Wiring Help Needed

[Industrial Toys]

I have a sub panel in my wood shed. Off that, is a 50 amp stove receptacle that I can plug in a variety of heavy items, if need be. Then there is another 4 position panel, with a GFI that runs to my hot tub. That panel has a stove plug that plugs into the stove receptacle. Probably not code, but hey, I like it.

 

[sld]

Wow! Thanks for the replies.

Best course of action is a new outlet which is easy enough to do. Going to that trouble I will string a line capable of 220. It's all unfinished basement from the box to the wall I need to penetrate.

If I run the 220 line now, could I still just use it for a 120 outlet for now? I would rather not mess with the hot tub innards until I drain it in the spring.

 

[joefromga]

It's 240.

If you run the proper wire then you can make it whatever you want now and change it later. For 240 with neutral you'll need a romex with a black, red, white and green wire inside. Until you're ready to wire up the tub you'd leave the red wire unused on both ends, use the white, black and green for the 120 receptacle. Wire that to a 15a or 20a breaker and then change it later on.

But if you need to add stuff for the future why not run a sub panel out there with its own breakers and add circuits as needed? Using the proper gauge wire you could have all sorts of receptacles out there and never have to go back inside your walls.

Maybe lighting, fan, or whatever. And run the smoker and tub at the same time.

 

[clemsonfor]

i think i would just run a new wire from my panel or a sub other than the AC box for this purpose.

 

[Aquamoose]

On GFCI outlets code requires a sticker to say ungrounded outlet. Most actually come with the stickers and they'll pass inspection on older buildings. It's definitely safer to people but many homes still have the 2 wire system. The wiring is protected through neutral to buss bar but if your non-double insulated tool shorts to the case you'll get a shock and maybe be killed without a ground. But who knows in a gcfi setup if that would still happen. Most likely no.

I added individual grounds for each outlet in my first home that came with the older 2-wire system by dropping the grounds down to the bottom of the house crawl space. I wanted to upgrade to the 3 outlets and definitely wasn't going to cut corners. Was so proud of myself and my accomplishments until a friend (electrical contractor) came by and told me that I could have done it easier by still using GFCI outlets. Oh well. When I sold the house, the home inspector for the buyer told me that it was the best 1950's house he has ever inspected. I did many nice upgrades when I owned it.

 

[buickanddeere]

I recently installed a 4 person hot tub that plugs into a GFCI 110v outlet on the deck. The manual says it only pulls 13 amps max so no issues there.

The problem is I use my electric smoker on the deck also and running both will obviously trip the breaker. This particular outlet shares some other outlets as well on the same breaker but nothing that gets used much.

I would like to add a dedicated outlet for either the smoker or hot tub. I have heard you can tap into the 220v junction box mounted to the outside of the house that feeds the AC unit. Is this possible to tap into this for a 110v source? Since i drain the hot tub during the warm months it would never be used at the same time as the AC. The smoker gets used year around.

Ideally, I run wire to create new 220v outlet for the hot tub as it can also run on 220v. I am just not that motivated yet.

240V AC units usually do not have a neutral. Anyone using the bare ground as a neutral has no clue what they are doing and the fools are a hazard to life and property.

 

[Qapla]

I will admit that, at times, due to my work, I sometimes need temporary power and use a "cheater cord" to get 110/120 from a 220/240 A/C unit.

However, I know this is not the correct way to connect a circuit and would never make a permanent connection like this.

If it were me, short of running a set of wires large enough for a sub-panel, I would run the 220/240 circuit for the hot tub instead of the 110/120 circuit for the smoker. After all, converting the hot tub to 220/240 would cut the amps in half and reduce the operating cost.

 

[MossRoad]

I will admit that, at times, due to my work, I sometimes need temporary power and use a "cheater cord" to get 110/120 from a 220/240 A/C unit.

However, I know this is not the correct way to connect a circuit and would never make a permanent connection like this.

If it were me, short of running a set of wires large enough for a sub-panel, I would run the 220/240 circuit for the hot tub instead of the 110/120 circuit for the smoker. After all, converting the hot tub to 220/240 would cut the amps in half and reduce the operating cost.

Since the power company charges on wattage, not amperage, you'll be hard pressed to see any real savings on that.

 

[dragoneggs]

Since the power company charges on wattage, not amperage, you'll be hard pressed to see any real savings on that.

Yeah wouldn't that be great if you could go 240 and cut your bills in half! Ha ha.

 

[LD1]

Operating cost will be less on 240v. But not really noticable. Maybe pennies a year