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Replace 15A receptacle with 20A receptacle?

V

Vincent

Platinum Member
I was dumb and bid on a UPS on eBay with a NEMA 5-20P plug which only fits in a 20A receptacle. My house has 12/2 wiring with 15A receptacles and 20A breakers.

Can I replace a 15A receptacle with a 20A receptacle and use it for this UPS without starting an electrical fire?
 
Yes you can.
The wire is large enough (12awg) and you already have 20A breakers.

You got lucky on both.
 
Vincent said:
I was dumb and bid on a UPS on eBay with a NEMA 5-20P plug which only fits in a 20A receptacle. My house has 12/2 wiring with 15A receptacles and 20A breakers.

Can I replace a 15A receptacle with a 20A receptacle and use it for this UPS without starting an electrical fire?
Click to expand...
(I read your question wrong but I'll keep my original thing written here)
You can do it and it will work, but it's illegal. If it does cause a fire, the insurance people would figure it out and your insurance would NOT cover the cost of the fire damage or water damage caused by firefighters.

General rules:
-wires must be rated equal to or better than the circuit interrupt device (you can use 20A wires on a 15A breaker, but not the other way around)
-receptacles cannot be rated higher than the circuit interrupt device (can't put 20A plugs on a 15A breaker)

You would need to change the breaker to a 20A breaker. Then you would need to change the wires to match the breaker. That is not cheap.


edit
This is canadian code. American code is usually the same or similar but not always.
 
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I have been replacing some receptacles recently myself. The ones off kitchen breaker should be 20a, but I noticed the old ones were mostly 15a installed before I purchased my house. I have not replace them all yet, but is it safe to leave them like that even if unused?
 
Just double check that it really is 12AWG wire and the breaker that controls it is 20Amp .. If so, just change the outlet to a 20Amp version and you are all set.
 
Noirish said:
I have been replacing some receptacles recently myself. The ones off kitchen breaker should be 20a, but I noticed the old ones were mostly 15a installed before I purchased my house. I have not replace them all yet, but is it safe to leave them like that even if unused?
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with having 15amp outlets on a 20amp breaker. Usually there are multiple outlets going to the same breaker.
 
NEC code [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Table 210.21(B)(3) permits a 15A duplex receptacle on a 20A circuit[/FONT]
 
But never change the breaker to a 20amp breaker just because you find 12 gauge wire. There's always the possibility that not the entire circuit is wired with 12/2; there could be a section of lighting or something that they switched over to 14/2 for before realizing that it would result in only being allowed a 15amp breaker.
 
bruceb said:
Just double check that it really is 12AWG wire and the breaker that controls it is 20Amp .. If so, just change the outlet to a 20Amp version and you are all set.
Click to expand...

The relevant breaker in my box is labeled with a 20. So I'm fairly certain that means it is a 20A breaker. The wiring is pretty stiff and thicker than some 14 awg wire I bought. So I'm pretty sure it's 12 awg.

It's a moot point now, though, because someone sniped me and I ended up losing the auction.

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p4340.l2565&rt=nc&item=390383773161

I really didn't need it, anyway. This UPS usually sells for hundreds. So the winner still got a good deal even with the $30 shipping. I only bid because I could have done local pickup since the seller is local to me.

Thanks again for the responses.
 
That's a pretty intense UPS.

Check out Costco. The UPS I got there was way the hell better than anything I've ever seen at any computer store, but it was quite a bit cheaper. 1200VA/900W or something like that.
 
Yeah, I actually didn't really need another UPS--I already have a couple. I only bid because this usually sells for $600+ and I could do local pickup.
 
ShawnD1 said:
-receptacles cannot be rated higher than the circuit interrupt device (can't put 20A plugs on a 15A breaker)
Click to expand...

You should have scratched this out too. How is the receptacle any different than the wiring off the breaker? 10A breaker, 20A wire, 30A receptacle, you still aren't going to pump more than 10A thru the circuit without tripping the breaker. Are you saying a 30A receptacle can't handle 10A?
 
KK said:
You should have scratched this out too. How is the receptacle any different than the wiring off the breaker? 10A breaker, 20A wire, 30A receptacle, you still aren't going to pump more than 10A thru the circuit without tripping the breaker. Are you saying a 30A receptacle can't handle 10A?
Click to expand...
Them's the rules. Sorry brah.

They probably based that rule on those shitty Stablok breakers that caused a bunch of house fires. Basically what happened is that those breakers would not reliably trip when they were overloaded. If you run 18A through a 15A breaker, you would expect it to eventually trip, right? Those ones didn't. They would keep the overload going and the wires would heat up and start fires. Putting a 20A receptacle on a 15A breaker is one way you can cause a sustained overload situation like that. You're basically intending to overload the circuit when the receptacle is rated higher than the breaker.

As my teacher once said, the electrical code book is written in blood. Those rules are there because people have died from those past mistakes.
 
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