20 Amp breaker on a 8 AWG circuit protected by a 50 Amp breaker

[namarena]

I've been trying to find in the NEC confirmation for my unique situation: I have a 8 AWG wired circuit protected by a 50 Amp breaker at the sub-panel. The circuit used to feed a large compressor. The compressor is gone and I need remove the 40 Amp plug on the wall and replace with two 20 Amp GFCI. Since that is not allowed straight-forward, I want to connect at the old 40 Amp plug site, a 20 amp breaker to feed my two 20 Amp GFCI. Is this allowed by the NEC?

 

[infinity]

So you want to convert the old 240 volt, 50 amp circuit to a 120 volt, 20 amp circuit by installing a circuit breaker where the 50 amp circuit now ends?

 

[namarena]

So you want to convert the old 240 volt, 50 amp circuit to a 120 volt, 20 amp circuit by installing a circuit breaker where the 50 amp circuit now ends?

Correct! I need to remove the old 40 Amp socket the compressor was connected to, install a subpanel with a 20 amp breaker and from that, connect my two 20 Amp GFCI at 120 VAC.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

If you only want one 20 amp circuit, you should be able to do that. Are the 8AWGs part of a cable? How many conductors in the cable?

 

[infinity]

Correct! I need to remove the old 40 Amp socket the compressor was connected to, install a subpanel with a 20 amp breaker and from that, connect my two 20 Amp GFCI at 120 VAC.

You could just replace the 50 amp breaker with a 20 amp but then you may have an issue with 250.122(B).

 

[namarena]

If you only want one 20 amp circuit, you should be able to do that. Are the 8AWGs part of a cable? How many conductors in the cable?

Gotcha. The 8 AWG seems to be a cable with three conductors (240 VAC and Neutral) plus ground.