Step down 240v to 120v

[don_bran321]

Can someone explain the theory behind why this isn't working.
I have a 240v 5500w element that I use with my control box but I want to step it down to 120v so I can plug it into the wall and brew indoors.
When I hook this up the fuse in the built in gfci blows every time.
The black cable is 10awg and the white cable is 14awg rated at 300v 15A
I just thought it would run the Element at 1/4 the power.

 

[passedpawn]

Either you have a short between L1 or L2 and ground (look for a wire fray in your element housing), or the GFCI breaker is also a ckt breaker and it trips at 10A. BTW, a 5500W 240V element will nominally draw 11.4A on 120V.

Or, something is not wired correctly. The element has an L1 and L2 connection. Thosse should be wired to the N and L outputs of that GFCI. The GND connection from your element should be connected to the GND of the GFCI. Finally, the GND should be connected somehow to kettle in which you're using that element.

 

[GoeHaarden]

If your gfci is blowing something isn't wired right, and there is a short somewhere. I would suspect that white cable has its ground miswired, but I would take it all apart and verify the wiring...

 

[BrunDog]

Use a VOM (meter) and measure the resistance across the terminals. Should be ~11 ohms across the 120V Neutral and Hot (Line) legs, zero ohms between GND and the other legs.

 

[don_bran321]

it's so wierd. I get connectivity from the ground on the Element to the ground pin on the 120v plug.
The two legs don't matter since one becomes neutral and the other becomes the load so there is no way it could be miswired.

 

[don_bran321]

idk of my voltmeter isn't reading resistance correctly or not but I get zero across the legs to ground and nothing or infinite between the hot and neutral. does that mean I have an open and not a short?

 

[don_bran321]

oh boy do I feel dumb. I had the neutral and hot wires reversed in the Nema plug not realizing that they still had to line up with the neutral an hot on the socket.... duh!

 

[mj1angier]

oh boy do I feel dumb. I had the neutral and hot wires reversed in the Nema plug not realizing that they still had to line up with the neutral an hot on the socket.... duh!

I think we went to the same electrical school...

 

[DU99]

what rating is the unit your plugging it into..watts =5500 ,voltage = 110 current would be 50 Amps....
https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/watt-volt-amp-calculator.html

 

[BrunDog]

oh boy do I feel dumb. I had the neutral and hot wires reversed in the Nema plug not realizing that they still had to line up with the neutral an hot on the socket.... duh!

Meters don’t lie

 

[passedpawn]

what rating is the unit your plugging it into..watts =5500 ,voltage = 110 current would be 50 Amps....
https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/watt-volt-amp-calculator.html

That doesn't work in this case. That is, the element's wattage is not fixed - its resistance is. It's a simple resistor, with a resistance of 10.5 ohms. Plug that into your calculator, along with voltage, to get the amperage.

 

[BrunDog]

Ya. The 5500W rating is at 240VAC.

 

[DU99]

and i was sober..

 

[don_bran321]

lol Thanks for the replys guys. You rock as usual. Switched my wires and it works great. well.... slow compared to my 240v box but at least I can plug it into the wall and brew indoors when it's cold.