Stupid AC wiring question (220-ish Volts...)

[Jerry Wright]

Josh,, The neutral   and  ground are hooked together in the panel. so basically they are the same..   the dryer plug gives you a couple  of good 30 amp 110/120 circuits or
1 good 220/240 volt circuit.   The difference is the Neutral is not at ground voltage. it is loaded some from the load lines,  but for what you are doing, make   the connection and give it a try



On Thursday, February 5, 2015 7:28 PM, Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> wrote:
 


I picked up a "large" machine* (for certain definitions of large) that's 
currently configured for 220-240V; my house at the moment lacks 220V 
receptacles.  I was already planning to get an electrician out here to 
put in some beefier wiring at some point (I have a couple of machines 
that draw 15-20A off of 120V that I'd like to be able to run) but I 
wasn't yet planning on doing 220V unless I have to.

(It looks like in theory it's possible to reconfigure the supply for 
120V but I lack the docs to do so with any level of confidence...)

I don't know if this machine works, and I'd rather not invest in 220V 
wiring quite yet unless it does.  And, let's face it, I'm spoiled and I 
demand instant gratification and I'd like to know as soon as possible if 
this machine is a basket case or not.

So:  since all this stuff is in the basement, I'm just about 15 feet 
away from the dryer, which at first glance runs off an outlet that meets 
my needs.  I even have a NEMA 10-30p plug here that I could wire up to 
the existing power cable for the computer.  But looking into it I have 
doubts that it's actually that simple; in particular since this house 
was built well before 1996 and so the outlet is not grounded; there's a 
neutral lug and two hot lugs (I assume two 120V A/C lines out of phase?) 
and I'm guessing that might not sit well with the power supply in this 
computer.

But then, I'm a rank amateur when it comes to house wiring and A/C and 
power supplies and all of that so I thought I'd ask the cctalk 
collective whether this can be made to work or if I should simply wait 
for a professional to take care of it...

Thanks as always,
Josh


* An AMT DAP 610, if you must ask.  It's an array processor from the 
late 80s, with 64x64 1-bit processors.  If the machine doesn't run I'm 
pretty much SOL for spare parts, schematics, service manuals, or 
anything beyond customer-level documentation (which I've recently 
scanned, btw, if anyone's curious...)