Grounding a 20 amp treadmill. Anyone with electrical experience? ?

Question

http://www.smoothfitness.com/support/Smooth_91_Series.manual.Mar2002.pdf

I have a 120 volt 20 amp treadmill, and live in an apartment, so I can't go an install a special outlet. On page 4 of the above manual, it has an image of how to ground it temporarily. Its not clear to me how exactly to do that. Does anyone know what that is actually supposed to look like?

Answer 1

Bill is right. If you could plug the plug into the outlet you would be drawing more current through the existing wires than they are designed to carry. You will just keep tripping the 15 amp breaker. If you replace the breaker with a 20 amp breaker you'll overheat the wiring which could result in burning down the entire building.

Answer 2

Hicktown,  Can you put a three pronged plug in your wall outlet?  Does the wall outlet have two or three holes per plug.  If you have 3 holes in your outlet then you're fine.  If you only have two then you need to get a three pronged adapter.  This will allow you to use a three pronged (grounded) plug in an outlet that only allows two prongs.  Now, the other part of your question is about amperage.  Theoretically you should only use a 20 amp circuit for something that requires a 20 amps.  That being said there are hundreds maybe thousands of households that have bought that same treadmill and plugged it into a 15 amp outlet and had no problems.  15 amps is the standard for most residential outlets (with the exception of the kitchen and bath).  

Answer 3

They only suggest a temporary connection by using the adapter. Your regular outlet will not take the plug that is in the treadmill. What you need is a dedicated 20 amp outlet and a 20 amp outlet to safely ground the machine. For your own safety I would recommend calling a licensed electrician to run a 12-2 with ground dedicated outlet to make sure that you have a correct outlet and wire for the 20 amp outlet.  

Answer 4

if i get this right  you have a plug that is attached to the treadmill to plug it in,there should be 3 prongs on the end 2 flat beside each other and one round one below the other 2.if this correct your plug outlet in the wall should have 3 holes 2 slots and a round one if this is correct then just plug it in,the only issue would be if you have too much already on that circuit and you could possibly blow the fuse in the panel.if your plug outlet only has 2 slots then there would be an issue

Answer 5

Don't change the outlet, - change the plug.

It's a lot easier, and you don't need any temporary amateur lash up.

A standard 20A. heavy duty grounding plug will be cheap

at your local hardware store.

(Do be sure to correct the wires to the proper terminals though.)

Answer 6

What you have is a 15 amp 120v outlet. You need to change it out to a 20 amp  120v outlet. The other thing is if you have a 15 amp outlet now than the wires are 14 gauge and you may need 12 gauge for 20 amp. Check the amperage on the treadmill and if its lower than 10-12 amps it should be ok if nothing else is on that cicuit. Hope this helps.