Scooby Posted March 5, 2021 Report Share Posted March 5, 2021 Howdy! It may be a dump question but is it okay to plug in the table saw to the dryer outlet via extension cord? My garage connects to the laundry room where the 230V/30amp dryer outlet locates. My dryer uses gas so the outlet has not been used and I wonder if it it can be used for the table saw inside the garage via an extension cord. Currently, my garage only has 115V outlets. The drawback of that plan is that I have to crack the door open every I hook it up and dust may get into the laundry room. Also, I am not sure about the code or safety to do it that way. Any advices? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted March 5, 2021 Report Share Posted March 5, 2021 You will more then likely have to make an extension cord of the proper gauge for the distance you are going, make sure the breaker is enough amps for the saw motor. If it were me I would probably hard wire the cord to the saw motor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted March 5, 2021 Report Share Posted March 5, 2021 Plugs are configured by amp rating. Google NEMA plug chart. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 5, 2021 Report Share Posted March 5, 2021 Note that if you were a business, OSHA would not approve of the cord through the door... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chestnut Posted March 6, 2021 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 Is the panel mounted on your garage wall? Is it possible to just run the breaker to a receptacle in the garage easily. I don't particularly like the door and cord idea. If this is long term the insulation on the cord could get damaged in the door. It looks like you have a lot of room in that panel. If this isn't a rental running a few circuits might be worth the cost. As a side note if the receptacle isn't being used I'd turn the breaker off. No real risk but no reason to leave it energized either. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 I agree with @Chestnut, long term fix, even if you have to pay an electrician. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted March 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2021 Thanks everyone. I will reach out to an electrician. It's unfortunate that the panel is outside of the house and opposite to the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 7, 2021 Report Share Posted March 7, 2021 Scooby, I took it that the panel was inside and close proximity to the garage, as in the same wall. I bet a competent electrician can give you a good fix. IMO, anything is better than an extension cord. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted March 7, 2021 Report Share Posted March 7, 2021 @Scooby , do you already have a 240V table saw? If not be sure to consider the expense of supplying 240V power as part of the cost of acquisition. A lot of 240V tools are "better", but there's probably a "good" 120V version available. Consulting an electrician is the place to start. In my not-an-electrician opinion it can be OK to use a 240V extension cord, but it's not the first choice. Through a doorway doesn't sound so good, and it sounds like a long run. If you get a 240V outlet in your shop you may still find it's not quite in the right place. High volt extension cords are frowned on by electricians/codes, so if you want one you'll have to make your own. Carefully. I made an extension cord for my 3HP DC when I repositioned it to the other side of the shop away from the outlet, rather than move the outlet. The DC has 12 guage power cord. I made the ext cord from heavier 10 guage. I used the twist lock type of plugs with proper amp rating. The plugs were carefully attached insuring good electrical connection (best to solder) and the cord isn't excessively long for the task. If the machine and cord aren't going to be disconected often it's a good idea to wrap the connection in electrical tape to keep the dust out. Make sure the house circuit is adequate for the amps your going to draw, too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted March 7, 2021 Report Share Posted March 7, 2021 There is one other thought here. If the dryer shares a wall with a garage, you have to be careful with options that allow fumes into the living portion of the home. Even if you never park in your garage, coding expects those areas to be sealed away from each other. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Z. Posted March 7, 2021 Report Share Posted March 7, 2021 Do the garage and the laundry room share a wall? What I'm thinking is you already have 240 going from the box to the laundry room. It may not be too difficult for the electrician to change which wall the outlet is actually on. Then the outlet is in the garage. But two things come to mind. The first is that I thought (and will easily admit it if I'm wrong) that the most recent code requires an outlet for an electric dryer, whether you have an electric dryer or not. Of course, the contractor who told me that may not have properly understood the code. The second is that a modern dryer outlet should be a four wire 240 outlet, while most table saws I've seen are two wire 240 volt outlets (I know my old Inca saw is this way, as is my newer (four year old) Grizzly planer is the same. Two hots, no neutral, and a ground, running into a NEMA 6-15 or 6-20 outlet. I'm imagining your dryer is either a 14-30 or L14-30, running two hots, one neutral and a ground. There's the limit of my knowledge, I don't know how to handle that neutral line. An electrician will. IF (and I don't recommend it) you made an extension cord, you'd still need to do something with that extra wire. Again, I don't know how. Worst case, though, it shouldn't be too terrible to run a wire from the box to the garage. You may even have room in your box for an extra breaker, which means you'll still have that live outlet in your laundry room. That may come in handy at some later date. Bottom line is that an electrician looking at what you have will do a far better (and safer) job fixing this than an internet forum will. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted March 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 Thanks everyone for the advice. Yes, the laundry room shares the wall with the garage. The table saw is coming prewired at 115V and need 32 amp breaker which I believe is not compatible to resident outlets. It can also be wired to 230V. I still have some questions to the seller before pulling the trigger. I talked to a neighbor who is also an electrician. He said there is a high chance that the dryer wires comes down from the attic. In that case, we can add a new the wire from the attic to the garage. I asked him for a quote but he said no. Instead, he will write a list I can buy the wires/parts and help me install it. I thanked him and offer to buy him some beer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 18 minutes ago, Scooby said: I thanked him and offer to buy him some beer When he's done helping you ask him if he can move next door to me. Your property value just went up 20%, "Lovely home with classic style and helpful electrician next door". I've never heard of 32 amps on a 120V line. 20 amps is the most I've seen, but...? A 20 amp 120V circuit can run a 1.75 HP motor, max. I'm wondering if something didn't get lost in translation with the seller. What is horsepower rating of the saw motor? Even if you can run the saw on 120V it would be great to take this opportunity to drop a 240V line. Any chance of running more than one? Not trying to make you greedy or anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 Interesting wired 115 for a 32 amp breaker... that sounds like it's from Europe. Nice that you got help to figure it out. A friend of mine who is an electrician had to stop accepting beer as payment. He said "I'd have to be drunk around the clock in order to consume all of the payment people wanted to offer". 8 minutes ago, Mark J said: I've never heard of 32 amps on a 120V line. I've seen 30amp single pole breakers. These are targeted at small campers. I believe any branch circuit that is larger than 20 amps is only allowed to have 1 receptacle though. Only other time I've seen larger amperage branch circuits is in knob and tube wiring applications. They were theoretically able to push limits a bit higher because the neutral and hot wire were physically separate so heat buildup was less. Based off the reputation of that wiring style we can all see how well that ended up working..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted March 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 @Mark J I am eyeing at this Harvey saw. Seller gave me another $100 coupon. I am asking for the 230V prewired and the NEMA connection before pulling the trigger. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 The Harvey looks like a very nice saw. That 32 amp breaker spec is just them telling you to double the full load rating of the motor, 16 amps per the chart you attached. Start-up current is much higher than nominal current, but for a very short time. In all likelyhood, you coukd run that saw on a dedicated 20amp, 115volt circuit and never trip the breaker. Anyway, in the US power grid, actual voltage will be closer to 120 than 115, which means the current draw for a given load will be slightly less. In ANY case, consult an expert on the building codes for YOUR area, as they may vary significantly from any of ours. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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