| Author | Message | ||
     Saintly |
problem: Old gas oven/stove in kitchen died. Purchased new electric oven. New oven requires 220 volt / 30 amp power source(which I dont have in kitchen). 1st Question: I have an electric clothes dryer in my basement that runs off of 220, it currently has a "bridged" breaker. By bridged, I mean that the breaker has the levers or switches that flip when the breaker trips, connected or bridged together by a metal bridge. This breaker is marked "30" on each leg (it is twice the width of a regular breaker & connects to both "hot" bars of the box). Does this make it a 30 amp circuit, or a 60 amp circuit? 2nd Question: I have room to add breakers in my box, and I have another "double" bridged breaker in stock. The extra breaker I have is marked "50" on each leg. Assuming that the answer to my first question is "its 30 amp", then this breaker when installed would make a 50 amp 220 volt circuit. Would there be a problem with wiring my new stove into my box using a 50 amp breaker rather than a 30 amp breaker? Will it just be tougher to trip the 50 amp breaker if there were ever a problem with the stove, or could I be causing some other problem by doing this? | ||
| Jackbequick |
1st Q - The two "bridged breakers" are a 220V 30A circuit. A 220V circuit has two 120V "hot" legs that combine to make a 220V circuit. Each leg has a 30A breaker on it and if either trips the "bridge" turns the other breaker off also whether it is overloaded or not (for safety). If you used the 50 Amp circuit and the stove calls for a 30 Amp circuit, the stove might overheat and catch fire without tripping the breaker. It is not likely, but it is a possibility. The things that would typically trip a 30 Amp stove breaker (like shorts) will also trip a 50 Amp breaker. But in the interest of doing what is right and safe I would replace the 50 Amp breakers with a pair of 30 Amp breakers. If that 50 Amp breaker is wired, it may be capped off in the wall behind your stove (maybe even behind the sheet rock with no outlet installed. In older homes the 50 Amp circuit was typically for an electric range but if a gas range was installed they might not install an outlet for an electric range. A friendly warning, if you enjoyed cooking on an older gas stove you are likely to be a little disappointed with a modern electric stove. The drive for efficiency and economy is producing gas and electric stoves that simply aren't capable of producing the the amount off heat that is sometimes wanted you want for some kinds of cooking (like for searing meats and for cooking in bigger pots and pans, woks, etc.). Jack | ||
| Blake |
Darn. We have an electric stove/oven and want to replace it with a gas range. Gas stoves ROCK! Instant on/off. Sorry, but Jack already answered your shocking question.  | ||
| Cochise |
ziptab........... ATC'r needs to get a job. Member # 6 posted December 10, 2005 11:31 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defiantly put in the 30 amp breaker where the 50 amp breaker is!15 bucks for the breaker is alot cheaper than the house fire I went to last night, that was caused by the breaker.......... Also make sure the wire is heavy enuf. There are charts for such specs.More often than not,the house fires we get called on are "electrical caused"..........too big of a breaker,too much load on the circut and the wires too small. -------------------- Harley Davidson!......... IS........ Buells AMF "Loud Fans Saves Lives" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posts: 5152 | From: .............Harley in Iowa | Registered: Oct 2002 | IP: Logged Dyna ATC Forum Senior Member Member # 2057 posted December 11, 2005 12:59 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe some stoves call for 50 amp service. The big problem with electrical fires is undersized wiring & oversized breakers. If you match them up...ie 14 gauge wiring & 15 amp breakers, 12 gauge wire & 20 amp breakers, etc, then you normally wont ever have an issue. Yep, same answers I got. | ||
| Oldog |
Saintly: consider hiring an electrician , cheaper than a house fire... | ||
| Saintly |
I've re-wired over 75% of my home, I think I can handle running 15 feet of romex & drilling a hole in the floor. I asked about the amp rating because I've never messed with 220 beyond changing the outlet recpticle for the dryer a few years back. I guess I'll go to home depot & splurge on a 30 amp breaker to swap for the 50 I've got. $6.15 for a breaker is way less than my homeowners insurance deductable! | ||
| Jackbequick |
"..I can handle running 15 feet of romex..." In recent years they have changed from using romex with two hots and a neutral to romex using two hots, a neutral, and a ground. And the 30 Amp outlets have four sockets instead of the classic old ones with three sockets. Adding the ground wire and four conductor sockets and plugs to 30 and 50 Amp circuits was a good thing. It eliminated the issues with people wanting to use the neutral for a ground which could be potentially dangerous. If you look at the mechanics of wiring done to code the issues between what is a ground and what is a neutral makes my head hurt. The two are bonded to each other at the main breaker panel which means that there is, effectively, no difference between the two anywhere in the system. But for the purposes of meeting the code you have to have both and neither one can be used for the intended purposes of the other. You're lucky you are in the inexpensive breaker market. Some breakers for older, discontinued, panels are priced sky high because the market is so small. Sometimes you can buy a new 200 Amp service box and a bunch of breakers for the cost of one or two of the older breakers. Good luck! Jack | ||
| Jackbequick |
Blake, Have you looked at or used a classic range lately? Like an O'Keefe & Merritt or Wedgewood? If you look at those burners they have inner and outer flame rings on each burner. And one or two of the front burners were often larger than the other. And they had two stage valves that turned off the inner and outer flame rings in sequence. They are purely a thing of joy to cook on as far as being produce and control BTU's across a wide range. And beautiful to look at... And if you don't want pilot lights for issues of gas conservation and/or safety. You can simply go in, close the valve on the pilot lights, and start lighting them with a spark lighter. If you look at the size and weight of the burner castings, the grates, etc., etc., the American classic ranges are the Harley-Davidson of the kitchen appliances. I delivered stoves for this guy for about 10 years. My test of a good range is that the weight of the good stove, with all easily removable castings and racks removed from the stove, it is about two to three times the weight of a modern range with nothing removed. You can move a classic with a hand truck but you have to use your head, have a good hand truck, and put it together again at the delivered to end. Jack | ||
| Bluzm2 |
The cheaper gas ranges may suffer from "under powered" burners. Go to a good appliance store (not Sears or Best Buy) and check into the middle to upper end gas ranges. Viking, Jen Air, Vulcan, etc.. There is a reason pros use them. |
