So I have an old 50amp disconnect outside where the hot tub used to be and I want to put an outlet there now. There is a double slot 50 amp breaker in the main panel, and the outside disconnect also has a double slot 50amp on it. I think I need to replace one of these with a 15 or 20 amp, and if the indoor one I would eliminate the outdoor breaker. I did wire up my own dryer outlet including adding a breaker to the main panel so I am capable. I just have no idea how to wire it up to switch the double down to a single and I am having a hard time finding any examples of this online. I assume it has an extra red wire in there since its a double?
Anyone have any tips or know where I could find some examples?
Very similar yes, but I already have the sub panel disconnect there with a 50 amp in it, want to change it to something smaller so I can wire up a standard outlet.
Unfortunately that thread went sideways fast and is not very helpful
If you have 4 wires, change out the spa panel for a normal sub panel that accepts regular breakers. You probably wouldn't want or need much more than a 4-6 slot panel, and nothing says you need to populate them all. But a couple of 20A breakers outdoors would be nice to have for power tools, paint sprayers, air compressors, welders, and even landscape or holiday lights.
Your spa panel might even accept more breakers, you would just have to add these new 110V circuit(s). I believe code dictates that you have a 120V outlet nearby (between 6-20 feet if I remember correctly) the hot tub, so many of these panels already come with a GFI "main" breaker and a couple extra knockouts for the 120V breakers.
The other problem may be it is a 220 circuit not 110 . 50 amp circuits are usually 220.
The is no such code here i have a 220 hot tub circuit out on the deck.
What i did to add outdoor circuits is if you have a basement it is easy to tap off a close by 110 outlet in the basement and run a wire up through the wall to either the deck or front or back of house and add a gfi outlet in an outdoor box.
I added two outdoor outlets that way as they never put enoigh in new construction.
Of course it is. You can't in practical terms have a 50A 110V circuit.
A 3 wire circuit for a hot tub would be hot-hot-ground.
A 4 wire would be hot-hot-neutral-ground.
Not all hot tubs need the 110V neutral circuit. Neither of mine did. But most modern installs should have that 4th wire (neutral) no matter what the tub has.
@jtp10181 So if you have a double breaker (likely from your description) that was originally for the hottub motor, you can remove it and place 2 120v 20amp breakers in place of them. Then simply use an external weather proof box using a short piece of conduit to one of knock outs and feed hot to one of the 20 amp breakers. (You can optionally leave out the second breaker just use a blank on the panel cover if need be)
Not following this statement. Do you want to keep the outdoor breaker or eliminate it?
Code requires minimum gauge wire for specific amps but in your case you want to reduce the amperage of an existing circuit. When I changed out my downstairs heat pump to a gas furnace the new air handler only needed 110v, old one used 220. The electrician used one leg of the old 10 gauge wire and put a 12 gauge pigtail on it in the main panel to a new 20A breaker and then in crawl space added another 12 gauge pigtail so it would then fit into a standard switch and removed the “outdoor” breaker box completely (Switch is used to kill power to the air handler during maintenance).
If you want to eliminate the outdoor box you will need at least a 2 or maybe 3 gang box for your outdoor receptacle because lower gauge wire is very hard to bend. Or you could just leave it and change out the existing 50A breaker with 2 15 or 20A breakers and then put an outdoor rated GFIC outlet below that feeds from one of those breakers. Indoor panel would remain the same since the outdoor lowers amperage from 50 to 15 or 20(whatever you decide to put in there). I personally like 20A outside because I have plugged in air compressors, drills, saws, etc that require a lot of watts that have tripped 15A breakers.
@ritchierich I have considered both options, but I am leaning towards leaving the basement panel alone and just reducing it at the outdoor panel. Once I pull the old hot tub power cord out of there it will have a an empty knockout and as you said I would just run new wire from the new breakers to a separate box with a GFCI.
Need to get some pictures of it today, but it sounds like if I have a 4-wire coming to my outdoor panel I could just wire up one or even two separate 20A breakers there? If I just do one I assume I just use one hot and cap off the other one? I have done a lot of work on standard 15/20A 120v stuff but not much re-wiring on the higher amps and voltages. I did run a dryer outlet but since it was all new it was easy to find diagrams for it and follow them.
Agree with this approach because if you or future owner decide to add a hot tub later the wiring is still present.
You have the option to buy a 20A GFIC breaker and put it in the outdoor box and then you wouldn't need a GFIC outlet. But make sure you get an outdoor rated "weather resistant" outlet. I would compare costs of breaker vs receptacle to make that decision. I personally find that Home Depot has a better electrical selection than Lowes - YMMV as this might just be my local stores.
Correct you will just need some rubber conduit similar to what's included in the "electrical whips" sold at Lowes and HD. A whip is overkill and they sell the conduit by the foot and then just run some 12 gauge (if 20A) or 14 gauge (if 15A) wire to your new outdoor box for the receptacle.
Correct you should have two blacks, one white, and one ground. But you don't need to really change much in that outdoor box as the black wires will already be tied to the panel and you just need to change out the breaker. The white neutral should be in a neutral bar already. Its a matter of hooking up your new 12 gauge wire to the bus bars and new breaker.
