cavala Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 I wired in a plug at my shop and went to plug in my fan and it sound funny like it was running to fast. I thought it may have been the fan so I pluged in a cheap knock off dremel and POP it blew up. I'm guessing maybe I used to heavy a Gage of wire, is this possible. It's wired to a 40 amp breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 I wired in a plug at my shop and went to plug in my fan and it sound funny like it was running to fast. I thought it may have been the fan so I pluged in a cheap knock off dremel and POP it blew up. I'm guessing maybe I used to heavy a Gage of wire, is this possible. It's wired to a 40 amp breaker. The wire size would make no difference unless it was too small. It sounds as though you have 220 wired in! Not good!! Get some help! Don't do it yourself here... you aren't ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 You need to hire a licenced electrician.....electricity is notning to work with if you are not absoulutely sure of what you are doing. It WILL kill you and has no regrets afterward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Hopfinger Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 40 amp breaker is huge. Most household circuits run 14/2 wire with 15 amp breakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavala Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 The wire size would make no difference unless it was too small. It sounds as though you have 220 wired in! Not good!! Get some help! Don't do it yourself here... you aren't ready. I think you're prolly right. I had know problem wiring my welder wich is in 220, and it's the same size breaker I put the plug on, way too much power. Oops, Thanks for the help, I'm usually pretty good if I get pointed in the right direction. It's no problem to pop in the correct sized breaker and get rolling again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Most places that sell wiring and breakeres, also sell a testor. You simply plug it in and it has a few lights on it that indicate if all is well. If something is wrong other lights will indicate wot is not right. There is a little chart to refer to for wot the lights mean/ They are not very expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodz Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I think you're prolly right. I had know problem wiring my welder wich is in 220, and it's the same size breaker I put the plug on, way too much power. Oops, Thanks for the help, I'm usually pretty good if I get pointed in the right direction. It's no problem to pop in the correct sized breaker and get rolling again. The breaker is not the problem...well it is part of the problem in that it is over sized for the application. If you are hot spinning your fan and blowing up smaller motors you have more problems than the wrong breaker. I wouldn't want to diagnose your problem without being there, but if you you wired that 110 circ the same as you wired your 220 circ it couldcause those problems...I would say you should leave the breaker off until you can get it looked at by someone who knows what they are about. I pay the bills doing electrical work and can tell you from experience that while you can save a little money doing it yourself you can also create a situation that can go horribly wrong for yourself or others that might be around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 A good way to save money on electrical: do your own rough in. This means that the electrician comes, quotes the job, and reviews what wire needs to go from A to B. The electrician should also specify what wire types are used for the install. The pulling of wire takes much more time than hooking up both ends, so having the electrician do the final hook up gets you the best deal you can get, and still be written off as installed by a licensed and insured electrician. Many electricians are game for this arrangement. All the electricians I have used have been happy to work with me in this respect. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I don't know if your electric is the same as in the UK, the amperage rating on the supply delivered does not directly affect what appliances you can use on that circuit, just the total amount of power you can draw down at one time. I would suspect that the dremel was rated for 110v supply and you are using a higher input. In effect the dremel acted as a fuse and blew because of the oveload in voltage. I may well be wrong, but check the ratings for the voltage on the appliances being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciladog Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 The function of a circuit breaker is to protect the wiring in the building not to protect the device plugged in to an outlet. The sizing of a breaker is determined by the gauge of the wire used. For example, if you use 12 gauge wire to run a branch circuit then you would use a 20 amp breaker. If you use 15 gauge wire you would use a 15 amp breaker. If the breaker is sized larger than the wire, you create a fire hazard in that the wire could burn if overloaded before the breaker trips. A smaller breaker on larger gauge wire is no hazard at all. Here in the USA, we use single phase 240 volt service in most residential buildings. It comes into the house on two legs, each is 120 volts. The third leg is the neutral. If you connect a circuit using one 120 leg and the neutral, you have get a 120 volt circuit. If you use two 120 legs for the circuit, you get 240 volt and the neutral is used only as a ground. Chances are that you somehow created a 240 volt circuit and blew the small windings in the dermal. Turn the breaker off and call someone who knows electricity. If you don’t know what you’re doing it will not only kill you but burn down your house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edge9001 Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I had something similar happen to me. After a storm I moved my tv and sattelite receiver to another room. I plugged it in and the receiver smoked and buzzed and I unplugged it. I had a fan in the same room doing what you mentioned. I unplugged the fan and plugged my clock into the same plug. the clock was about 3 times brighter than ussual it lit the untire room as bright as day. I called an electrician. after a short inspection he said the room was wired with 220 on every plug. the funny thing is before the storm it was all 110. somehow things went screwy after a power surge. i lose more clocks that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I bought my first house from a widow with two small kids whose husband, a trained maintenance guy for the phone company, had electrocuted himself while working on fixing a leaky kitchen sink---metal cabinets, water and a droplight. When the downside is that bad getting a pro looks terribly cheap indeed! If you want to continue working on your own *PLEASE* go through one of the "wire it yourself" books to learn about what should and can happen and *NEVER* trust another person's wiring! Over the years I have seen so much messed up wiring that still get the shivers just thinking about it. One of those little socket testers should be used on *EVERY* socket of your house when you move in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy seale Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 my dad's a master electrician, so i grew up around it. wiring single phase is easy,but the two most important things i have learned about it is 1 pay the bill and it don't get turned off,2 mess with it and it will kill you! on the 220 room of edge's i'd suspect it is wired 220 or on the feed line it is shorted to another circuit but check the voltage, hopes this helps, if i can help you by anwsering questions etc. pm me i'll be glad to if i can,jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edge9001 Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 this happened to ma a few years ago. turned out the 220 h2o heater did short across the cicuit for that room. i ended up with no h20 heater and 220 in the room...I rewired the panel and problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 My wife wanted a "pro" to install our new dishwasher at our previous house. He came in and did it fast; but we couldn't check it out until the new counter was installed and sink plumbed so the dishwasher could be added into the plumbing. When that was finally done (custom colour sink arrived *broken* the first time...) the dishwasher wouldn't work and the installer told us is was a warranty issue contact them. I traced the wiring and noticed that the installer had hooked it into the closest electrical lines down in the basement---which ran to the central air conditioner outside and were, of course, 220 VAC. He must have hot wired it as he would have noticed it was a 220 breaker---I hope. Anyway both legs were hot and had fried the dishwasher's electronics. The company wanted to send him back to do the job over and I refused to have him on my property---he could have burnt down the house or killed us or himself. I demanded they replace the dishwasher and send out an installer who could actually work to code---which they did. The upside is my wife has never claimed that a "pro" would be a better installer for such things again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 I don't normally wear gloves when forging ( ), but this thread explains why I'm extremely circumspect about electricity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 I don't normally wear gloves when forging ( ), but this thread explains why I'm extremely circumspect about electricity! When I worked at a boating store I sold a noticeable amount of long finger sailing gloves to electricians. They fit nice and did not have tips on the thumb and forefinger, protecting the hand, but leaving necessary dexterity. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
double_edge2 Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 there is a funny side to this.... not funny side, wiring 3 ph to s/ph ,,,you are lucky it only hurt the tool. (i have heard of worse)ive been bit by live chassi tv's etc with 240 (everyones different, for me 240 like sticking your hand in a fan), BUT! 415 potential once..someone elses wiring, it hurt. please, buy a carton of beer ( or other such pick up tools for tradespersons ) and at least bribe the knowledge from someone who knows, before you next attempt a thought of screwdrivers to electrical bits. (its what i do). officially, hire the sparky to keep the magic smoke from being vented from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Get a licensed electrician... cheaper than a funeral.. or having him "fix" something that was done wrong.... I live in New England, and work on my house ... well the electrical system up here are a mix of new wire, 20 year old wire.. and other things. I have seen circuits that were knob and tube that were supposed to be replaced with romex or BX... well the parts you could see were replaced, the parts hidden in the walls were not.... Fore those who dont know knob and tube wiring is 2 "insulated" (gutta percha and cotton thread) run through ceramic tubes that fit in holes through studs and joists. Junctions are made by twisting the bare ends of the wires together to make them longer... after 50 years the "electrical tape" i think it was friction tape... falls off leaving hot bare ends in wall cavities... Imagine finding a bare end junction under fiberglass insulation in an attic... with your hand... We all have stories about finding hot wires .. or getting zapped.. but professionals are out there to keep us safe from our selves, and to get things right the first time my .02 cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 not that too many of you think about it, "what is there to running a length of wire huh?" but maybe there is a reason we have 5 year apprenticeships, plus 4 more working as a journeyman, before I was allow to take the masters test as an electrician. there IS more to wiring than just a pair of wires. Funny how very few try DIY root canals... Please be safe. Int. Brotherhood of Electricxal Workers IBEW lu 305 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragons lair Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Get a licensed electrician... cheaper than a funeral.. or having him "fix" something that was done wrong.... I live in New England, and work on my house ... well the electrical system up here are a mix of new wire, 20 year old wire.. and other things. I have seen circuits that were knob and tube that were supposed to be replaced with romex or BX... well the parts you could see were replaced, the parts hidden in the walls were not.... Fore those who dont know knob and tube wiring is 2 "insulated" (gutta percha and cotton thread) run through ceramic tubes that fit in holes through studs and joists. Junctions are made by twisting the bare ends of the wires together to make them longer... after 50 years the "electrical tape" i think it was friction tape... falls off leaving hot bare ends in wall cavities... Imagine finding a bare end junction under fiberglass insulation in an attic... with your hand... We all have stories about finding hot wires .. or getting zapped.. but professionals are out there to keep us safe from our selves, and to get things right the first time my .02 cliffCliff, I just gotta jump in here. As an OLD conn yankee who lived in the oldest house on the old boston post rd. Dad and I wired several houses. Never saw a connection with friction tape. Where did you find friction tape in a house wireing? WE didn't even use wire nuts. Ken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 Dragons lair... found the friction tape dust on the bottom plate of the wall... I ASSUMED it came from the junctions. We have come a long way since then... I hope.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragons lair Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 Dragons lair... found the friction tape dust on the bottom plate of the wall... I ASSUMED it came from the junctions. We have come a long way since then... I hope.. Just when ya think ya seen it all here it comes. Guy stopped by today had added an electric starter to his portable generator. Had built a nice box to house the ign switch and a gage. All wiring nicley done with masking tape. Twist the wire and tape no wirenuts or splices or solder. Oh yeh he came by to have me weld rubber feet on the bottom cause it vibrates badly. Told him I'd weld it for free but charge him $150 to re wire it. He left. Ken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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