Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Electricians, I have a question

Can either one of you tell the difference between a 15 amp and 20 amp outlet just by glancing at it?

Got the little side notch.

Of course you'd know, you know how to do stuff.

It's just with all the posts recommending running both freezers on a single circuit there's not been mention of up grading to a 20 amp receptacle.

I guess a 20 amp breaker is good enuff.

I have seen a lot of scorched 15 amp outlets over the years.


Must be running 14.9 all the time.

On a 20 amp breaker..

dumb ways to die

YouTube video. 40 seconds in: "do your own electrical work".

As usual, electrical questions bring out the gamut of responses- some much better than others... The only right way to address this problem is to be sure the existing freezer is on a dedicated single receptacle, and then add another dedicated circuit and single receptacle for the second freezer, unless you want to risk a freezer full of whatever you put in there. And do not put a GFCI breaker or receptacle on them. The problem is, like Sitka said- if you have any power outage, both freezers can and will start at the same time when power is restored and the risk of overloading the existing circuit is high regardless of what the nameplate says for running amps. Also, you have to keep in mind that when compressors start to go bad they will often pull substantially more amps especially when starting, than when they are new and/or running normally. Either way, consider what a freezer full of goods is worth to you compared to what it might cost to have an electrician install a new dedicated receptacle and circuit and decide accordingly..

The existing freezer is on a dedicated non GFI 20 amp breaker.

I bought a 2 outlet 20 amp receptacle to replace the single outlet receptacle.

The freezers are 5 amps so if they start up at the same time it will be a 20 amp draw. The breaker is supposedly made to handle upwsrds of 20 amps for a start up surge.

So I have been told.....

I will test it out when the new freezer gets delivered and without any frozen food. Maybe plug both in at the sane time after letting the old freezer sit fir a while unplugged.

Many fridges and freezers use the 90 degree plugs, which makes it impossible to plug 2 into a standard outlet anyhow.
So, don't worry about changing the plug. Just get a heavy duty 3 prong multi plug adapter, and plug it in.
Sounds like if that is a single plug it was wired on a separate circuit for either a fridge, or tool such as a compressor.
Should be easy to check to see what breaker it is on, and if anything else goes off when that breaker is off.