110 volt circuit from 220 outlet

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SAS

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I just discovered that among the many other strange wiring practices the former owner of my house concocted, I have a 220 volt circuit going to an outdoor outlet on my garden shed. From there a 110 volt circuit powers a light and some receptacles. None of this has GFCI protection.

Since I don't need the 220 outlet, can I do the following?
  • Replace the breaker with a 110 volt 15 amp GFCI breaker
  • Use only 2 of the current cables from the circuit to the 220 volt outlet
  • Connect the 110 volt circuit at the outdoor box
  • If there is no neutral in the cable, can I use the second hot as a neutral?
 

DonL

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  • If there is no neutral in the cable, can I use the second hot as a neutral?
That would be the best thing to do, Because now it is using the ground wire, That is not a current carrying conductor normally.

The GFCI is a good idea in a damp location, And may be required by code.


Good Luck.
 

hj

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Confusing. In the second statement you say "use two of the current cables" implying that there are MORE than 2. but in the last one you state "there is no neutral cable" implying there are ONLY two. Which is it?
 

DonL

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I took it as being 12/2 when it should be 12/3 for that application.

I just assumed. Bad me.
 

SAS

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I took it as being 12/2 when it should be 12/3 for that application.

I just assumed. Bad me.
Sorry about the confusion. In the second bullet I was asking about how to do it if there were 3 wires and in the last bullet about how to do it if there were only 2.
 

Jadnashua

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Still not certain of what you have. TO get 240vac, you do not need a neutral wire. If you have 240vac AND 120vac in the area fed by the same cable, then it must have a 3-wire cable - two hot and one neutral (plus safety ground). If you want to provide GFCI protection on a single 120vac circuit, you can either start with a GFCI breaker, or a stand-alone GFCI in a box at the beginning of the branch, or maybe more common is to use a GFCI receptacle, then feed the downstream (load) side from those terminals. If you still need 240vac from that cable, it may get messier and you may need to run a new cable for that.
 

DonL

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No mater how you do it, You need a Ground wire, And it can not carry current. (I.E. The Ground wire can not be used as a neutral to get 120v off of a 240V feed.)

Seems simple.
 
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hj

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quote; In the second bullet I was asking about how to do it if there were 3 wires and in the last bullet about how to do it if there were only 2.

Are you asking "hypothetical questions", because you can ONLY have one or the other condition? Obviously, the answers are different for the two different situations, and I hope you know WHICH you actually have.
 

SAS

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quote; In the second bullet I was asking about how to do it if there were 3 wires and in the last bullet about how to do it if there were only 2.

Are you asking "hypothetical questions", because you can ONLY have one or the other condition? Obviously, the answers are different for the two different situations, and I hope you know WHICH you actually have.
I hadn't opened the box when I wrote the question, but I knew it would be one or the other. I have since discovered that there were indeed three conductors, so I used the black and white off a new 110 volt breaker. I installed a 110 volt GFCI receptacle and fed the rest of the 110 volt circuit off of that. I capped the red wire in the panel and the outlet box.
 
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