Questions on re-purposing a dryer 30amp 125/250v circuit

jgrow · Feb 25, 2016

I have a 30amp circuit for a dryer that is not being used. I would like to re-purpose the breaker and run a new line to the other end of the house where the lights will be.

My question is, the receptacle where the dryer used to be says 125/250v, can i rewire the same breakers to a 240v outlet?

Or will the breaker need to be changed too?

Easy7 · Feb 25, 2016

I'm fairly certain appliances are generally wired for 240. Check your breaker, it should be 240.

Maybe an electrician will chime in.

dansbuds · Feb 25, 2016

get a picture of the dryer outlet & we'll go from there . its more than likely a 240 volt plug . & you will be fine running up to 4k watts of lighting off that circuit .

question is ..... what are you going to with that circuit once it in your room ? think about getting one of the 30 amp lighting controlers to hook it into .

jgrow · Feb 25, 2016

Here is a photo of the receptacle, the breaker doesnt say anything on it except 30 amp, i have not taken the face off the panel yet. It says 125/250v on the black receptacle, cant see it to well in the photo though.

Thank you both for the quick reply's.

hvac guy · Feb 26, 2016

Get yourself a small loadcenter, 4 circuits/breakers and then add a dryer cord to the loadcenter. The loadcenter will give you circuit protection and use maybe 4 x 15A single pole relays, or a common trip center breaker for 15A, that will handle any 240V power for ballasts and you have two x 15A/120V circuits. Add a small contactor a timer if you want.

dansbuds · Feb 26, 2016

hvac guy said:
Get yourself a small loadcenter, 4 circuits/breakers and then add a dryer cord to the loadcenter. The loadcenter will give you circuit protection and use maybe 4 x 15A single pole relays, or a common trip center breaker for 15A, that will handle any 240V power for ballasts and you have two x 15A/120V circuits. Add a small contactor a timer if you want.

yup , what he said !!!

or one of the lighting control panels good for 30 amps , in case you don't know how to safely wire up a load center & relays .... these are plug & play & the panel , breakers, relays & what not will cost ya almost as much .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Timer-box-3...rticultural-/131717154502?hash=item1eaaf446c6

jgrow · Feb 26, 2016

I need to move the outlet roughly 60 feet to the other end of the building, does anyone have any information in regards to my question "the receptacle where the dryer used to be says 125/250v, can i rewire the same breaker to a 240v outlet?"

Ratzilla · Feb 26, 2016

jgrow said:
I need to move the outlet roughly 60 feet to the other end of the building, does anyone have any information in regards to my question "the receptacle where the dryer used to be says 125/250v, can i rewire the same breaker to a 240v outlet?"

That dryer recp. is a 240 volt plug.
It says 120/240 because between each pole to neutral is 120V ,between each pole it is 240 volt.
Go to your breaker panel and you will see that the breaker is a double pole.

Depending on when your house was wired anything after the late 70s had a 10/3 conductor with a ground ran to the dryer plug .
This means it has a current capacity of 30 amps.
Ratz :tiphat:

dansbuds · Feb 26, 2016

yup , just buy enough 10/3 romex from homedepot or lowes to reach from your panel to the new location of the dryer outlet . then add 10 feet , believe me , you'll thank me about that lol . then pay attention or take pics of how its wired in your panel & the outlet & hook them back in the same way .
if you get confused hooking it back up , one of us will help you .

jgrow · Feb 26, 2016

@Ratzilla The receptacle says 125/250v, that is what threw me off, wasn't sure if it was the same as 240v or not.

@Dansbuds Thank you for the assistance, I will get the 10/3 wire tonight or tomorrow. I dont need all of the 30 amps if wired 240v. I will be powering 4 x 720 watt leds and some accessories.

dansbuds · Feb 26, 2016

you'll have it for upgrades later :tiphat:

are your LED's 110 or 220 ? if only 110 then you really dont need the 220 in your room , the 10/3 will give you 2 seperate 110 volt 30 amp lines . a duplex plug on each line & you have 4 outlets on 2 circiuts . many many options .

jgrow · Feb 26, 2016

They run 110 or 220. I could either run 1 30 amp 220 or 2 30 amp 120 lines, other then that the box is full. 2 20 amp 110v lines doesn give me any room to upgrade or add any other equipment.

dansbuds · Feb 26, 2016

if it were me , i'd grab that controller i showed you , run the lights on 220 & you have the 110 outlets for fans & whatnot . but thats me lol . that way , everything is just plug & play !

AvidLerner · Feb 27, 2016

I would relocate your outlet to the desired location with three wire romex, placed in a new 120/240 outlet from home depot just like the one already there. I would get the lighting controller, from ebay, and plug that into your new 240v 30 amp outlet and call it a day.

Tonygreen · Feb 27, 2016

Taking notes.

jgrow · Feb 27, 2016

dansbuds said:
if it were me , i'd grab that controller i showed you , run the lights on 220 & you have the 110 outlets for fans & whatnot . but thats me lol . that way , everything is just plug & play !

If I didn't need the electricity 60ft away from the outlet, I would of already bought that controller lol, first I have to get the power to the room I need, then ill get the controller.

Unless im missing something and somehow I can utilize the 30 amp plug thats 60ft from where I need it with the controller you posted.

Also admittedly ive never used a control box like that before, it has 4 220 outlets and 2 110 correct? (probably seems very straight forward, sorry for my ignorance)

dansbuds · Feb 27, 2016

you move the dryer out let down to where you need it ( run the 10/3 line from the power panel to your room , hook up the old dryer out let in your room ) & then that controler plugs into the outlet .... done ! plug & play ! yes 4 220 volt outlets on a timer for your lights & 2 110 volt outlets constant power ......

can't get much easier than that .

dansbuds · Feb 27, 2016

Tonygreen said:
Taking notes.

hit me up anytime brutha .... i'll show ya how to build one . or build it for ya & send it out . either way i got yer back ! :tiphat:

jgrow · Feb 27, 2016

dansbuds said:
you move the dryer out let down to where you need it ( run the 10/3 line from the power panel to your room , hook up the old dryer out let in your room , & plug that controller in the dryer out let in your room ) & then that controler plugs into the outlet .... done ! plug & play ! yes 4 220 volt outlets on a timer for your lights & 2 110 volt outlets constant power ......

can't get much easier than that .

On the controller you linked too, i dont see a timer, but i do see where i says 120v power cord to be attached to plug into timer.

If this requires a timer what would you recommend?

dansbuds · Feb 27, 2016

any of the cheap digital or mechanical timers will work . it just has to power the relays .

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