doopstr

I would like to install a microwave over my range. There is currently a range hood there. The range hood is on a shared circuit with a dishwasher and the range. I see that most over range microwaves pull a lot of amps and would like a dedicated circuit.

My question is, if I run a dedicated 20amp circuit to the location of the range hood, what do I do with the existing circuit that is there? Do I just slap a couple of wirenuts on it and leave it there?

mt6forlife

Hopefully your original wire was install with pigtails for the outlet. So all you'd do is undo the existing wire nuts, pull out the pigtail, and install a new nut on the remaining wires.

JLatimer

Scottman can give you the right answer...

But I would put wirenuts on it and tape the wirenuts since wirenuts sometimes dont hold to well on single wires. If you can disconnect that branch so it isnt live that would be best.

And do yourself and whoever does electrical next time a big favor. Label the wires to indicate where they come from and what they were for.

Zippee

Wire nuts are fine to dead end a line. Tag them so you will know where they go-"Breaker 20" or such.

Scottman111

Sorry guys haven't checked H&G lately with the holidays, etc.

Doopstr, I'm actually surprised that they would share a circuit like that. How old is your house? At work we run a dedicated 20 amp circuit whether they get a range hood or microwave just for people like you that might want to change in the future. Your right though that you need the new 20 amp circuit, good thinking

I can help but I have a few questions...

Does the circuit go from panel>dishwasher>microwave or panel>micro>dishwasher? Have you looked at the wiring for the range hood, is there a box in the wall behind the range hood? I'm guessing no since it's a range hood.


JLatimer thanks for the recommendation

Your right about the wire nuts on singe wires. It's always a good idea to just go ahead and tape them like you said. And also good idea about labeling stuff. It will make everyone's life easier

Remember doopstr and everyone else to also update your panel door as well whenever you do a job like this....

doopstr

My house was built in 68. At one point I believe the house didn't have a dishwasher and then someone came along and remodeled the kitchen. At that time they installed a dishwasher and didn't bother installing new power for it. So they swung over the power from the hood/range.

It is hooked up panel>dishwasher>range>hood. It's a 20amp circuit. The range is gas so it only pulls minimal power for electric ignition, oven bulb, and electronics.

I don't think code required things like dedicated power to a hood in 68. They also didn't run dedicated power to the laundry room.

My wife may override me on this microwave over the range project. She is short and doesn't seem to enthused by the idea.

Scottman111

Well your house is pretty old so all that makes sense now. If your wife let's it happen and you need some help just let me know..

DanL

iTrader: (2)

If your house was built in '68, make sure you don't have aluminum wiring (fairly common in houses built in the '60s). If so, definitely get a certified electrician in there to add pigtails to the wiring at each recepticle. Over time the aluminum wiring connections will loosen and begin arcing causing a serious fire hazard.

mt6forlife

I had that done as well as having a few new copper circuits installed. Now I have my home office power, microwave, and lights/fans in each room on new copper curcuits. Since the big appliances are gas, the load on the aluminum should be fairly light now. The previous sockets were back stabbed and daisy chained which I understand is a big no-no even with copper. It was also a good chance to have some old DIY crap redone properly. For example, some jackass connected a wire to a switch and didn't even hook the wire under the screw. He just stripped it to 1/8" long and straight and screwed the screw down on it.

Scottman111

DanL you are very correct about the fire hazard with the aluminum wiring...I've done many replacements for customers...


mt6forlife,

How come you got the new copper circuits? Under the circumstances I'm imagining the old aluminum circuit's should have worked fine unless you were over your load capacity. And back stabbing (aka quick wiring) is fine and perfectly legal with copper (if it's done correctly, that's where most people see problems) But yes your right about doing it with alum, that's a big

^ And that is some funny yet scary wiring I guess you had it all checked? (I recommend it)

mt6forlife

Scott,

Yep. the whole house has been checked out. He actually found one outlet that had been burnt. I had all the outlets and switches swapped out for Decora stuff and copper pigtails installed (with antioxident) throughout the house. I have a bunch of computer stuff in a bedroom I use as a home office and I wanted dedicated power to it. Luckily, I have an attic so running a couple more circuits wasn't too involved. The new ceiling fans with lights are also on new circuits. There were previously no ceiling boxes in most of the rooms and the one room that did already have a fan was hanging by a thread and had the light and motor on a single dimmer. Idiots. Luckily, I had all this done before I moved in and before the painting/carpeting was done. It cost a nice chunk of change but I sleep better knowing its been checked out and fixed.

mt6forlife

Oh yeah, I think that one was a repair after a fire (not electrical related) in the garage area. There's lots of other little stuff that I can tell was really half-assed, both electrical and otherwise. Like the doorbell transformer was connected to a lamp cord with small wire nuts and then plugged into a 3-1 outlet splitter. And the garage door opener with the indoor extension cable running over the rafters. Basically shit that was never done right got brought up to code before I moved in.

doopstr

I have the aluminum wiring. So much fun. I had about 3 circuits that would trip for no apparent reason. I had to tighten up all the hot wires in the circuit breaker box. Now all is well.

I read all about the aluminum wiring and how to handle it before I bought the house.

The house was pigtailed by a previous owner, but I'm still in the process of pulling all the switches outlets to see what's up. I found some outlets that weren't properly grounded and I found a couple of connections (like in the old dishwasher I just had replaced) that were copper/aluminum with no purple wire-nuts.

Scottman111

Mt6,
I see now why you added the circuits. That was a smart thing to do. The price is pretty expensive for a good electrician but it's well worth it. I've seen and worked with way too many "electricians" that come out with their college degree and have no clue AT ALL how to do the physical stuff. It boggles the mind. Find one and stick with him, from what I've read your's sounds pretty good. And the doorbell transformer is classic


Doopstr,
if your having breakers trip that's not a good sign, most of the time it means that the circuit is overloaded. Probably just have too much stuff running at once. Usually if something burns/melts the breaker won't turn on at all or you'll have to wait a while for it too cool down. If that ever happens make sure you get it checked out, sometimes that's a disaster waiting to happen.

I'm glad to hear that you read up on the alum before-hand. The more you know the better. And just to throw this in, I never trust anyone's work that isn't my own. Not even another electrician's. My advice is to check out whatever work anyone else does. Even if you are a noob with it, sometimes you can catch problems that someone might've overlooked

einsatz

I'm reviving this thread since I've got a similar situation... but my question is slightly different.

I'm redoing my kitchen and I currently have a hood over my range. This is to be replaced by a microwave/hood combo. The circuit for the hood right now is 15A and is shared by (just realized this today) three outlets on the first floor - one of which has a power strip with all my entertainment system (TV, DVD, Cable, A/V Receiver, sub, and a PC). I've had all these devices pulling power at the same time as the hood with the light & fan on, no problem.

I think 15A is probably not enough for a microhood considering the other things on the circuit - is this a fair assumption? Can I splice the circuit for the range (2x50A) safely and put the microwave/hood on the same circuit? Would I need a brand spankin' new circuit? Any other ideas?

JLatimer

Short answer... You will need a new circuit.

You will definitely need the additional capacity for the microwave. You will be popping breakers all the time with your hometheater and microwave on the same circuit.

You cant just splice off the range circuit. It might be able to be done, but you would have to check code, and it isnt simple. You can wire the range circuit (2x50) to a small loadcenter (breaker panel). You would then need to place a few breakers in the loadcenter. One will be a new 220v-50A (2x50) that will supply your range outlet. and a 110v-15A that will power your microhood. (a lot of parts are required for it, and like I said it isnt simple) A new circuit might be best.

The reason you cant splice directly off the range circuit is that your 15A appliance could fault and it would be supplied with 50A of current before tripping a breaker. A real fire and shock risk.

moeronn

I'm planning on swapping a range hood with a micro/hood combo in the near future. This thread has some great info.

Scottman111

Sorry I missed this, einsatz. JLatimer pretty much said it all...you would be better off running a new circuit. Use a 20A for a range/hood combo.



And moeronn, if you need any help just let us know

moeronn

Scottman - I haven't verified if the venthood is on it's own circuit, but let's say it is. If it's on a dedicated 15A circuit, would I just need to replace the breaker at the panel to a 20A? Is this a fairly simple swap? Also, the vent appears to be wired directly to the circuit (i.e. no outlet/plug). Would the microhood cable just get spliced into the existing circuit?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. It's amazing that after taking a college circuits class (plus physics of electricity), it really doesn't help you for $hlt when it comes to home improvement

Scottman111

It all depends on what the microhood needs and how it's designed. I've only done a few microhoods in my day, so I'm no expert on what their requirements are. I would assume they will want a 20A breaker, though.

If it only needs a 15A circuit, then you can just use the same circuit. If it requires a 20A, then you will need to run a new circuit using 12 gauge wire. Putting a 20A breaker on a 15A circuit is a big (as in, burn your house down ). I wish it was that easy though

And I assume the microhood would be a direct-wire system, but again, it depends on the design. If you already know what kind of microhood you want I can look it up and tell you what it will need. Let me know...



And yeah, I took two years of electricity classes in high school and when I first started working as an electrician wiring houses I was completely lost for the first 4 months or so. It's just one of those things that are tough to learn but seems so simple after you've mastered it

moeronn

I've looked up some installation instructions on various DIY sites and they seem to be plug-in, rather than direct wire. Some go so far as to instruct you to install a new receptacle. Some say 20A, some say 15A.

So, the 15A circuits are the ones small enough (#14) to use the slots in a receptacle, whereas the 20A (#12) needs to get hooked around and under the screw? I think that's what happened when I replaced the kitchen GFCI receptacles in the other condo.

Also, the existing hood has conduit running directly to the hood and conduit running directly to the cooktop. I'll be checking the panel tonight to verify if they are on separate circuits - and see if anything else is on with them.

I've been "playing" with electric for many years, but never consistent or in depth enough to do anything without research. It even took me a couple trips to Home Depot to figure out why, after replacing an old switch controled receptacle (one outlet) with a new one, the new one was no longer controled by the light switch.

Scottman111

Yeah, I'm sure the installation varies by brand and design. That's how it is with almost everything.

And yes, you can use the slots (aka "quick-wire") with 14 gauge but it is not recommended with 12 gauge. Some people will tell you not to quick-wire at all, but as long as you do it right there won't be a problem. And what happend with the GFCI install?

And I wasn't aware that you had conduit running to all of this. How old is your place?

Let me know what you find out about the circuits running to the existing hood and cooktop.