Can I plug in a 115V 15A A/C to 220V 20A?
Question:I have an existing A/C that is on a 220V 20A circuit. I just bought a new A/C and noticed that the plugs are different. The new A/C uses a regular plug (115V 15A) while the old A/C has a funky plug. Can I just go to homedepot and buy a new 115V 15A breaker and a new regular wall outlet or is this alot more complicated?
Answers:
You don't have to rerun the wire. A 20A wire will be larger than the 15A wire. So you're OK there. If the existing wire is small enough that it can be safely attached to a standard plug, then you can simply replace the plug and the breaker. You will just have an extra wire that isn't connected.
220V/230V/240V works like this. You have two "hot" wires that are each 120V, just out of phase with each other. The two wires are 240V between each other. Using one of those wires and a common will give you 120V. The third wire could be used as a ground (if you don't have a fourth wire). Disconnect it from the breaker and attach it to the ground bar in the breaker box. Paint or tape the "new" ground wire green so that everyone will know its intended purpose. I don't know if code allows this or if it just gets overlooked where I live. I've seen several electricians do this.
Replace the 20A double pole with a 15A single pole. This will limit the current to what is safe for the new A/C.
Recap:
Wire 1 (black)-breaker to hot side of new plug
Wire 2 (white)-Common bar to commons side of plug
Wire 3 (green or bare)-ground bar to ground screw of plug
If you have a fourth wire, probably red or black, it will be disconnected at both ends. Cap it and push it back out of the way.
NO ! You can't plug any 115 vac into a 230 outlet
You need to plug into a 115 vac outlet. If you feel you can run a new wire to where the AC unit is at, you can buy a new breaker and outlet but make sure you're running 115vac.
You cannot plug a 115v into a 220v. The higher voltage would blow out your new A/C, that is why the plugs are different, to prevent this from happening. However, an electrician can change receptacles using the existing wiring, without having to run new wiring. 220V has an additional wire ( it has 2 hot wires, instead of one) that can be eliminated at the receptacle AND the breaker/fuse box. Replace the receptacle with 115V, replace the breaker with a single instead of double breaker, dont connect the extra hot wire (wire nut it off), and viola!, you are in business!
G-6 is correct. another option is to move the new AC cord to a different window and or outlet. new window AC units are rarely 220 so rewiring won't hurt you in the long run.
Don't do that! The voltage is too much and you will destroy your appliance. Get an electrician or a family member to fix everything for you. That breaker is currently running at too high a voltage for that unit.
Yes you should be able to use the same wire if that is what you are asking. Just be sure to use a 115v breaker and install a 115v recepticle box.
In the breaker box, the black wire goes to the breaker, the white wire goes to the neutral bar and the bare ground goes to the ground bar or knuckle. On the recepticle end the black wire goes to the gold screw, the white wire goes to the silver screw and the bare ground goes to the green screw.
No, you cannot do that. You also cannot legally do the things the others have recommended you do. It may work, but illegal, home brewed wiring could burn your house down and void your insurance policy. Please call an electrician and have it done correctly. Or plug it into a different receptacle.
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