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What should you do if your 200A breaker panel box is full and you need to add a 240V 30A breaker?
Smithja
There is a device that you can pick up from a DIY store. Ask the clerk to show you their duplex breakers. The one that you should be looking for is a 15-30-30-15. This will allow you to remove two 15 amp existing breakers and install this new one. The two existing 15 amp circuit loads will be connected to the new 15 amp positions on the new breaker. Your required 30 amp load will be connected to the center position on the new breaker.
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It depends on what you mean by the breaker panel being full. It depends on the equipment involved and would require more detailed information about the existing electrical panel.
If you don't know the answer, contact a licensed electrician.
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Take two breakers out of the box and add a high power 240 volt circuit. Run that to a subpanel, and add the breakers (including the two you took out) to the subpanel.
Remember that the safety ground and the neutral must be kept completely separate in the subpanel.
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As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.
Before you do any work yourself,
on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,
always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized
IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB
SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY
REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 16y agoFirst, let me say that adding another breaker on any panel should not be done just because you can, and there is room. The power distribution panel is rated for a particular LOAD, or AMP maximum. This should be marked on the panel. Most residential panels are between 60A and 200A maximum. Overloading home panels is a very dangerous proposition as overheating, shorting or an electrical fire can occur. The first step in adding a breaker is to determine the full amp load of the panel at this time. There are tables that can help you to determine this but they do get a little complicated. They include finding Full Load Amp values for all of the equipment now on all of the circuits within the panel. Then you can start adding, de-ratting and averaging depending on the tables that you use. There are assumed load values for all outlets not used at this time, a total percentage of the conductor sizing that must be taken into account and various other steps. Your local electrical contractor can help you with the calcs or the whole process. Once you determine that another circuit can be added you can add a circuit that feeds a SUB-PANEL in which there is room for additional circuit breakers. In most full panels this will require removing two or more circuits and adding in its place a circuit to feed the sub-panel. If you do not want to get an electrician then at least get the help of a really good how to book on electrical how to. Your local home remodeling and repair supplier can usually help with this. As Always get the approval of your local jurisdiction or building official and get any required permits. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate this project at a 4 1/2 just because of the technical knowledge required to do the calcs. The actual work is relatively easy, about a 2 1/2 to 3 a good weekend project for an experienced home owner. Hope this helps ALWAYS REMEMBER… SAFETY FIRST! Terry
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Can a 200A 240V house panel be fed by number 2 conductors from a service entrance meter panel with 200A main breaker?
Absolutely not. #2awg conductors are only good for about 100 amps depending on Cu or al. see nec table 310-16.
How do you wire a 15 amp 120V breaker in a 240v 30 amp breaker panel?
Look to see if the 30 amp panel is fed with a two wire or a three wire. If it is a two wire then you are out of luck. If the panel is fed with a three wire then the panel should have the neutral terminated in the panel. It is this neutral that you need for 120 volt connections. You didn't state how many panel slots there are in the panel. If you are able install a 15 amp breaker into the panel and connect the wires going to the load. The black wire will go to the breaker and the white wire will go to the neutral bar in the panel.
Can GFCI circuit breaker handle a 240V circuit with a 120V circuit sub-paneled off if it?
I don't know if you are trying to ask if you can run a 240V panel off a GFCI or run a 120 V sub panel off of a GFCI. Can you clarify please,,,Thanks
What size breaker should be used for a dryer in Canada?
Minimally 30 AMPS
How can voltage increase to 240V when only 120V is coming from the breaker box?
That could only happen if the neutral wire (white) becomes disconnected at either the panel, the meter base or the transformer.
Can a 200A 240V house panel be fed by number 2 conductors from a service entrance meter panel with 200A main breaker?
Absolutely not. #2awg conductors are only good for about 100 amps depending on Cu or al. see nec table 310-16.
How do you wire a 15 amp 120V breaker in a 240v 30 amp breaker panel?
Look to see if the 30 amp panel is fed with a two wire or a three wire. If it is a two wire then you are out of luck. If the panel is fed with a three wire then the panel should have the neutral terminated in the panel. It is this neutral that you need for 120 volt connections. You didn't state how many panel slots there are in the panel. If you are able install a 15 amp breaker into the panel and connect the wires going to the load. The black wire will go to the breaker and the white wire will go to the neutral bar in the panel.
How much voltage should be in 2pole circuit breaker?
In America, a 2-pole breaker is controlling 240V. 120V per leg.
Considering 100A 240V service has 2 poles at 100A each is the total usable power actually 200A at 120V?
No, amperage is not additive, but a constant. Think of power as water, its always the same temperature, hot (amps). The pressure is variable (volts). The true answer is undoubtedly more complex, but you get the point. If you need to draw 200 amps you would actually need a 400 amp service because code states you cannot have more than an 80% load on a breaker That's an interesting question and I had to run the theory through my brain a few times to confirm my answer. The answer is if you have a 100A 240V service, you could draw what appears to be 200A from that panel at 120V. If you install 100A 120V single pole breakers on each side of the panel (in reality this would be many breakers but let's keep it simple) then both breakers will operate just fine, giving the appearance of 200A. In reality, however, one breaker actually feeds through to the other breaker. The neutral only carries the unbalanced load so in this hypothetical situation the neutral at the panel carries 0A. So the answer to the question is...if you install ONLY 120v single pole breakers, you can run up to 200A on those circuits (or 80% of that as we have discussed.) But you are only running 100A on each leg of the service conductors and breaker.
Can GFCI circuit breaker handle a 240V circuit with a 120V circuit sub-paneled off if it?
I don't know if you are trying to ask if you can run a 240V panel off a GFCI or run a 120 V sub panel off of a GFCI. Can you clarify please,,,Thanks
What are the steps in connecting 120V to a 240V 60A air condition panel?
you should have three wires into the panel. two of them go to the double breakers or pull switch and the last is the ground lead. You can pick up 110 vac from one side of either breaker and that ground connection. DO NOT connect to the both breaker wires as that will be 220 vac
If you have a 200A service panel is it true that you actually have 400A because you have two legs because your breakers add up to more than 200A?
The short answer to your question, is "yes" if you are talking about 120 volts. The panel is rated 200A @ 240v. In reality, service panels should be rated in watts (or kilowatts) We are charged by watts and we use electricity in different combinations of volts and amps, but watts remains a constant. (hence the reason we are charged by that value) So, as you noted, there are two legs, that each pass through a pair of interconnected 200 amp breakers. With 240v appliances, power is tapped from each leg, so at no time can 200 amps be exceeded. But with 120v appliances, power is tapped from one leg and terminated to the neutral leg. It is possible to draw a total of 400 amps from both legs, to the neutral. (actually, it's more complicated than that, as the neutral would never see more than 200 amps, and power is actually being routed in series between loads of each leg, so in reality it's still only a max 200A at 240v)So, for further clarification, let's get back to the watts thing. Watts can be calculated mathematically. Watts = volts X amps. So 240v times 200A equals 48,000 watts. That is your service panel's rated wattage. Now, the math can be reversed. 48,000 watts divided by 120v equals 400A.A simple way to present the question would be, "Could you have twenty 20 amp single pole circuit breakers at full load in a 200A service panel?" The answer would be, "yes."
What size breaker should be used for a dryer in Canada?
Minimally 30 AMPS
How can voltage increase to 240V when only 120V is coming from the breaker box?
That could only happen if the neutral wire (white) becomes disconnected at either the panel, the meter base or the transformer.
If you install a 30A 240V GFI breaker will this be ok or will the cycles the dryer has prematurely fail the breaker?
I suspect you mean GFIC breaker. The dryer will not cause the breaker to fail.
How can you plug 2000 watts 240v into a 120v 20 amp breaker with out replacing your breaker and all the plugs on the line?
You can't.
If you have a 240V dryer and installed 30A breakers on both sides of the line reads 120 and 120 how do you get 240 and you have a receptacle that reads 30A 125250 and still does not work?
you do NOT put two 110v breakers in. you put 1 two pole breaker in. the panel is designed to give you 220v off one side OR the other side if you use a 2 pole breaker on one side or the other side. If you look at both 120V lines on an oscilloscope you will notice that they are both 120V to the neutral, but they are 180 degrees out of phase. This means that when one hot is at +120V the other is at -120V. So between the two you have 240V. If you put your meter across both hots you should see 240V. If you do not see 240V across both hots you (or an unlicenced electrician) has wired the outlet without using a proper 220V breaker. You do not see 240V because the hots are in phase, to the voltage differential is 0V, not 240V. 220V breakers cannot do this, unless forcebly installed in the wrong type panel. More than likely someone tried to wire it with 110V breakers.
