How To Install A 220 Volt Breaker

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While most NEMA outlets transfer 110 volts, larger appliances like dryers, stoves, and air conditioners crave more than power and utilize a two-phase 220-volt outlet or three-phase 200-volt outlet. If you don't already take a 220V outlet installed, you will demand to wire a new 1 where you want to install the apparatus. Wiring a new 220 outlet is a project that someone who has feel working with electricity tin can do safely by working advisedly and following the proper precautions. However, working on your excursion breaker box and electrical system tin lead to serious injury or death if you lot don't know what you're doing, so hire an electrician if yous aren't sure how to wire the outlet correctly.

1. 1

   Turn off the main ability on your circuit billow box. Open the door on the circuit breaker box in your home, normally located in a basement, hallway, or kitchen. Look for the breaker switch that controls all the ability in your habitation, which should be alone on either the superlative or side of the box. Flip the switch to the Off position to cutting the power to your home and so it's condom to work on your electrical system.^[1]

   • Tape the switch in the Off position and then other people know not to turn the switch back on while you're working.
   • Never work on your electrical system while the power is nonetheless on. Doing and so could result in serious injury or expiry.
   • Use a contact voltage tester on the wires within your circuit breaker box to see if they yet have power if you want to double cheque if they have a current through them.

2. 2

   Make a pigsty in the wall where you programme to install the 220 outlet that matches the size of the outlet box you're using. Use an outlet box that's large plenty to house the 220 outlet you program on installing. Find a spot on your wall that'due south next to a stud to place the outlet box, and trace the outline of the box on the wall with a pencil. Employ a drywall saw to cut through your wall along the outline you drew and then that you can set the outlet box inside.^[2]

   • You tin buy outlet boxes from your local hardware shop.
   • Deeper outlet boxes work best since y'all take to hide multiple wires inside of them.
   • You can likewise choose to mount the outlet box directly on your wall, which may be easier if you have cement or brick walls.

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3. 3

   Measure the distance from the circuit breaker box to where you desire to place the outlet. Find the shortest route from the hole you cut for the outlet to the main circuit breaker box in your home. You may need to get through the floor or the walls in your home to find the shortest road. Extend a tape measure from the outlet box along the path you chose to the circuit breaker box and record the measurement.^[three]

   • If possible, it'due south usually easier to run the wires vertically through the flooring than horizontally through your walls.
   • You may need to accept multiple measurements depending on the layout of your home and the obstacles between the outlet and circuit breaker box.

4. four

   Cut ten/4 cablevision and then it's 2–3 ft (61–91 cm) longer than your measurement. x/iv cable has red, blackness, white, and light-green wires within of it. Stretch out the cable then it'due south the same length equally the measurement you took plus an extra 2–iii feet (61–91 cm) so you can maneuver the wires around. Once you lot are sure y'all have the right corporeality of cable, use a pair of wire cutters to cutting through the ends of the cablevision.^[four]

   • Yous can buy 10/4 cable and wire cutters from your local hardware store.
   • The "10" in 10/iv refers to the wire gauge. You may also utilize 8-judge wires if for your 220 outlet if y'all want.

5. 5

   Drill or cut a pigsty near your circuit billow box so you tin can run the cable to it. Find the spot on your ceiling or wall past the circuit billow box that's along the path you measured before. Employ a drywall saw or drill to cut through the wall or ceiling to brand a hole that's 1 inch (ii.v cm) wider than the diameter of the cable. When you're finished, the cable volition run out of the hole and into the circuit breaker box.^[5]

   • If yous need to cutting through physical or brick, utilize a drill with a masonry fleck and then you don't cause whatsoever impairment to the tool or scrap the wall.

6. 6

   Install electric conduit between the billow box and the hole yous drilled. Wires for 220 lines cannot be exposed outside of your walls since they could easily get damaged, which could crusade serious injury or decease. Get enough rigid metal conduit to run from the side of the breaker box to the hole you cut and adhere it to your wall using conduit straps every 1–2 feet (xxx–61 cm).^[6]

   • If the 220 line goes through the flooring, and so you lot must also install conduit through the floor.
   • You don't have to run conduit in your walls.

7. 7

   Fish the cable through the walls between the outlet and breaker box. Use a fish tape, which is a long flexible cablevision with a hook on the end so you can easily pull wires and cables through your wall. Feed the fish tape into the hole near your excursion breaker box and push button it through toward the hole you cut for the outlet box. Once the tape reaches the outlet hole, attach the x/4 cablevision to the hook on the fish tape. Go dorsum to your circuit breaker box and reel in the fish record so it pulls the cable with information technology dorsum through the hole.^[vii]

   • Yous can buy fish tape from a hardware store or online.
   • If y'all don't desire to fish the cable through your walls, you tin likewise adhere metal conduits to your wall and feed the cablevision through information technology instead. Yous can buy metal conduits from your local hardware shop.

   Tip: If you need to run the cable through your wall horizontally, then you lot may need to drill holes through wall studs so you can fit the wire through it.

8. 8

   Screw the outlet box into the wall so it stays in place. Slide 1 foot (30 cm) of the ten/4 cable through the hole on the back of the outlet box. Position the outlet box inside of the hole and so the forepart sits flush with the wall, and secure the screw on the side of the box to the wall stud that's next to information technology.^[8]

   • If you're attaching the outlet box direct to a concrete or brick wall, be sure to use masonry anchors so the screws don't slip out of identify.

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1. one

   Remove 1 ft (thirty cm) of the outer coating of the 10/iv cable. Clamp a wire stripper around the outlet cease of the x/4 cablevision and then information technology's 1 foot (30 cm) from the end. Pull the wire stripper toward the terminate of the cable to cut through the outer blanket and expose the wires inside. If the coating doesn't come off right away, try clamping the stripper effectually the cable again.^[9]

   • If you lot tin can't get a wire stripper to accept off the cable'south coating, carefully cut through it with a utility knife and pare the coating dorsum to expose the wires.

2. 2

   Strip ¹⁄_two  in (i.3 cm) of insulation off the ends of each wire. Work on ane wire at a time or else you won't remove the insulation likewise. Grip the concluding ¹⁄_two inch (i.3 cm) of the wire in the jaws of the wire stripper and squeeze the handles together. Pull the wire stripper toward the finish of the wire to cut off the insulation. Echo the process for the other three wires that were inside the cablevision.^[10]

3. 3

   Feed the white wire into the slot with the neutral screw on the outlet. Look on the back of the 220 outlet that you lot have to discover the screw that'south labeled "White" or "Neutral." Locate the port on the side of the outlet that'south directly under the neutral screw and push the cease of the white wire into it. Use a screwdriver to tighten the screw and clamp the white wire in place. Lightly tug the white wire to ensure it doesn't come loose.^[xi]

   • Sometimes, the screw on the outlet may be painted white so you tin easily see which wire is supposed to go around it.

4. four

   Attach the greenish wire to the grounding screw on the outlet. Look for the grounding spiral labeled "Light-green" or "Ground" directly across from the neutral spiral.^[12] Put the green wire into the port adjacent to the grounding screw and tighten information technology with a screwdriver so it doesn't move around or fall out. Pull on the green wire to brand sure it doesn't slip out from the outlet.^[13]

   • The screw may too exist on a metal grounding strap rather that extends out from the back of the outlet.

   Tip: The footing wire within the cable may be uninsulated rather than dark-green. Put the uninsulated wire on the grounding spiral instead.

5. 5

   Put the blackness and crimson wires into the hot ports on the back of the outlet. There will exist 2 unlabeled screws left on the back of the outlet, which are known as the hot screws.^[14] Place the finish of the black wire in the port next to ane of the unlabeled screws, and the reddish wire in the port on the other. Tighten the screws with a screwdriver to clench the wires in place so they can't fall out.^[xv]

   • It doesn't matter which unlabeled spiral the red or black wire is attached to since they both volition carry the same current to the outlet.

6. half dozen

   Push the wires and outlet into the box so yous can spiral it in identify. Bend the wires so they can fit in the back of the box. Push the outlet in front of the wires so the screw holes on the outlet line up with the ones forth the sides of the box. Utilise a screwdriver to secure the outlet in place and so information technology doesn't come complimentary.^[sixteen]

   • Screw a wall plate over the outlet to hide the inside of the outlet box and wires. When you lot need to access the wires, unscrew the wall plate so you can become to them.

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1. one

   Strip the insulation from the 10/4 cable and the wires that volition connect to the excursion breaker. Grip the terminal 1–ii feet (xxx–61 cm) of the 10/4 cablevision betwixt the jaws of a wire stripper and pull them toward the cease to cut off the blanket. Clamp the stripper ¹⁄_two inch (1.3 cm) from the ends of each wire from inside the cable and remove the insulation around them. Work on one wire at a time then you lot don't accidentally impairment them.^[17]

   • Use a utility knife to cutting through the coating on the ten/4 cablevision if you can't remove it with your wire strippers.

2. 2

   Remove the safety panel from the front of the box. The safety panel on your circuit breaker box is the encompass that hides all of the wires and breakers inside. Locate the screws around the edges of the circuit breaker box and rotate them counterclockwise to loosen them from place. Set the console bated while you're working so it'due south out of the fashion.^[18]

   • Never remove the safety panel cover while the power is all the same on. This could crusade to get electrocuted.

3. 3

   Take out the round knockout on the side or top of the circuit billow box. Inspect the sides or top of the circuit breaker box to wait for a circular piece that has a precut border around it, too known as the knockout. Position the end of a screwdriver in the center of the circumvolve, and tap on the screwdriver'south handle with a hammer to punch the knockout out from the side.^[nineteen]

   • Yous can use a hole in the side of your circuit breaker box that already has wires running through it if at that place'due south room for your cable.
   • Yous may accept to drill through the circuit breaker box if there aren't any more knockouts y'all can utilize. Exist certain to apply a drill flake meant for metal.

4. 4

   Put a cable clamp in the hole you just knocked out. A cablevision clamp is a small cylindrical shape with metal bars on superlative to protect cables and concur them so they don't slip. Get a cable clamp that matches the size of the knockout on your circuit billow box, and slide the clamp through the hole. Screw the locking nut onto the threaded end of the clamp to hold it securely confronting the box.^[20]

   • You can buy cable clamps from your local hardware store.

5. 5

   Feed the wires from the cable through the clamp into the box. Push the 4 wires from the 10/4 line betwixt the confined on top of the cable clench and then they get within the excursion billow box. Pull the wires into the box completely so you have 1–2 feet (30–61 cm) of wire to work with. One time the wires are within, tighten the screws on the height bars of the clamp and then the wires don't move effectually.^[21]

   • Don't feed whatsoever part of the 10/4 cable that still has the outer coating since it won't hold the wires as securely.
   • Yous can always loosen the clench if you need to pull more wire into the circuit billow box if information technology wasn't initially long enough.

6. 6

   Install a xxx-amp double-pole billow on the circuit. A double-pole billow allows twice the power to run through it as a standard 15-amp unmarried pole breaker, and takes up the same space as two single-pole breakers. Find a spot forth the line of other breakers where the double-pole billow will fit. Push in the top of the breaker into the metal clips inside the box so information technology snaps into identify before pushing the bottom into identify.^[22]

   • You tin can buy double-pole breakers from your local hardware shop. Make sure you get a billow that matches the circuit breaker box brand yous have.
   • Brand sure the breaker is off before yous install it.
   • Different brands of breakers snap into identify in various ways, and then check the instructions before you install it and so y'all don't accidentally damage them.

7. 7

   Push the ends of the red and black wires in both ports of the breaker. One time y'all have it in identify, locate the 2 ports in the bottom of the billow where you'll connect the power. Take the ends of the blackness and cherry wires and feed one of them into each of the ports. Tighten the screws on the bottom of the billow with a screwdriver to concur the wires in place.^[23]

   • It doesn't thing which ports the black and ruddy wires go into since they're both transferring power to the outlet.

8. viii

   Wrap the dark-green and white wires around the screws on the grounding bar. Expect on the inside walls of the excursion breaker box to find a bar with multiple screws and wires attached to it, which is the grounding bar. Bend the ends of the dark-green and white wires into hooks and wrap them around separate screws forth the bar. Tighten the screws and then the wires don't move or shift around.^[24]

   • Don't wrap the wires effectually screws that already accept other wires around them since you could short out the power or cause a current to travel to a different appliance.

   Variation: If there are 2 bars on the walls of your excursion breaker box, one of them volition be for neutral wires and the other will be for ground wires. Check the color of the other wires attached to the bars to determine where to place your neutral and ground wires.

9. 9

   Knock out the slots on the circuit breaker box'southward rubber cover that line upwardly with the breaker. Hold the rubber console up to the circuit breaker box so you can discover where the new billow lines upward with information technology. Place the end on your screwdriver over the slots where the billow would go, and tap the stop with a hammer to punch information technology out. Pull off the piece of the safety panel you lot punched out and then the breaker fits easily.^[25]

   • You don't take to punch out any slots if the breaker already lines up with an existing hole in the panel.

10. 10

    Screw the cover back on the excursion breaker box before turning it on. Hold the panel back up confronting your circuit breaker box and reattach the screws with a screwdriver. Make sure the safe console sits tightly on the front end of the box and that none of the wires are exposed. Once you finish, plough the main ability dorsum on the circuit breaker box and then you tin utilize your outlet.^[26]

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Add New Question

• Question

  Which wires do you need for a 220V outlet?

  

  Daniel Stoescu is a Main Electrician and the Possessor and Operator of Domicile Tech Solutions, LLC in Hampton, Virginia. With over a decade of experience, Daniel specializes in wiring residential, commercial, and light industrial structures. The Dwelling Tech Solutions team has over four decades of combined feel and offers comprehensive solutions for residential electrical needs.

  

  Chief Electrician

  Good Reply

  Get two hot wires from 2 different phases along with a ground wire, which must connect to the properly-identified terminals. The basis wire ever connect to the green spiral.

• Question

  Will a 30 amp RV receptacle run a 220 amp compressor?

  

  30 amps tin can non produce 220 amps. That would exist 250% of capacity. Did you hateful 22.0 perchance? That is 73% chapters, which is good.

• Question

  How can I connect a four-wire 125/250 volt, xxx amp cable to a three-wire 220 volt, 30 amp outlet?

  

  Use a wire nut to encompass the neutral and record it deeply. Only connect the hot terminal and ground.

• Question

  I wired a table saw with the 220v plug. I changed from a range receptacle to a twist lock receptacle. In that location was no green wire, so I put the blood-red wire where the green should have been. Was this incorrect?

  

  Yes, it's wrong. Green is for footing, red is hot. You probably don't have 220v anymore.

• Question

  Is a clothes dryer 220 volts or 240 volts?

  

  A dryer in the US is 220 volts.

• Question

  Tin I run a hot water heater and dryer off the same line?

  

  Technically you can, but you lot shouldn't. No building code that I know of allows this. Electric h2o heaters and dryers should e'er be on their own dedicated circuit. At the very to the lowest degree, y'all would be tripping breakers or blowing fuses constantly. In the worst case scenario, y'all could assassinate someone or burn your firm down.

• Question

  What does single stage mean?

  

  Single phase systems are used mostly in residential panels. If you have ever seen a console, you would meet that there are breakers on both sides of the console. Each side is 120 volts, and both sides together are 240 volts. It's chosen single stage is considering yous can only accept ane stage variance between the ii wires.

• Question

  What approximate wire do I need for a 220 volt welder?

  

  Utilise x gauge if possible.

• Question

  I take a 220 outlet that has #10 wires for the neutral ground and i hot leg. The other hot leg is a #8 wire. Is this a problem?

  

  It's sloppy, and indicates the installer was not paying attention, or made a sideslip upward in wiring and didn't catch information technology or didn't fix it. It also implies that the wiring was not properly inspected. Whether this problem could lead to a fire depends on the amperage of the circuit billow, and the length of the wires from the breaker to the receptacle.

• Question

  Can I switch a single breaker with a double 220 safely if I need more 220 outlets?

  

  The short answer is yes. All the same, if y'all are wiring according to the current national electric code, then you may exist required to use arc-error-excursion-interrupter breakers. I have institute these hard to find for double 220 breakers, perhaps considering they are non manufactured (however).

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• Use battery-operated lights while yous're working so you lot can easily come across what you're doing.

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• Working with your electric system tin crusade serious injury or death. If you don't feel comfortable working on it, contact a professional electrician to wire the outlet for you.

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Things You'll Need

• Outlet box
• Stud finder
• Drywall saw
• Screwdriver
• Measuring tape
• x/4 cable
• Wire cutter
• Drill
• Electrical conduits
• Fish record
• Wire stripper
• 220V outlet
• Hammer
• thirty-amp double-pole breaker

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