I wired an outside outlet plug on my back porch and ran it off my breaker box, used a 20 amp breaker, used 14/2 wire, hooked the white and black wires to the outlet plug and cut the ground wire off short (the guy at Home Depot told me to do it that way).
I used a double 20 amp breaker and wired white on top and black on bottom and ground to the strip with all the screws in it, which in that same strip it does have a ground connected to it from a 240 RV outlet, all within the breaker panel. So would that be considered having it wired for 240? The breaker does not trip, just keeps blowing bulbs.
I tried the plug with some Christmas lights and they came on fine, but then I plugged in a lamp and it immediately blows the bulb. I tried 3 more bulbs and the same results, does the ground wire have to be connected too? or should I use a 15 amp breaker instead of the 20? or is my wire I'm using too small of a gauge? Help!
Best Answer
First off. With a 20 ampere breaker, you must use at least 12 AWG copper conductors. The 14 AWG you used is to small, and should be replaced.
Second. By connecting the wires to a double pole breaker, you've indeed created a 240 volt circuit. If that was your intention, you should have installed a NEMA 6-20 receptacle. This would have prevented you from plugging 120 volt loads into the receptacle, as the prongs would not have fit. If this was not your intention, you should rewire the circuit using a single pole breaker.
Third. You should not have cut the grounding conductor short. You should have connected it to the grounding screw on the receptacle, and to the box if it is metal.
Lastly. It sounds like you don't know much about electrical work, and should likely contact a local licensed Electrician.