Yup another electrical question.

[Patrick Walsh]

I just acquired a older 5 horse SawStop.

It has a 20A 250V plug on it mated to a 10G cord. The plug is L620P. I googled it and found it easily.

So the question is can i replace the plug end on my saw with the same plug end on my dryer.

Another thought is adding a junction box to my dryer line then a box with the appropriate outlet for my saw?

Thank you for any help.

[Garth Almgren]

That L620P is undersized for the saw, so you'll want to replace it anyway. Might as well replace it with a 30 amp dryer plug if you don't want to change everything to L630P.

[Patrick Walsh]

So thats it.

The dryer plug will wire right up to the 10G cord out of the machine. It has a yellow green and black wire..

[John Sanford]

The dryer plug is almost certainly a 4 wire plug, your SawStop has a 3 wire plug. (The dryer plug carries a neutral for the 120v light).

If I were you, I would add a box and a dedicated outlet for the saw. The reason is simple: plugging and unplugging the dryer is a PITA, and it can get to be inconvenient when you want to be working in the shop, but you also have to do laundry... DAMHIKT.

[Steve Meliza]

That L620P is undersized for the saw, so you'll want to replace it anyway.

SawStop says their 5HP motors draw 13A at 230V and the plug is rated to 20A at 250V. When new the saw shipped without a cord so it is likely that the first owner grabbed whatever power cable was handy and I'd say #10 wire will certainly do the job without forcing an upgrade to 30A connectors.


Patrick,
Yes, you could buy a dryer plug to fit your existing outlet. If your dyer is a 4-prong just leave the neutral unconnected on the new SawStop plug, it won't hurt anything. I do agree with John though that is a bandaid and not conducive to a happy and productive workspace. Your best bet is to pull an electrical permit (about $60 in my town) and drop in a new breaker, wires, and outlet. It is a lot more work and cost, but in the long run doing it right is worth it. If you run a new circuit consider putting in #10 wire so that it has the capability to pass 30A at a later date. You don't even have to put in a 30A breaker and plug if you don't want to do so until needed.

[Chris Padilla]

Maybe Patrick has a gas dryer?

[John Sanford]

Maybe Patrick has a gas dryer?

If it were gas, it would either be a 120v to run the light and turn the drum, or 240v to turn the drum and 120v to run the light/electronics. Mine is the latter. Gas, with 240v/120v power. At least, that's the way they generally are here in the US.

[Wade Lippman]

SawStop says their 5HP motors draw 13A at 230V

On 3phase, but I doubt his dryer is 3phase. It is actually 20.5a.

[Patrick Walsh]

Ya'll are funny.

Its a electric dryer. A shame its only a couple years old or i would replace it with a gas drywr as i converted from oil to gas heat last fall.

The outlet is old style three prong. The wire is 10G and the circuit breaker is 30amp.

I would add another circuit but my 100 amp service is maxed out. I actually already have a 8 bay sub pannel and its maxed out.

The real solution is to either upgrade to a 200amp service or at least instal another 100 amp pannel in place of my 8 bay sub pannel.

Only problem is money is tight. I just purchesed the sawstop about two three months ago. Yes i got a deal on it but it was still a fair bit of money to me. Then get this i thought it a good idea to order a Felder AD741 as i just cant stand my Dewalt luch box planer and vintage Yates 6" jointer.

At the moment i dont even have a dust collector. I am a prior festool user. I relied on a track saw and multipe CT's to get my work done. The plan is the month after the Felder machine arrives i can afford to purchase a Oneida Super Dust Gorrilla.

I figured if im gonna do this i might as well do it right. I know i need to upgrade my electrical and its on the list. I just want to get working with tools that are not a nightmare to work with. Mostly my current setup is a problem as the dust created is a nightmare for my basement shop. I will upgrade my electricl next fall but not before i add a gas fire hot dog heater to the shop so i dont have to suffer in my unheated basment.

Im a carpenter by trade and live in New England. I spend enough time M-F freezing my butt off many days come winter that the last thing i want to do on Saturday morning is head to a cold shop. Electrical should be taken care of by next december.

So i need to buy some time so i can use my tools till then. I am inclined to add a outlet box to my dryer line and onther to my tange or stove. The thought is i live alone and i could easily hook my big machines to my dryer outlet and my dusst collector to my range or stove and be all good.

Only probelm is it is completely illegal. Hence thinking of splicing a three prong dryer outlet onto the end of the cord from my Sawstop.

[Steve Meliza]

On 3phase, but I doubt his dryer is 3phase. It is actually 20.5a.

Thanks for the correction, I can't even blame that on forgetting to wear my reading glasses.

According to SawStop the ICS models must all be hardwired in order to meet NEC requirements so any plug on the cord is technically a violation.

[Chris Padilla]

If it were gas, it would either be a 120v to run the light and turn the drum, or 240v to turn the drum and 120v to run the light/electronics. Mine is the latter. Gas, with 240v/120v power. At least, that's the way they generally are here in the US.

I still have the 'dryer' 240V plug whilst the gas dryer is plugged into an ordinary 120V outlet. I know way back when, I was using the dryer outlet to run my new-back-in-2000 table saw before rewiring my whole garage.

[Patrick Walsh]

Its old,

Think 2005 so im not so worried about voiding warrantee.

Thanks for the correction, I can't even blame that on forgetting to wear my reading glasses.

According to SawStop the ICS models must all be hardwired in order to meet NEC requirements so any plug on the cord is technically a violation.

[Patrick Walsh]

The saw is up and running.

I decided against adding a outlet box to my dedicated 30amp dryer line.

Instead i purchased 25' of 30/3 cord and made my own extension cord.

Being i have no room left in my panel to add another breaker i will steal my dedicated 20amp microwave line when the dust collector arrives. Weird i know but i have a dedicated 20amp line to my microwave.

It will be a bit anoying to have to plug and unplug my table saw and jointer planer everytime i switch between machines but it will be temporary. Maybe 2-3 months max.

It was nice to hear the hum of the Sawstop and see it go through the red light green light process and fire up. Although i know the seller of the saw and he gave me his word the saw worked i had still yet to see it with my own two eyes. Considering i purched the saw with a couple minor problems i was just waiting for a big problem.

Anyway thats my story and im pretty happy.

Thanks for the help.

And man i now own the worlds most expensive extension cord!

[Phillip Gregory]

SawStop says their 5HP motors draw 13A at 230V and the plug is rated to 20A at 250V. When new the saw shipped without a cord so it is likely that the first owner grabbed whatever power cable was handy and I'd say #10 wire will certainly do the job without forcing an upgrade to 30A connectors.

That 13 A power draw sounds like a 3 hp motor, not a 5 hp motor. The L6-20 plug fits with that as you would run a 3 hp saw on a 20 amp circuit. A 5 hp single-phase motor will generally draw somewhere around 22-25 amps and requires a 30 amp circuit and a 30 amp plug (6-30 or L6-30).

Ya'll are funny.

Its a electric dryer. A shame its only a couple years old or i would replace it with a gas drywr as i converted from oil to gas heat last fall.

The outlet is old style three prong. The wire is 10G and the circuit breaker is 30amp.

So i need to buy some time so i can use my tools till then. I am inclined to add a outlet box to my dryer line and onther to my tange or stove. The thought is i live alone and i could easily hook my big machines to my dryer outlet and my dusst collector to my range or stove and be all good.

Only probelm is it is completely illegal. Hence thinking of splicing a three prong dryer outlet onto the end of the cord from my Sawstop.

I would NOT plug your saw into one of the old-style 10-30 3-prong dryer outlets as there is no ground in that outlet- you only have two hots and a neutral. You will either need to fish out the ground wire from the outlet box (it will be in there somewhere as the 10 ga nonmetallic cable they ran to the box always has a ground wire) and replace the receptacle (and the dryer cord) with a grounded four-prong 14-30 receptacle or run a separate circuit for a proper grounded 6-30 or L6-30 outlet.

I used to run my saw from a 14-30 four-prong dryer outlet using an extension cord with a 14-30 plug for my saw. That is perfectly safe as I connected the two hots and the ground and forgot the neutral. You can't do that with an ungrounded 10-30 outlet.

[Rollie Meyers]

[QUOTE=Patrick Walsh;2404009]The saw is up and running.

I decided against adding a outlet box to my dedicated 30amp dryer line.

Instead i purchased 25' of 30/3 cord and made my own extension cord.

Being i have no room left in my panel to add another breaker i will steal my dedicated 20amp microwave line when the dust collector arrives. Weird i know but i have a dedicated 20amp line to my microwave.

It will be a bit anoying to have to plug and unplug my table saw and jointer planer everytime i switch between machines but it will be temporary. Maybe 2-3 months max.

It was nice to hear the hum of the Sawstop and see it go through the red light green light process and fire up. Although i know the seller of the saw and he gave me his word the saw worked i had still yet to see it with my own two eyes. Considering i purched the saw with a couple minor problems i was just waiting for a big problem.

Anyway thats my story and im pretty happy.

Thanks for the help.

And man i now own the worlds most expensive extension cord![/QUOTE]


Not even close, your cord is not even close to the cost of a 100A cord of a single phase or 3 phase configuration, with $400-500 each pin & sleeve, plug, & connector, and there are 200 & 400 ampere versions that even more costly. Buying cords in larger sizes seem like your emptying your bank account & stealing the kids inheritance, though. Even 20' of 6/3 SO cord at $3.00 a foot