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electrical concerns

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:17 pm
by bentech
recently built an extension cord for someone
so they could pull power off a 220 outlet

so im at the hardware store
and asking for help finding parts

and the guy who works there asks me what im doing

and hes says, you know
you dont want to have current on the neutral
which for me
was something i was just going to accept

up it took me up short
cause i was just going to do it
in the circles id been educated in
it was ok

but i saw the look of concern in his eyes
and it came down like a load of bricks

so i stood there for several minutes
stressing and struggling

and it dawned on me
i could replace the three prong 220 outlet
with a four prong
and avoid the issue

so i relaxed,
changed the list of parts
and got the job done

so now my client
has two outlets on seperate breakers
40 feet away from his laundry

i stepped down the breakers to 20 amps
and ran 12 gauge cords

so i did this right,
but going to my neutral on the ground
thinking that because its a dedicated line,
it was redundant
not a concern

replacing the three prong with a four
allowed me to keep them seperate back to the box
but was it honestly necessary?

its a dedicated line,
no interruptions
going the same place where the two are lugged together