Help Wiring 220V Please

[961kyle]

I just bought a Fahrenheat Model FUH electric space heater for the garage. It needs 220, hard wired and tells me to use 10/2 with ground wiring. I think I know how to do it but do not want to find out that I don't the hard way. Im thinking I need a double pole 30 amp breaker, white wire to one side of the breaker, black wire to the other side of the breaker, bare wire to ground. If anyone has experience with this please feel free to let me know if I am headed in the right direction or if I am doing it wrong.

 

[Rick in PA]

I'm not an expert, but I've done some home wiring including a couple of cloths dryer outlets and a water heater with similar requirements. Your plan sounds good to me.

 

[SuperDave456]

I've been doing similar work to yours for a bit.
I'm 30 and this is my first house. The house was built in 1978 and i have done quite a bit of electrical work to it.

First, you need to figure out if they still make breakers for your house.
The breaker box that came with this house was a "Federal Pacific" box.
From what I understand all "Federal Pacific" breaker boxes were recalled in the 80's due to the fact that the circuits never break... they arc, melt wires, and burn down houses.

You may have an old breaker box that new breakers won't fit into.

However, if you do have all the correct stuff I have my trusty "Advanced Home Wiring" book next to me, by Black and Decker.

It says:
120/240-volt circuits:
Connect red and black wires to double-pole breaker. Connect white wire to neutral bus bar, and grounding wire to grounding bus bar.
For 240-volt circuits, attach white and black wires to double-pole breaker, tagging white wire with black tape. There is no neutral bus bar connection on this circuit.

Note:
Older 240-volt circuits use three wires; 2 hot and one neutral. Recent codes require four wires, the added wire is for grounding.
Also, all 240-volt circuits are dedicated circuits that use #10 wire.

You will want to get a book and read up on it, 240 volts will cook you awful quick.

 

[tom slick]

Originally Posted By: SuperDave456

Note:
Older 240-volt circuits use three wires; 2 hot and one neutral. Recent codes require four wires, the added wire is for grounding.
Also, all 240-volt circuits are dedicated circuits that use #10 wire.

You will want to get a book and read up on it, 240 volts will cook you awful quick.


Close, but 240v 3-wire circuits are 2 hots and a ground, no neutral because single phase 240v has no neutral.
4-wire 240v has a neutral because many appliances will use one hot leg for 120v.

Also all 30A 240v circuits will use 10 AWG, 20A or 50A will use different sizes.

Kyle's wiring plan is correct, 2 hots and a ground, no neutral needed, nor will he have anywhere to connect it.

 

[Rick in PA]

Oops, I missed the point about tagging the white wire with black tape. Wrap some black tape around it at each end where it makes the connection. That's because the white is not being used as a "neutral" conductor.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: tom slick

Also all 30A 240v circuits will use 10 AWG, 20A or 50A will use different sizes.


AC compressor circuits are a notable exception to that rule. The wire is sized according to minimum circuit ampacity (MCA) on the dataplate, and the breaker or fuse is sized according to the maximum overcurrent protection (MOP), also on the dataplate.

 

[961kyle]

Good to hear. Glad I was headed in the right direction. I have done plenty of electrical work but none of that being 220 I was not 100% sure. And electricity is one of those things I would rather not make a mistake with. Thanks guys.

 

[tom slick]

Welder circuits also have special instructions in the NEC; becuase of their duty cycle they can run a smaller circuit. Also, data plate and appliance instructions override NEC rules.

 

[GMFan]

A common thing overlooked by many homeowners is to inspect your circuit breakers every so often and "exercise" them. To do this, simply manually trip the breaker and quickly reset it a few times (turn appliances/computers etc off first). This helps lubricates the spring loaded mechanism and ensures that the breaker isn't fused closed from overload from failing to trip and that it can properly reset (meaning it is good condition).

I've heard stories of breakers failing to trip on short circuits and homes burning down. Also, don't forget to exercise the main breaker as well...they rarely get exercise as the branch breakers almost always trip before the main. Electricians find in older commercial/industrial/residential building failed circuit breakers in panels all the time. Ticking time bombs. Good facility personnel include breaker exercising/testing every other year or so to ensure safety of their electrical systems.

Anybody with a Federal Pacific panel should replace it ASAP... They are junk.