[Shop-talk] 220 outlets

[David Scheidt]

On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 8:34 AM, Mark Andy <mark at sccaprepared.com> wrote:

> Howdy,
>
> On Wed, 29 Jul 2009, Paul Mele wrote:
>
>> as far as the rating on the outlets goes, recall that the job of the
>> breaker in the box is to limit the current thru the wiring (in the wall) to
>> the rated carrying capacity of the wire, e.g. 12g/ 20 A, 10g/ 30A (each wire
>> gauge has a rated ampacity; it is determined by the amount of heat given off
>> by the wire when it carries max amperage; this in turn prevents fire
>> potential in the walls).
>>
>
> That makes sense, and its something I never really thought about too much.
>
> Out of curiosity, does that mean it'd be within code to run a 30A 110vac
> circuit (with 10g wire & appropriate breaker) with a bunch of 20A outlets on
> it?


Absolutely not!

In general, receptacles have to match the rating of the breaker they're
connected to.  That means if you have a 50 A breaker, you need 50A outlets.
You have a 30A breaker, you need 30A outlets.

There's a specific exception for 5-15 outlets on a 20A 120V circuit.

-- 
David Scheidt
dmscheidt at gmail.com