220v and new lathe???

"Roy Fek" wrote: (clip) It also states that the white lead should be attach/screwed to the "L" shaped blade and the other two remaining wires, I'm left with black and green, should be attached to the other two slanted blades. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I am sure that their instructions are RONG. If you have a meter, I am sure you will find 120 volts between either slanted slot and the "L" shaped one. If you don't have a meter, you could perform the equivalent test with a light bulb. I think your original idea is RIGHT. Green to the "L" shaped prong, and the other two wires to the other two (slanted) prongs.

well, it seems you have a non-grounded outlet - if it's really 220, then black and white are the two hot leads (normally white is reserved for neutral) -- connect one to each of the "remaining" leads, connect nothing to the L lead. Then, take the green wire and attach it to a trusted ground - do this right or it can kill you if something goes wrong in the lathe - a good ground is a water pipe with at least 10 feet of burried metal, or something else that you know to be properly grounded.

A better solution would be to change that plug to one that has a ground as well.

Presuming that the L shaped wire is neutral, it will be nominally connected to ground, b ut do not DO NOT use it for the green ground - again there are conditions that can make it hot and it can kill you.

I am stating this in strong terms IT CAN KILL YOU because the way you asked the question suggests that you may be relatively unsure of exactly what you are dealing wtih - please be sure to follow your local electrical codes.

Bill

to contact me, do not reply to this message, instead correct this address and use it

will iam_ b_ No ble at msn daught com

There are a total of four conductors in a 240V system:

• Hot 1 (black)

• Hot 2 (red, or white if no neutral)

• Neutral (white)

• Ground (green)

IIRC current code does not permit new installations that use the neutral conductor as a replacement for the ground conductor.

See

Clothes dryers often use a hot/hot/neutral outlet as they need both 240v (hot-hot) and 120v (hot-neutral) for proper operation. Your lathe needs 240v (hot-hot) and a good ground (it's a big chunk of metal).

Note that, as the package says, that prong shape indicates a hot-hot-neutral outlet and should NOT be used for equipment that requires a ground. There is a different prong pattern for hot-hot-ground.

I always install the four prong outlets to make sure I don't run into compatibility problems.

My advise is have an electrician replace that outlet with a four prong outlet. You'll have to replace the dryer cord too, but at least you'll be able to have the right connections for both devices.

A hot-hot-ground outlet looks just like a standard 120v outlet, except the two slots are horizontal instead of vertical, or a |- pattern that's incompatible with the -| pattern of a 20A 120V outlet. (compare the 5-20P with a 6-20P on that web page).

As I read your post it seems you are a bit unfamiliar with electricity. Therefore, the good advice you should have gotten but didn't would be to get a hold of an electrician. After all it is your lathe and your body if you hook it up wrong. George Hughes Warner Robins, GA

As an ex-electrician (Commerical/Military), I emphatically agree that you should get a qualified electrician to look at your setup (no I don't advocate hiring an electrician to fix a light fixture or other minor things) so that you don't kill yourself, burndown your house (insurance may not pay if you do this yourself), or some other bad thing. An electrician is a really cheap alternative to any of these...please be careful.

Hello,

I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all that responded. All of you may have saved my life!!!

The 220v outlet in question was wired with 2 hot and 1 neutral. I needed 2 hot and 1 ground. Further more, the outlet seems to be put in a junction box and wired to two 15 amp breakers. These two breakers also control the lights and 110v outlets in the garage/shop. I indeed hired an electrician as most of you recommended. He suggested taking out the 220v outlet and tying the wires together properly to complete the circuit and closing up the box.

The electrician was just about to run a separate 220v circuit to the lathe when he decided to look at a junction box approx. 6 feet away from the 220v outlet in question. He found 8 gauge wire with 30 amps. This circuit went out to an old green house that I will ever use. So he put in a twist lock outlet in to this junction box and a twist lock plug on the lathe and it's seems to be working out just fine. Does this setup sound right to you guys?

THANKS so much for your responses!!!

Roy Fek

It sounds like you (1) did the right thing, and (2) got a better setup because of it!