converting 220 to 110

I removed an old electical stove from the kitchen. There is a 220V plug behind it. I want to convert this to 110 to plug the microwave into, because it pops the breakers where it is plugged in now, and dont want to run a goofy drop-cord across the counter. How difficult is this? On the breakers in the fuse box are some numbers on each one... all but two of them are stamped "20" , the other two are "50". whats this? Amps? thanks

 

This job is pretty sophisticated for the average DIYer. The steps are: (1) Remove the double-pole 50-amp breaker and replace it with a single-pole 20-amp breaker. One of the hot wires will be converted to a neutral, and the neutral/grounding wire will become the grounding wire.(2) Cover the unused spot in the panel. (3) In a junction box, connect the large wires to 12-gauge wires. (4) Install a box and a 15 or 20 amp receptacle.

It might be just as easy to start from scratch as if the existing circuit wasn't there.

Yes, the numbers on the breakers are amperage ratings.

 

QUOTE: "It might be just as easy to start from scratch as if the existing circuit wasn't there."

Indeed.

And it might be a lot safer to get someone who has a slightly better inkling of a few basic techniques of electrical wiring to do it for you.

There are so many small, but critical issues involved in this conversion, I get the shivers just thinking about someone even considering it who has to ask what "50" on a breaker handle means.

 

Yes, HBB, I agree with your cautionary note. I failed to correlate the difficulty of the task under conderation with the inexperience represented by the question.

Mombo, I'm not saying that you cannot do this job yourself. But I do believe that you cannot YET do this job yourself. Further preparation and study should be done before attempting a job this dangerous.