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Re: [Shop-talk] 220V extension cord with breaker

To: Gil Fuqua <Gil.Fuqua@cci-ir.com>, shop-talk@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] 220V extension cord with breaker
From: Steven Trovato <strovato@optonline.net>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:07:37 -0400
Gil,

I have had this very discussion with an electrician.  I made the same 
arguments as the others replying, that a separate breaker isn't 
necessary.  I lost.  Fact of the matter is, if you really want to be 
correct, and comply with the electrical code, then you do need a 30 
amp breaker.   The equipment is rated for use on a particular 
amperage circuit.  If something goes wrong, it can handle the 30 amps 
before the breaker trips.  Can it handle the extra 20 amps until a 50 
amp breaker trips?  Maybe.  Probably.  But it wasn't built for that 
and there's no guarantee that something bad won't happen.  I fully 
expect to receive a bunch of comments disagreeing with me.  They will 
be logical and make perfect sense.  You can probably chop off the 
plug and replace it with a 50 amp plug and run like that for the next 
hundred years without a problem.  But it will not meet electrical 
code and will be slightly less safe.  There are adapters for use with 
boats at a dock or RV's, but this is not the same situation.

Now, as for your particular case, it seems to me that a band saw is 
the sort of thing you will use in one place.  Can't you replace the 
breaker and outlet for one of those existing 220v outlets in your 
shop, and use the band saw there?  There is no problem having a 30 
amp circuit with heavier gauge wiring than required.

-Steve Trovato
strovato@optonline.net

At 05:02 PM 3/30/2011, Gil Fuqua wrote:
>I recently purchased a 220v band saw for my shop that has a 30 amp plug.
>My shop has plenty of 220v outlets, but they are all wired to 50 amp
>plugs and protected by 50 amp breakers.  The 50 amp circuits were set up
>for a welder.
>
>I don't want to add new 30 amp plugs and breakers all over the shop.  I
>would prefer to have something that would plug into the existing 50 amp
>sockets and terminate in a 30 amp receptacle for the saw.  I also want
>to have a 30 amp breaker in the line that protects the saw.  In other
>words, a 30 amp plug and circuit breaker down line from the 50 amp plug
>and breaker.
>
>What's the best way to do this while protecting the saw with a 30 amp
>breaker in the line?
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