220V electricity and 110V

[SPYDERLK]

Man, I want one of those. It should really light up the shop.

Yes. ... Roughly equivalent to 4KW of incandescent light.

 

[Looking4new]

first off, I am no professional and my advice may be only worth nothing. But.... Typical 220V applications such as pumps and table saws etc are only using three wires. The black leg, the red leg and the ground. The white, neutral, is used to make a 120V circuit with one of the hot legs. This is typically seen in stoves and dryers. They have fours wires including ground. The elements are running 220 volts and all the controls are 120 volt. Think of the neutral wire as 0. The red wire as 120 and the black wire as negative 120. Either the red or black connected to the white is 120 volts difference. The red to the black are 240 volts apart

Basically since you have red white and black it is doable. Probably the simplest way would be to install a sub-panel on the wire. The sub panel will have four spots to connect, one for the ground, one for each hot leg and one for the neutral. You will then be able to put In 120V and 220V breakers. Since this will maybe be off of a generator you should try and balance the load, the 240V pump is pulling equally off of each leg. You then should have your softener connected to one leg and your light to the other. If at all unsure please consult with an electrician, as I would hate for anybody to get hurt from misinterpreting advice they read online.....

An electrician will be coaching me standing and looking over my shoulder. I learn by doing. I am just making sure I have all the parts necessary so I am not paying him $100.oo/hr and drinking my beer while I go chasing parts. The transfer switch is already on the wall, mounted securely. The 220V wire is already hooked to the wall and coming from the inlet box outside with a long pigs tail at the Transfer switch but it terminates right now outside the switch. I would rather waste wire than be too short.

 

[Ehanson]

I'm no electrician but you might be able to just add a subpanel that is fed by your 27.5 amp circuit which would allow you the flexibility to add a breaker sized for your pump as well as additional breakers for the light and water softener. Make sure you use the right sized wire and breakers and keep the grounds and neutrals separated.

This is exactly my first thought on how you would split off one leg. A sub panel would be safe and easy.

 

[Looking4new]

Yes. ... Roughly equivalent to 4KW of incandescent light.

The bulb is made by General Electric and screws into a normal house socket. I think I got it from Home Despot.

 

[SPYDERLK]

This is exactly my first thought on how you would split off one leg. A sub panel would be safe and easy.

The easiest would be to split off from the electrical input line at the pressure switch. Just wire in an outlet strip that has its own protective breaker.

 

[4570Man]

Yes. ... Roughly equivalent to 4KW of incandescent light.

Maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. You would have to wear a welding helmet to go in the shop. :laughing:

 

[robstaples]

Buy one of these and your safe and no electrical code issues.
500W UP/DOWN TRANSFORMER | All Electronics Corp.

 

[Looking4new]

The water softener has its' own transformer to step down from 110 to 24V. It plugs right into a 110V outlet.

 

[buickanddeere]

A water softener sure wouldn't draw enough amps to interfere with your plans I wouldn't hesitate.

Neutral current to where ?

 

[buickanddeere]

I would like to see how the generator , transfer switch, well pump, pressure switch and water softener are physically located and how they are to be located .
We so not soften all our water as some people do. Outside water taps, the line to shed and the kitchen sink drinking water tap are hard water.

 

[Mace Canute]

I don't know if this is do-able or not, but I want to take 110V hydro off one of the 220V legs of the power that is going to my well pump. The pump is 220V and draws 5amps. There are 27.5 amps available in the 220 circuit. The way I understand it is that the 27.5-5 amps leaves 22.5amps I want to use 1 leg of the 220 circuit so that would be 11.25 amps -2% would be 11.025 rounded down to 11 amps of 110V juice. This juice would be for my water softener and a led light over top of the whole issue. Is this even do-able? I don't want to toast my house.

Are you installing a water softener and light or are these existing?

 

[Gary Fowler]

Heck this is really simple. You just need to connect to one of the hot wires (black or red) one connection to white (neutral) and one green (ground) and you have 110V power. I think I would run this to another panel and put in the appropriate sized breaker to protect the components in the water softener, 27.5 amp ? breaker is to much for your water softener (Note: I have never seen a 27.5 amp breaker as all I have ever seen are in multiples of 5) . Your wire size should be sized to accommodate the total amperage of the water softener and light per NEC wire sizing tables and the right sized breaker (wire size has to be larger capacity than the breaker in all the circuit from the pump disconnect to your new box and from there to the water softener)

 

[TheGoose]

As a water well professional I see this all the time. Most of these setups do not use a neutral. They instead come off one leg of the pressure switch and tie the neutral in with the ground. Not legal but it works. If you have a dedicated neutral you're good to go.

 

[Looking4new]

I would like to see how the generator , transfer switch, well pump, pressure switch and water softener are physically located and how they are to be located .
We so not soften all our water as some people do. Outside water taps, the line to shed and the kitchen sink drinking water tap are hard water.

The genny is in its' own metal shed 25' north of the house. The transfer switch is located over top of the water softener in the full basement. All the water is softened. Toilet water and all. The reason being that we are in a high manganese/iron area and the water turns everything brown. the gardens get watered with water from a hand dug well that has its' own 110 volt motor that we are keeping out of the emergency loop. If the worst happens and the gardens need water and the hydro is out, then we just take the lid off the well and chuck a bucket down to get water.

 

[Looking4new]

Are you installing a water softener and light or are these existing?

They are existing.

 

[Looking4new]

Heck this is really simple. You just need to connect to one of the hot wires (black or red) one connection to white (neutral) and one green (ground) and you have 110V power. I think I would run this to another panel and put in the appropriate sized breaker to protect the components in the water softener, 27.5 amp ? breaker is to much for your water softener (Note: I have never seen a 27.5 amp breaker as all I have ever seen are in multiples of 5) . Your wire size should be sized to accommodate the total amperage of the water softener and light per NEC wire sizing tables and the right sized breaker (wire size has to be larger capacity than the breaker in all the circuit from the pump disconnect to your new box and from there to the water softener)

The 4 wire (red, black, green and ground) Is going through a RELIANCE indoor/outdoor power inlet box 30amp@125/250V L14-30. From that box it runs through AWG 8 cable (4 wire) to the transfer switch, through the transfer switch and on to the fuse box via 2 conductor NMD 90. After the fuse box (I'm using regular 15amp fuses, NOT sloblows/fusetrons) via BX 14/2 wire to the pressure switch and everything else. The smallest the wire will be is 14/2, which is what the rest of the house is wired with.

 

[Mace Canute]

They are existing.

I guess the next questions are how often do you have outages and how long do they last?

 

[Looking4new]

I guess the next questions are how often do you have outages and how long do they last?

We can pretty much expect the hydro to go out every time the wind blows. Seriously it is a weekly occurrence. Ontario Hydro/Hydro One in this area is THE most unreliable, over priced utility we have.

An example for you; I came home in a rain storm, the hydro was on. The rain stopped, the sun came out and the hydro went off. The wires got hit with a ray of sunshine. Our outages last anywhere from 1-14 hours.

 

[JimRB]

I find it mildly amusing that there is a discussion of fuses. I suppose that may be a regional thing. It has been a long time since I saw a fuse box. Personally I think I would rather have a breaker box where if it pops, you just flip the breaker off and back on again. Oops, that comment may be as annoying as the diesel vs gasoline vs propane vs PTO vs Chinese vs North American vs Taiwan vs Japanese generators.

 

[Looking4new]

I find it mildly amusing that there is a discussion of fuses. I suppose that may be a regional thing. It has been a long time since I saw a fuse box. Personally I think I would rather have a breaker box where if it pops, you just flip the breaker off and back on again. Oops, that comment may be as annoying as the diesel vs gasoline vs propane vs PTO vs Chinese vs North American vs Taiwan vs Japanese generators.

I would rather have fuses in this application. The rest of the house is stab lock breakers. My shed is fuses as well.