[odonnell5]

Hi,

I'm looking to replace my current oven with a new oven which calls for a 30amp circuit. My current oven circuit is 40amps

We are planning on pulling old oven out ourselves. Doesn't seem too complicated. I am concerned about the new oven GE PT7800 needing 30A while old GE Profile called for 40A. Is this a simple fuse change? I can pull the old and take to Lowes?

Both GE products, thinking wiring will be the same and placement in old hole as well.

Any thoughts and precautions would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... A 30 amp oven will run just fine on a 40 amp circuit,....

 

[joed]

Ayuh,.... A 30 amp oven will run just fine on a 40 amp circuit,....

It will, but if the install instructions call for a 30 amp then the breaker will need to be changed to 30 amp.

 

[Jim Port]

Just change the breaker to a 30 amp breaker.

 

[odonnell5]

Can I just buy this from home depot? Turn off box and pull fuse? How do you get the fuse out?

 

[Speedy Petey]

Honestly, is there anyone that can help you??

As simple as replacing a breaker is, it is NOT something for someone that has never even touched electrical work before, which I get the impression is you?

Do you have fuses or circuit breakers?
Does your panel have a main breaker/fuse?

 

[throrope]

My understanding is breakers protect the wire, not the appliance. I expect the oven will have two numbers, minimum circuit ampacity and maximum over current device. The minimum amp is what you need for operation and the max is what they want for protection. I expect anything between the two is fair game.

You may find the new oven doesn't come with a cord and I anticipate will be 240 volt served by a double pole breaker. Depending on age of your house and local requirements, you will need either three wire (two hot wires and ground) or four wire (Black hot, Red hot, white common and ground) with corresponding outlet and plug. I anticipate you can use the old cord for the new oven. If your not familiar with this, I suggest you hire an electrician.

 

[Jim Port]

The oven has the circuit size required. It does not have minimum circuit ampacity and maximum overcurrent protection sizes listed like a motor load. The instructions need to be followed and a 30 amp breaker installed .

 

[odonnell5]

Circuit breakers and yes main breaker. My son is a lighting major at college and has worked with electricity a lot. It is more theatre productions but he is in the rafter setting up to boards etc. I am worried...he is not.

 

[odonnell5]

Jim. Can we just switch the circuit breaker out? It takes up 2 slots in box. Will the 30 do the same? My house is 15 years old.

 

[Tom738]

You can just switch the circuit breaker out. It is not hard, but you should respect that electricity can kill you and you should do it carefully. If you have any problems controlling your hands, you should not do this.

Get yourself a flashlight, a helper, insulated screwdrivers, and a non-contact voltage detector. (The helper is mostly there to hold the flashlight, and to call 911 if anything goes wrong, which mostly will only happen if you do something stupid.)

Get yourself the 30A two-pole breaker for your panel. It needs to be a breaker your panel will accept (for example, Q0 if you have a Q0 series panel or Homeline if you have a Homeline series panel), and it generally will be a big one that occupies two full spaces on one side of the panel. For example, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D-QO-30-Amp-Two-Pole-Circuit-Breaker-QO230CP/100022140

Test your non-contact voltage detector on a known good power source, such as an outlet near the panel.

Turn off the power to your panel. If it is a subpanel and you can turn off all the power before it enters the panel, do that. Otherwise, turn off the main breaker at the top of the panel. If the main breaker is off, there is *STILL* power inside the panel, but it is only powered up to the main breaker in the panel. So don't go touching things in there.

Check the cover with the non-contact voltage detector. If it is energized, STOP and call an electrician.

Unscrew the cover. Remove the cover. Test the wires inside the panel with the non-contact voltage detector. If there is still power anywhere other than up to the main disconnect, STOP and call an electrician.

Remove the current breaker for the oven. Unscrew the existing wires from that breaker. Screw the same wires into the new breaker. Install the new breaker. Make sure it is not loose or jiggling in any way. Replace the cover. Turn on power.

To the extent possible, avoid touching anything metal while doing this.

Note: your son can probably do this easily and in ten seconds without thinking about it. He will be much less careful but the result will be the same.

 

[odonnell5]

Thanks Tom. Sounds very easy. I have 2 fuse boxes. This one is a sub I think. There are 2 breakers in there labeled main inside the box. The other box is on the other side of the basement. I will check and see what that one looks like and post again. I was thinking to just turn off both boxes to play it safe. That will cut power to whole house and we can use a flashlight. Thoughts? I got a quote of $150 and didn't think it was that complicated. I am replacing another GE microwave/oven combo so should fit in exact same hole in wall. We are taking the other one out so will copy how that one is connected. Than copy.

 

[Tom738]

Thanks Tom. Sounds very easy. I have 2 fuse boxes. This one is a sub I think. There are 2 breakers in there labeled main inside the box. The other box is on the other side of the basement. I will check and see what that one looks like and post again. I was thinking to just turn off both boxes to play it safe. That will cut power to whole house and we can use a flashlight. Thoughts? I got a quote of $150 and didn't think it was that complicated. I am replacing another GE microwave/oven combo so should fit in exact same hole in wall. We are taking the other one out so will copy how that one is connected. Than copy.

If this is a sub the other panel may also have a disconnect for the connection to this panel. There may also be a disconnect outside near the meter. In any event, turn off every disconnect you can just to be careful. (Turning off more than one disconnect helps you mostly in case someone did something really stupid when installing everything originally, but in my admittedly amateur experience, a lot of electric safety is about redundancy. The two labelled "main" should certainly both be off and may be, in effect, one main.)

Note it is also possible that you have two main panels coming off of a single service (I believe residences with greater than 200A service will sometimes do this.)

The way I would look at it, $150 gets you a slight personal risk reduction, peace of mind, some liability insurance, and you get to watch how a pro does it. For some people that's worth it, for others it's not.

 

[odonnell5]

Thanks! Your right but we really try and be do it yourselfers. The house in newer, wired very straight forward. This just seems like not a big deal as long as all power turned off. Im not sure that price includes installation of new unit. Will have to check

 

[patmurphey]

Geez! I guess that means that I can't run an appliance that calls for a 15 amp circuit on a 20 amp circuit???? I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[GrayHair]

... Both GE products, thinking wiring will be the same and placement in old hole as well. ...

If only life were that simple. The junction box for PT7800DHWW needs (must?) be located at the top of the opening. It also comes with a flexible metal "whip" attached and must be hardwired to the junction box.

PT7800DHWW Manual

 

[teamo]

Geez! I guess that means that I can't run an appliance that calls for a 15 amp circuit on a 20 amp circuit???? I wouldn't change a thing.

Hard wired appliances have different rules than cord connected appliances. So yes you can use a 15 amp cord connected appliance on a 15 or 20 amp circuit but large draw appliances often have maximum circuit over current protection rules and may require that the breaker be sized for the appliance and not the wire size.

 

[dmxtothemax]

He can change the 40A
Breaker to a 30A if he wishs.
The 40A cable can stay.