2 Prong To 3 Prong Outlets - Need Help!

I have a 4 prong 220v outlet in my garage and would like to convert it to a 3 prong outlet for my welder and compressor.



Do I just put a wire nut on the neutral and tuck it back in the box?  Then install the new 3 prong outlet using the two hots and ground?



Thanks.
      

Hello everyone,I have a question about a forklift battery charger i bought. Ok,its an exide forklift battery charger 36 volts. It weighs a ton so i am having to run a 25 foot extension cord to it. My question is,my 220 wall outlet has three holes so i went to lowes and made a 220 extension cord. Now i get to the ac cable coming out of the charger that hooks to the extension cord(plug was cut off),there are 4 wires coming out of the cable green,white,red, and black......the guy at lowes said i could buy a 3 prong plug for it to plug into the female end of the extension cord because one of the 4 wires is probably neutral and i wouldnt have to hook up but the green,white and either the red or black.....is he right? Inside the charger the red,white and black all go to big fuses and green to ground. Also above the fuses it says "factory set to 480 volts ac". I guess my question is,will this charger only work using a 4 prong wall outlet(mine only has 3) and with 4 prong plug hooked to cable coming out of the charger itself or is the guy at lowes right in saying that only the red OR black wire has to be used? Sorry if this is confusing but ive searched and searched online for 3 days and havent found anything. Thanks in advance for any help-Kevin
      

I have a 220v Microwave, and a 220v dryer, that came with a four prong plug cords attached (they were used in newer homes).



The current outlets are three prong outlets and there is absolutely no way to run new wiring.





Just need to change the cords on the microwave and dryer to the old style three prong ones?









Opinions?
      

I have an outdoor light fixture that I am trying to replace.  The house was built ten years ago.



When I removed the original lamp, I noticed one of the two leads was wired to the ground, and one was wired to the black wire, which is hot per my current sensor.  There are three wires in the box - black, ground (bare copper), and white or neutral, all from a single romex cable.  Unfortunately, I do not recall where the white was when I removed the original. 



I wired the new lamp per the instructions, something I have done many times before - black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Nothing.  The lamp and bulbs are brand new, and I have tried four separate bulbs.  I checked the black and neutral with my current sensor and with the switch on and the lamp installed this way, both show as hot. With the lamp not installed, the switch on, and the wires disconnected only the black shows as hot.  The switch is single pole, and appears to be wired correctly with a black to each screw on one side and a copper ground on the other.



Assuming the new fixture was bad, I reinstalled the old fixture correctly -  black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Still nothing. No light, and I confirmed the bulb is good by putting it in another lamp.   The only way to get it to light is to connect the neutral in the lamp to the bare copper ground.



I capped the wires, turned the circuit back on, and identified all the outlets, switches and fixtures on the same circuit.  I opened every one of them up (four lights and eight outlets) and found three (one switch and two fixtures in another room) where multiple commons connect.  All were properly connected.  My outlet tester shows all outlets as "correct".  I found no instances of grounds connected to commons or vice-versa.



Any ideas?  Is it proper to wire this thing the way I found it?



Thanks for any and all advice!
      

We had a pipe disconnect above the downstairs bathroom and the ceiling just about came down, so I decided since it was a hedious looking space, that it was a sign from the gods: Reno time!



Im now at the wiring stage. Originally there was a junction box with a light fixture out one side and a single pole switch(no ground screw...grnd wire attached to the box)on  the other. Typical set up: white from switch marked "hot" or "black" at both ends, and spliced with the incoming power's black wire. Then remaining blacks are spliced together as are the remaining whites... grounded accordingly.



What Im trying to do now is add a GFCI receptical to the mix. But Im having some trouble figuring it all out. NOTE: light fixture is not installed yet, just the wire for it with the ends capped off with a wire nut on each of the wires (Wht/Black/Grnd)



First, whats in the walls: Circuits on a 15 AMP fuse with older (but not the oldest) 12/2 wire with a blue weaved fiber outside cover. Still looks to be in great shape. I've continued using newer, yellow (Lomex or Romex?) 12/2 from homedepot as I've read that you should not mix 14 and 12 together.

All that is on the cicuit is 3 pot lights with 65w bulbs, single bulb on the stairway and what ever goes in the bathroom, so from my math, there should be plenty of room left on the circuit.



What I've tried so far:

A: I spliced the "hot"/"black" white wire from the switch to the incoming power's black, like before. Then I spliced all remaining blacks together with a wire nut, then the same with all remaining whites and then all grounds (did not attach any grnd wire to the Junction box).



Result, Nothing. After switching on the power, I tested the GFCI with a voltage tester as well as the switch and got no read.



B: Undid everything, re-spliced all like to like: all blck together, all white together..etc.



Result: Fuse trips.



Im no electrician, which I imagine is blatantly obvious from the above post, but I am following a Homedepot wiring manual, its just that what Im trying to do is not really addressed in the book... at least not directly. So I've been trying to figure it out by reading every single page, but Im still at a loss.



I've attached a very basic diagram of what is there right now. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

John
      

I have heard it is unsafe to plug faulty toasters into a 2 prong outlet as there is no earthing, however by design, the toaster's heating elements are kept insulated from the actual metal frame is this not so?, hence technically if there is nothing wrong with the toaster, this should be ok, correct?
      

Hello.



I recently purchased a home that has a a new grounded breaker panel but none of the outlets themselves are grounded save the hvac system in the basement. I had an electrician come and he said the fastest way to get it done is to switch the appropriate breakers to GFCI breakers in my service box and then I can change the outlets and then just put the stickers that say ungrounded etc on the new 3 prong receptacles. he called the inspector to double check and the inspector told him that he can't do it this way but he needs to find the first outlet in the loop from each breaker line and change that receptacle to a gfci and then we can change each receptacle to 3 prong in that loop.



Wouldn't just changing the breaker do the same thing? also if I did just install a Gfci receptacle on the first outlet in the loop, if it breaks wouldn't the rest of the outlets behind that gfci not function until I replaced the Gfci outlet where as a breaker would just pop and I can simply go turn it back on?



Just wanted to get some opinion from the experts as I'm willing to spend more on doing gfci breakers and am confused as to why the inspector suggested the way he did



Thanks for any help!
      

I have a home that I only use from time to time.  At Christmas one of the GFCI outlets kept tripping.  This outlet has a TV/reciever/cable box/xbox/lights, etc. on the load side.  When I reset it, everything would be OK for 20 minutes or so, then it would trip.  I did not have time to investigate the problem so I just left it.  When I returned a week or so ago, the outlet was tripped and would not reset.  As soon as I pushed the reset button in, it would pop back out.  I replace the GFCI outlet but that did not help.  I removed all load outlets and inspected them.  Everything looked OK.  Anyone have an idea.  The strange thing to me is that the problem seemed to get worse over time.  (I.e. it stayed reset for 30 minutes at Christmas and now it will not reset at all).  Ideas?  Thanks in advance.
      

Hi, we drove past a triplex we are considering for purchase tonight. When we got out of the car to have a look around a bit, one of the tenants saw us and came out. He was telling us what he knew of the house and said the fuse box is on the outside of the house. This is a concern for us, because a) it is fuses and not breakers, which is preferable and b) we live in MN, which has extreme weather of all type. I have never heard of an outside fuse box before. Is it common? Will it pass an FHA inspection if we do decide to buy it? How difficult is it to relocate the panel to inside the house? Will it need to be moved? Thanks in advance for any advice.
      

I'm replacing my electric range with gas.  The electric has (I think) a four-wire #6 or #8 cable approx 60ft run with a 40a dual post breaker.  I say "I think" because the wire is behind everything else in the panel.  I see red/white/black wires, but no ground and I can't read the jacket.  Once I cut the main, i'll have a closer look. 



The gas range requires only a 15amp breaker. 

Can I simply replace the breaker with 15A and the 4 prong outlet with a Nema 5-15p?  I'd cap off both ends of the red wire.  Is there some sort of code that says I need to maintain the 40A circuit for a future stove?

Or is there some sort of transformer I can plug into the stove end and avoid all that hassel.  ?