So how do you know if you need to upgrade your main electrical panel? Well, typically, you can tell by locating your main panel these are usually in a garage, storage room, basement or closet and checking for any open slots.

For example, in the picture below, the panel has availability for a circuit breaker sized appropriately for an electric dryer. Keep in mind that all electric dryers need a amp, double-pole circuit breaker typically, these breakers take up two slots in your panel. Just have an electrician inspect your panel and determine the availability. Not all electricians charge the same for their labor.

Switch the main disconnect to the OFF position. The main disconnect switch is usually at the very top or very bottom of most electrical service panels, but not always. The main disconnect switch should be the largest value circuit breaker in the panel.

This switch will probably be a double or in some cases a quadruple wide switch and be rated at , or more amps. Leave the remaining circuit breakers in the ON position. All lights and power at outlets should now be off. Verify that the power is off by checking light fixtures in the space. Remove the cover on the electrical service panel.

Recheck power with a meter, V test light or other tester rated for V by touching one probe to an unpainted surface scratch through existing paint if needed of the panel while touching the remaining probe to the terminals of several circuit breakers that are in the ON position.

Do not proceed unless power is not present at all breakers. Only the main disconnect switch should have power on it's terminals. Locate or create a space wide enough for the new circuit breaker. If there is enough space to install the circuit breaker, skip to the next step. Some older services have two "single- wide" circuit breakers installed adjacent to each other that provide power to a single "three wire" cable a three wire cable has a bare or green wire and three insulated wires: white, black and red.

The red wire is the indicator of a three wire cable. If there is a red wire connected to a single circuit breaker, trace it back to the cable from which it originates. Once located, trace the black wire from that same cable to the point it connects to a circuit breaker. Most likely, this is the breaker directly above or below the breaker that has the red wire. Be sure to move these two single breakers as a pair. Do not create a space between these two circuit breakers to install the new circuit breaker.

Do not move just one breaker to the opposite side of the panel, they must be considered as a "matched pair" only. Remove circuit breakers by moving the switch handle to the OFF position and pushing on the handle away from the middle of the panel. The circuit breaker will pop off the bus bar in the center of the panel and then it may be pulled off the side rail.

Install the appropriately sized new circuit circuit breaker into the panel. Most circuit breakers are designed to be clipped on the side rail by aligning and pressing down at the terminal end or have a tang to engage a slot on the rail. The tang must be engaged first, and then pressed onto the bus bar in the center of the panel.

This is the same as the removal procedure, but in reverse order. Remove a pre-punched knock-out "KO" from the side of the electrical panel that is the same size as the connector. Place the blade of a screwdriver at the inside-most ring and strike sharply with pliers or hammer. Carefully twist out the bent metal and continue to enlarge the opening until the circumference required by the connector is met.

Install the connector into the opening from the outside and spin the lock nut over the threads from inside. Hold the connector so that the screws will be readily accessible as you tighten the locknut. Once tight, drive it tight by placing the flat edge of a screwdriver in a valley of the locknut and rap sharply with pliers or hammer until tight. Unroll the cable on the floor to reduce kinking during installation. The cable size and type, like the circuit breaker value, is determined by the appliance's or device's electrical requirements.

A quick rule of thumb there are variables in the Code that adjust these values up and down is a 14 wire will supply a 12 amp load.

A 12 is good for 16 amps, a 10 for 24 amps, 8 for 32 amps and 6 for 40 amps when copper cables are used. Aluminum cables can be used instead but often have additional requirements and slightly lower capacities. Local electrical code, conditions, etc. Drill holes centered in framing members, etc.

Use a bit large enough to allow the cable to slide easily through. If old work, you will need to fish or snake the cable in the voids of walls, etc. Thread the cable through the drilled holes beginning either at the electrical panel or any point in the middle thread in both directions.

Determine where to drill behind the range to allow the cable to enter the space for the range outlet by inspecting or measuring the rear of the range. Only a space wide enough for the cable - that will not result in contact of the cable with the range frame, drawers etc. Pass the range cable through this last hole behind the range. Leave several feet or more of the range cable in this area. Strip the outer jacket. Remove 6" of the jacket and any plastic shielding from around the conductors.

Wire the outlet. Inspect the range outlet. Install the supplied cable connector to the range outlet with the hardware provided. It will be easier to wire the outlet if the connector is installed into the bottom of the outlet rather than the back. The bottom installation allows the cable to be easily passed into the outlet and wired without having to bend the conductors 90 degrees. Either way will work, one is just a little harder to work than the other.

Lay the cable into the outlet by first lining up the jacket so that it will just be visible into the outlet body. Arrange the conductors to lay into the terminals. The black and red conductors will land in the gold terminals it does not matter which of these two conductors land in the left or right gold terminals , the white conductor will land into the silver terminal and the uninsulated conductor will land in the green terminal.

Cut the conductors for the outlet. Carefully strip the cable as per the strip gauge indicated on the range outlet. Be sure to remove all insulation from the part of the conductor that will be in the terminal. A nicked conductor must be cut back and redone. Since the working area in the outlet is so small, all the conductors will have to be re-cut to length and stripped over again. Apply oxide inhibitor. If using aluminum cable, apply a generous coating of aluminum oxide inhibitor to the individual stripped portion of the conductors and into the wire compression terminals of the range outlet the amount of inhibitor should not be so much that it drips from the conductor or terminal.

Application of oxide inhibitor to aluminum conductors is a code requirement, and must not be skipped. Secure the range outlet to the wall or baseboard in a location where when the range cord is connected, will not interfere with placement of the range and closing of any range drawers. Inspect the back of the range to get an idea as which locations will meet this requirement. Often times, removing the drawer will allow access to the wall - where it may be marked with a pencil, etc.

Make sure the safety panel sits tightly on the front of the box and that none of the wires are exposed. Once you finish, turn the main power back on the circuit breaker box so you can use your outlet. Daniel Stoescu Master Electrician. Daniel Stoescu. Get 2 hot wires from 2 different phases along with a ground wire, which must connect to the properly-identified terminals. The ground wire always connect to the green screw. Yes No. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0.

Did you mean Not Helpful 27 Helpful Use a wire nut to cover the neutral and tape it securely. Just connect the hot terminal and ground.

I wired a table saw with the v plug. I changed from a range receptacle to a twist lock receptacle. There was no green wire, so I put the red wire where the green should have been. Was this wrong? Yes, it's wrong. Green is for ground, red is hot. You probably don't have v anymore. Not Helpful 11 Helpful Not Helpful 12 Helpful Technically you can, but you shouldn't.

No building code that I know of allows this. Electric water heaters and dryers should always be on their own dedicated circuit. At the very least, you would be tripping breakers or blowing fuses constantly. In the worst case scenario, you could electrocute someone or burn your house down. Not Helpful 19 Helpful Single phase systems are used mostly in residential panels. If you have ever seen a panel, you would see that there are breakers on both sides of the panel. Each side is volts, and both sides together are volts.

It's called single phase is because you can only have one phase variance between the two wires. Not Helpful 16 Helpful Not Helpful 8 Helpful I have a outlet that has 10 wires for the neutral ground and one hot leg. The other hot leg is a 8 wire. Is this a problem? It's sloppy, and indicates the installer was not paying attention, or made a slip up in wiring and didn't catch it or didn't fix it. It also implies that the wiring was not properly inspected.

Whether this problem could lead to a fire depends on the amperage of the circuit breaker, and the length of the wires from the breaker to the receptacle. Not Helpful 7 Helpful 5. Can I switch a single breaker with a double safely if I need more outlets? The short answer is yes. However, if you are wiring according to the current national electric code, then you may be required to use arc-fault-circuit-interrupter breakers. I have found these hard to find for double breakers, perhaps because they are not manufactured yet.

Not Helpful 11 Helpful 3. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Working with your electrical system can cause serious injury or death. You Might Also Like How to. How to. More References Master Electrician. Expert Interview. About This Article.

Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: June 29,