10/3 wire to 6-20 receptacle

mga56grg

i have a 10/3 wire (red/black/white/ground) that is coming from my house breaker box - it was previously connected to my clothes dryer receptacle, which i don't need anymore. I want to re-purpose the circuit for a few tools that have NEMA 6-20 plugs. 6-20 receptacles have 2 hots and a ground - no neutral.

Can someone give me guidance as to what i should do with the neutral/white wire?

Do i need to do anything other than just terminate/cap the white at the receptacle?

rrolleston

Just cap it off with a wire nut so it could be used if it's needed later for a dryer.

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joed

Cap it off and change the breaker to a 20 amp breaker. You can't install 20 amp receptacles on a 30 amp circuit.

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mga56grg

many thanks to you both. i will change the breaker

out of curiosity, if my loads max out at 20 amps, why would the 6-20 be a problem on a 30 breaker?

joed

Code requires a 30 amp circuit to have 30 amp receptacles. Receptacles must match the breaker except for 15 and 20 amp circuits under NEC. In Canada the even the 15 and 20 amp circuits must match the receptacles.

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