why this would not safely solve the problem..I would probably put a fuse in in the secondary, at about 1.5 times the expected current draw and let it go. Oh. I ain't no electrician, and I don't play one on TV, but I did stay at a....

James K0UA