Convert 30 amp to GFCI for new biab system

[breeves2245]

Just bought the High Gravity Brewing 240v biab system. I need to convert my 30 amp breaker that controls my dryer to gfci. Dave at High Gravity explained it to me while I was in his store but I recall about 50% as I'm dumb as a stump when it comes to electricity. When I pull out my current breaker and put in the gfci, how do I connect the wires back? I have a four prong outlet. I really don't want to die doing this, so I throw the main breaker off to work on the panel and I'm good to go?

 

[griffi]

I don't know how to do that so what I did was build a 6 foot dryer cord with a spa panel on the end. I leave that permanently plugged into the wall and swap out the dryer for the High Gravity controller box when I brew. It also gives me the length away from the dryer outlet that I need as we have a very small laundry room.

 

[breeves2245]

I'll have to research what a spa panel is to determine if that will work for me. I am wondering if I really need to install a gfci. Is it a safety issue or the controller requires the different wiring to work on the four prong? I got plenty of room and the six foot cord that comes with the controller is plenty of length.

 

[doug293cz]

I'll have to research what a spa panel is to determine if that will work for me. I am wondering if I really need to install a gfci. Is it a safety issue or the controller requires the different wiring to work on the four prong? I got plenty of room and the six foot cord that comes with the controller is plenty of length.

You NEED a GFCI. It's a safety issue. The GFCI protects you from electrocution. Fuses and breakers protect wires from overheating, and structures from catching fire, but they DO NOT protect you.

Putting a GFCI in your main house panel is the cleanest solution. A spa panel is just a sub-panel with a GFCI breaker in it. Spa panels are used because for some reason, you can often buy a spa panel with GFCI. for less than the cost of a GFCI (that will fit in you main panel) alone.

Should be able to find multiple videos on YouTube showing how to replace a breaker.

Brew on

 

[Winger22]

Doing what Doug293cz detailed requires no wire reconnect as none are removed.

 

[lschiavo]

I think some wires will need to be disconnected/reconnected. The two hots go to the breaker just like the old one. The neutral feeding the outlet gets removed from the neutral bar and connected to the lug on the breaker. The pigtail on the breaker gets tied to the neutral bar.

 

[brewerJase]

I think some wires will need to be disconnected/reconnected. The two hots go to the breaker just like the old one. The neutral feeding the outlet gets removed from the neutral bar and connected to the lug on the breaker. The pigtail on the breaker gets tied to the neutral bar.

What he said

 

[doug293cz]

My directions were incomplete. The YouTube videos explain it better than I can. There are wires that need to be disconnected and reconnected. One hot for a 120V breaker, two hots for a 240V breaker. The way the neutral wire is connected changes. The original neural wire needs be removed from the panel neutral bus and connected to the new GFCI breaker, and the GFCI pigtail connects to the panel neutral bus.

Brew on

 

[breeves2245]

Ischiavo - That sounds a lot like what Dave at High Gravity was telling me. I'll try to find a YouTube on it, thanks.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've heard from two customers so far that their dryer was causing the GFCI to occasionally trip. I'm not sure if it was a wiring issue or not, but that's one way to cause SWMBO's wrath. The spa panel solution AFTER the dryer outlet would solve that.

 

[griffi]

I've heard from two customers so far that their dryer was causing the GFCI to occasionally trip. I'm not sure if it was a wiring issue or not, but that's one way to cause SWMBO's wrath. The spa panel solution AFTER the dryer outlet would solve that.

Good point. I had two major issues that caused me to go the spa panel route: I needed to get access to the outlet because we have a tiny laundry with a stacked W/D, and I didn't feel confident messing around in the main panel. Building the spa panel was not hard.

 

[DarkNoonBrewer]

I've heard from two customers so far that their dryer was causing the GFCI to occasionally trip. I'm not sure if it was a wiring issue or not, but that's one way to cause SWMBO's wrath. The spa panel solution AFTER the dryer outlet would solve that.

I've read about this, and it has happened to me. The issue is some times motors will trip a gfci. My bathroom fan is down stream of my outlet gfci and it has tripped it once in the three years. I could not get the outlet to reset until I disconnected the fan from the circuit. I had to physically rotate the fan blades before it wouldn't trip, and havent had a problem again... knock on wood.

Some further reading:

http://www.thepondshoppe.com/pond-maintenance/gfci-tripping.aspx

 

[highland_brewer]

Here is spa website kinda covers the basics of it. (installing in your panel that is)
http://www.spadepot.com/spacyclopedia/wiring-hot-tub-spa.htm
Here is a youtube video.
BE CAREFUL no matter what.

 

[breeves2245]

I ended up buying a used 30 Amp GFCI inline cord from one of the guys here. If I move in the future, I can take it with me and I don't have to burrow into the electrical panel which I really wanted to avoid. Now I get to test out that new High Gravity Electric Brewing system. Extract brewer do date, so this is my first venture into all grain.

 

[BitterSweetBrews]

I've heard from two customers so far that their dryer was causing the GFCI to occasionally trip. I'm not sure if it was a wiring issue or not, but that's one way to cause SWMBO's wrath. The spa panel solution AFTER the dryer outlet would solve that.

Sometimes when a motor starts there is a little bit of an arc that will trip the breakers gfci. I had it happen a lot with a treadmill on a gfci circuit.

As previously said you would be better off building a spa panel extension cord. You can pick up a 50 amp spa panel on ebay for around $60. With a cord and an outlet you will pay a total of well under $100. If you have a Habitat for Humanity Restore Store they always seem to have some dryer cords and outlets cheap.

By the way, don't be confused about the spa panels breaker being 50 amps. Your dryer outlet breaker will protect the circuits. The spa panel is for GFCI.

DO NOT BREW WITHOUT A GFCI PROTECTED CIRCUIT!!

 

[highland_brewer]

DO NOT BREW WITHOUT A GFCI PROTECTED CIRCUIT!!

X10 BREWING AIN'T WORTH DYING FOR.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[DaveKnott]

Hi Bruce, ISchiavo is exactly right. The white neutral for the existing wire bundle that goes out to wall gets removed from the common neutral bus bar, and connected directly to the GFCI load neutral. The white curly pigtail gets connected to the neutral bus bar. The two hots connect to the GFCI just like they did on the standard breaker.

 

[tofuguy]

I spent $75 on a breaker off eBay to replace the breaker for my garage. Cheaper than a spa panel for my case. I would say worth the safety.

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