How-To 220v/240v 4 Prong to a 3 Prong Outlet for a Welder & Test Voltages w/Multimeter! 4K HD

Stuck with a 4 prong #dryer style 220v/#240v outlet and want to swap in a more useful 3 prong outlet to plug in your #welder, air compressor, or other tools? This video walks you though the process safely in addition to showing how to test the voltages with a digital multimeter!

Hopefully you find this video useful. It seems there are a number of videos that kind of do the same thing but most seem to be of low quality and that makes it kind of hard to see what is going on. I filmed this in 4k so hopefully everything is much clearer and easier to follow.

Quick walkthrough video of the following:

* How-to setup and use a digital multimeter and use it to test your 220v/240v 4 prong outlet voltages.
* How-to cut power to the outlet at the exterior/outdoor circuit breaker.
* How-to verify outlet is no longer powered.
* How-to replace the 4 prong 220v/240v 30 amp outlet (for a dryer/etc) with a 3 prong 220v/240v 50 amp outlet (for a welder, air compressor, etc).
* How-to restore power to the outlet at the exterior/outdoor circuit breaker.
* How-to test your new 220v/240v 3 prong outlet voltages.
* Verify welder works as expected plugged into the newly installed 3 prong outlet.

Item(s) in Video:

NOTE: I am NOT a licensed electrician and following the advice found in this video is to be done at your own discretion and I am to not be held accountable for any good or bad results of your work that may or may not occur :)

Enjoy!

00:00 - Start
00:20 - Intro
01:59 - Setup Digital Multimeter
02:42 - Test 4 Prong Outlet (240v)
03:57 - Cut Power at Breaker
05:15 - Test 4 Prong Outlet (0v)
06:05 - Remove 4 Prong Outlet
10:31 - Install 3 Prong Outlet
21:54 - Energize Power at Breaker
22:33 - Test 3 Prong Outlet (240v)
23:44 - Plug in Welder & Test
24:28 - Outro
25:18 - The End :D

#howto #mods #installation #review #diy #hack #doityourself #hacks #modified #modifying #how-to #modifying #wangzilla #wngzl1a #220v #240v #dryer #washerdryer #welder #welding #3prong #electrical #electricity #test #testvoltage #dmm #multimeter #digitialmultimeter #testingplug #outlettest #4prong #outletswap #installoutlet

Music:
➤ Music from RFM - Royalty Free Music [No Copyright Music]
- Ofshane - One More Time

[spelunkerd]

This is done correctly, and I'll explain why some of the comments below are ignorantly off base. Historically, old homes did not have dedicated ground wires. In that era, they used the obsolete NEMA 10 series plugs that had a neutral and two hots with no ground. In those old appliances they bonded the frame of the appliance to neutral, and accepted there might be stray voltage on the frame which could cause a shock. This allowed devices like old dryers to split the voltage into 120 V arms to drive the control board, electronics, and ancillary devices inside the dryer. If you have an old home with no ground wire, you may still need to use that style of plug for old appliances, but officially the NEMA 10 style plugs have been banned for new installations since 1996. Those old plugs were replaced with NEMA 6 series plugs with two hots and a ground wire (no neutral) as shown here. For new installations the preferred plug is a 4 wire NEMA 14R design, as shown at the beginning. Appliances that use NEMA 6 plugs don't have access to a neutral wire for splitting voltage, so if you change the plug you cap off the white home neutral wire in the box. A welder can use its transformer to make whatever step down voltage it needs, so a neutral to carry unbalanced current is unnecessary. The critical point is to not bond neutral to the ground with a bonding strap inside the appliance, the way it was done in the past. You'd never know, the appliance will likely work just fine. If you do this wrong, by wiring the ground of the appliance to the neutral, you may have created an illegal downstream bond between neutral and ground that can cause many problems. Such bonding can cause nuisance tripping of GFCI plugs, eddy currents that mess with AFCI breakers, and dangerous voltage on the home ground system, even in circuits unrelated to the circuit in question. Bonding straps were present in old dryers but it didn't matter since there was no system ground anyway. This means those old appliances don't play nice with modern 4 wire grounding systems, especially if you fail to remove the bonding strap inside.

A better option than what was done here would be to buy a short commercially made adapter cord with a NEMA 14P male end and a NEMA 6R series female end. Make sure you get one with the correct gauge of wire designed to carry the current the breaker and wiring is designed for. When you test those adapters with a multimeter, they have neutral capped off and ground active on both ends. If you buy an adapter, you never need to change the wall plug back, and it retains four wire versatility in case the plug is ever used for multiple devices in the future. It may not be important to the current home owner, but future owners may find other uses for it.

[jeffm]

Wanted to say thank you. Only video I found on the 4 wire to a 3 wire plug. Now my welder is hooked up too! Thanks my friend!

[KevinCoop]

I’m a retired Electrical Design Engineer that worked for contractors for 35 years. I’ve read the comments that were made. This is my comment. This video, other than a few very minor terminology words, has one very minor statement error. This video shows correctly doing the task and is 100% NEC compliant. The only incorrect statement was, “the wire is larger because it is 240 volt”. Conductor insulation is based on voltage. Conductor size is based on amperes. It must be able to carry required amps at temperature lower than the insulation starts to degrade.
Very well done Sir! Respectfully, Kevin

[vincyman]

This is the most and only helpful video I found so far that helped me. Now I am going to wire my generator using same method.

[TMac]

Exactly what I needed. Only video I found that was. Thank you.

[johngreene]

Awesome video, exactly the circuit configuration I need, 220 VAC four wires to three wires. I am up and running, thank you very much!!

[Derpherppington]

I got the same problem with titanium 170 but I need to use the dryer too. Is it possible to brand it so u can have two different outlets. But 120v is more than enough for me it’s blow thru 1/8” thick materials like nothing

[travisbendele]

Thank you very much. That is very helpful.

[Marketman]

Thanks for the video I appreciate it. I have never seen a breaker box outside for a house

[rickylee]

I’ve only seen a solid wire like that used to ground the metal box or metal cover . I’ve never seen one run directly to a receptacle.

[rockyesterline]

Is the red wire, just another black hot wire.Because mine has 2 black wires, a ground and a neutral.But I am wiring two hot black wires and a ground only for my 220 and cap off my neutral

[zog]

Im curious why you didnt use an adapter so you could keep the standard plug?

[EMF_D]

Appreciate this video simplifies everything. Question for you would it be best to just remove the neutral from the breaker box completely? It’s 60a 240 volt double pole breaker I ran 4/6 gauge wire because I thought 4 was needed I see you just cut it but it kinda makes me nervous tbh.. thank you 🙏🏻

[Rubo]

I have a question? I still need my 4 prong for my dryer but my welder outlet is the same like yours. What would I do with the neutrul on the extension cord?

[equisequis.]

thanks for the verification. i just want to make sure that the neutral wire is not used for my welder. i kinda knew that, but just wanted to verify that. Thanks for posting.

[RaceMentally]

im trying to go from a 3 prong to 4 prong. How do i do that?

[baybeejayy]

Will this 4 to 3 conversion work for a dryer?

[graymatters]

Why on gods green earth is your breaker box outside?

[ianmccabe]

We all live the same lives, same thing im doing with the same exact welder😂

[rockyesterline]

The stranded wires I have never seen on a house before!!! Only cars