in my garage when i wired outlets, i ran 12-3 w/ground to each wall box. then wired 2 recepticles in each box each hooked to a seperate breaker and had them share the white wire and ground wire. i made sure to run each one's hot wire out of phase with the other(there is 220v when testing from both hots). i have had the garage for several years and had no isues but my best friend noticed i wired things that way and has big concerns about it. is this common/safe to do?
Your safest answer would be to talk to a sparky in your state. What can/could be legal in your state may be different in another, and visa versa. Long read,but all your answers are in it. http://archive.org/stream/gov.mo.stlouis.electrical/mo_stlouis_electric#page/n0/mode/2up http://archive.org/details/gov.mo.stlouis.electrical
i dont wann learn all there is to know to be an electrician. LOL. i'm just seeking an opinion on the matter from an experienced licensed electrician. there are pretty much no codes where i live. 100 people in town and who ever is mayor is the building inspector. once something iin town is built, you're free to add on and make all the changes you want. i just wanna know if its a common/safe practice.
Here in Ontario, when you are running more than 2 circuits to an outbuilding, you have to run to a pony panel in the building. At that point, I would run 240 volt 2 phase, with ample service for all your anticipated needs. The up cost while you are doing it is very small. Then, it would be very easy to run separate lines to each outlet or pair of outlets. Normally, you don't run a common neutral to all the outlets with separate hots. The breaker doesn't protect things properly that way. Your State likely has an electrical code, so I would check to see what that has to say about the matter.
well, i googled "separate legs share circuit " and found all kinds of info on it. seems like something many people do and works like i thought. the main thing i need to change is pin the breakers' handles together. now my best friend can sleep better.
were you just trying to get two outlets both with 20amp capabilities? Your a resi so you probably only have 1 phase power. I think your buddies worried about the two outlets some how shorting together, putting 220 on your plug. I would have put the two outlets in separate boxes or used a divided box. Some one could get in there after you and hurt themselves thinking they turned off power. I have a similar set up on my welder cord. I wanted a 120 plug to run the grinder so i tapped one of the legs for the outlet. But I epoxied a barrier so it was plain to see and keep it only 120, at least inside the box.
his worries were about the white wire being overloaded. since the circuits are out of phase, the white can be shared..... like i thought.
most resi is single phase the neutral should handle it ok, it was 12/3. whats the actual chances of putting 40 amps on the plugs at the same time? It took me a minute to figure what you had out. I just know enough to be dangerous, I work with EC almost everyday. I was about to call one and ask when it hit me.
if it was DC current, i would not do it this way. but AC and out of phase from each other, i did. i have had my brother using a 110 mig on one recepticle whale i was choppin metal with a dewalt chopsaw on the other. no porbs. i do think i will hook a couple electric heaters to the recepticles and use a clamp ammeter and compare the whites current against the hots. if i do, i will post the results.
What are the "big concerns"? Better off in my opinion, you can run two tools that draw high amps without fear of tripping a breaker or ruining the tool from low juice. I'm not a licensed electrician but I've been doing residential remodeling/wiring for 40 years and it's fine. The only problem is if you have to do work in the box and don't trip both breakers and zap yourself as said earlier. There are three wires coming in to the panel from the power company, a neutral and two 120 volt so you have 220.
This might be useful? http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electrical-Wiring-Home-1734/Splitting-existing-220-V.htm
his concerns were that the two circuits might overtax the white wire. if this were a DC circuit i would consider that, but AGAIN.... the two circuits being out of phase kinda makes the white wire take 60hz turns at being used. LOL but as i stated before, "after googling the correct verbage, i made it beyond the normal garbage"
