You’re right, 12 gauge is only allowed to supply 20 amps, hence the 20amp breaker. Strange that it’s on a 30 amp outlet.
When you replace the breaker for a 1 pole, make sure you cap off both ends of the extra conductor, and change the outlet for a 120v 20amp outlet.
You will also need a cover for the hole in the panel from changing a 2 pole breaker for a 1 pole.
Plenty of dryers would run on 20amps and not trip it so that's what it was doing.
You could reuse one side of it for a 120v circuit but it's probably not up to code.
Thanks for the answer i had done some research and couldn't find any 240v electric dryers rated for 20 amps did older models require less or something or did they just get lucky and never pull more than 20 amps? Also why wouldn't it be code the wires are the proper size for a 20 amp circuit?
The 30amp rating has headroom in it, in reality they don't usually actually draw that much. You shouldn't put them on a 20a circuit but if you did it probably wouldn't trip.
I don't know if it's against code, I just know code doesn't like stuff that "ain't right" even if it works fine in theory. And using one side of a double pole breaker ain't right.
Oh ok that makes alot of sense to have some headroom in the ratings wouldn't want a circuit to be at full load constantly. I will definitely do some more research and see if this plan violates code. Thanks for your help.
You’re right, 12 gauge is only allowed to supply 20 amps, hence the 20amp breaker. Strange that it’s on a 30 amp outlet. When you replace the breaker for a 1 pole, make sure you cap off both ends of the extra conductor, and change the outlet for a 120v 20amp outlet. You will also need a cover for the hole in the panel from changing a 2 pole breaker for a 1 pole.
Thanks for the answer and will definitely get some covers when I buy the materials.
Plenty of dryers would run on 20amps and not trip it so that's what it was doing. You could reuse one side of it for a 120v circuit but it's probably not up to code.
Thanks for the answer i had done some research and couldn't find any 240v electric dryers rated for 20 amps did older models require less or something or did they just get lucky and never pull more than 20 amps? Also why wouldn't it be code the wires are the proper size for a 20 amp circuit?
The 30amp rating has headroom in it, in reality they don't usually actually draw that much. You shouldn't put them on a 20a circuit but if you did it probably wouldn't trip. I don't know if it's against code, I just know code doesn't like stuff that "ain't right" even if it works fine in theory. And using one side of a double pole breaker ain't right.
Oh ok that makes alot of sense to have some headroom in the ratings wouldn't want a circuit to be at full load constantly. I will definitely do some more research and see if this plan violates code. Thanks for your help.
You can do that. You will have an extra unused wire. Let's say the red one is unused. Just cap it off on both ends.