Single Pole 50 Amp Circuit Serving for Electrical Dryer, Powers and Many Others

[Masa0811]

Hi everyone. The title should sound crazy enough, but it's what happening in my 72-years old home we've purchased 2 years ago.

I found the crazy wiring when I was just troubleshooting on a lighting which has been flickering, and finally completely failed recently. I recognized the lighting is currently hooked on the 50 amp circuit breaker which is also serving for dryer, gas water heater, washer, several power and lightings. By opening the swith box, the wire gauge seems either 14 or 12 AWG while I cannot read the gauge written on the wire sheathing clearly. I understand 50 amp circuit breaker needs 6 AWG. While the wiring doesn't seem to have any melt parts , I assume the lighting has failed because of oversurge?

Anyways, lighting itself is a minor thing. The first and foremost, my concern is the safety. However, I cannot afford electrician to fix this issue immediately. What is the most affordable solution to make it safe? Also, I'm hoping that the solution doesn't significantly affect our daily lives such as washing clothes. While, I would like to observe the electrical code, this comes to second for now.

The attached picture is the label sticked to the dryer. It's saying "20/208V" and "20/240V". Does it mean that it should be hooked up with a twin pole 20amp 208V/240V circuit breaker? If so, I'm not sure why it's hooked up with a single-pole 50amp circuit breaker. Is that because the former owner assumed 50amp is good enough not to trip with the larger load?? Can anyone tell if it is somehow okay or not??

Regardless, in near future, I think I should separate the electric dryer from the others including the washwer and gas heater (the washer is 120v 10amp). I assume that the dryer circuit needs a twin-pole 20amp 240V circuit breaker. Is it okay to wire it with AWG 12-2? The other circuit should be okay with single pole 20amp circuit with AWG 12-2 wires. Can anyone please correct me if my strategy is fundamentaly wrong? I appreciate your advise.

Lastly, the another picture shows a weird power which is in the utility room ,and hooked in the same 50 amp circuit. What is this?

 

[Megawatt]

Hi everyone. The title should sound crazy enough, but it's what happening in my 72-years old home we've purchased 2 years ago.

I found the crazy wiring when I was just troubleshooting on a lighting which has been flickering, and finally completely failed recently. I recognized the lighting is currently hooked on the 50 amp circuit breaker which is also serving for dryer, gas water heater, washer, several power and lightings. By opening the swith box, the wire gauge seems either 14 or 12 AWG while I cannot read the gauge written on the wire sheathing clearly. I understand 50 amp circuit breaker needs 6 AWG. While the wiring doesn't seem to have any melt parts , I assume the lighting has failed because of oversurge?

Anyways, lighting itself is a minor thing. The first and foremost, my concern is the safety. However, I cannot afford electrician to fix this issue immediately. What is the most affordable solution to make it safe? Also, I'm hoping that the solution doesn't significantly affect our daily lives such as washing clothes. While, I would like to observe the electrical code, this comes to second for now.

The attached picture is the label sticked to the dryer. It's saying "20/208V" and "20/240V". Does it mean that it should be hooked up with a twin pole 20amp 208V/240V circuit breaker? If so, I'm not sure why it's hooked up with a single-pole 50amp circuit breaker. Is that because the former owner assumed 50amp is good enough not to trip with the larger load?? Can anyone tell if it is somehow okay or not??

Regardless, in near future, I think I should separate the electric dryer from the others including the washwer and gas heater (the washer is 120v 10amp). I assume that the dryer circuit needs a twin-pole 20amp 240V circuit breaker. Is it okay to wire it with AWG 12-2? The other circuit should be okay with single pole 20amp circuit with AWG 12-2 wires. Can anyone please correct me if my strategy is fundamentaly wrong? I appreciate your advise.

Lastly, the another picture shows a weird power which is in the utility room ,and hooked in the same 50 amp circuit. What is this?

By code the washing machine needs its own 20 amp single pole GFCI circuit, the dryer needs a 30 amp double pole breaker and using # 10 wire. Your gas heater requires at least a 15 amp single pole breaker using # 14 wire. If your dryer is actually hooked up to a 50 amp single pole breaker then how did it ever work. The heating elements require 240vac not 120 vac. Good luck with your project.