I think you are missing the point altogether. The problem with the lights was a that every aspect of the wiring between the pole and the light bulb while being code-compliant when installed did not cut it as a system, including the #14 wire shared by the lights and the fridge. Codes change over time (including the NEC). Did I say there was a safety issue? No. I do like my lights to stay on continuously, so I upgraded a marginally serviceable installation to one that is first rate. Over-built? NO. You can use #16 or whatever on a 20A circuit for an appliance cord, but not inside the walls. HJ pointed out similar logic should be applied when putting #10 on a 60A breaker, and I agree.Building codes, especially in Texas, is a whole lot different than NEC.
Lights not dimming has everything to do with the Power Company supply, size of service conductors, number of houses on the same transformer, personal perception, type of light bulb in the fixtures....and the list goes on. Not included in said list is the wiring inside the house.
I have a truck that gets me back and forth to work, to the school to pick up kids, over to the folks house for dinner on Sundays; nothing special about it at all. It has all the safety features of any other vehicle on the road. Extra heavy duty tires won't make it any safer.
A fine example of this would be using the nameplate info on an A/C unit to size the conductors and breaker...... Correct/superior application of materials is not the same as over-building with excessive materials.
My post was directed to the board but I will take the time to answer your questions. Being that a 15 amp circuit is the smallest one is allowed to install I would say it is perfect.Jeez! No one is talking about oversizing anything. JW, my fridge does just fine on its 15A circuit with #14 wire. Is that oversized?
bluebinky;412764The lights still flicker when it comes on said:the flickering of the lights has nothing to do with the size of the circuits installed but instead the amount of current the frig draws when it starts and the utility power delivered to your home.
I would say that the inspector has lost his mind if you have a countertop microwave and he is requiring you to have an extra circuit just because of the microwave. It would most certainly be outside the scope of code enforcement to make such a requirement and more than enough grounds to cause him to lose his certifications.The inspector told me "If I come back for the final and see that big microwave in the kitchen, you'd better have three counter-top circuits". Now I wonder, should I have put in a bigger panel, since the new one is completely full?
There is a big difference between not having spaces left and a panel that is loaded to its maximum. I have wired many homes using a 30 space panel and have never run out of spaces. I suppose if someone put a breaker for every receptacle one could fill up the spaces real fast but this in no way means that the panel is loaded to its max. Just like the garage a remote panel would solve the space problem. In commercial work I have installed a 200 amp feed through panel to another feed through panel and have a total of 84 spaces on one 200 amp main. The total number of breakers has no reflection at all on the calculated load on the service; this is found by using math not the number of breakers.
This is a design issue not a code requirement. I suppose that you could have installed a 600 amp panel in the garage in case you wanted to install a rock crusher so you could keep gravel on the driveway but again this would be a design issue not a code requirement.I ran #10 to a sub-panel in the garage in case I want to run a bigger compressor or a small wire-feed welder or whatever. Should I have run #6 in case I buy an electric car some day?
I suppose that if one wanted to they could install a #6 on the 50 amp breaker but it would be a waste of money and our natural resources for nothing. My heat pump is wired with 14 and has a 35 amp breaker and that is all that is needed. The heat pump has two motors, one for the compressor and one for the fan. There is nothing else to go wrong in the unit as there is nothing else there to go wrong. In the event of a short the breaker will open. In case of a ground fault the breaker will open. In the event that either of the two motors drawing to much current for whatever reason the overload will open so what else is there to go wrong that would require a larger conductor?As for the original question, I would use #8 on a 50A breaker to the disconnect, if it were concealed NM cable. A lot of things can and typically do go wrong with heat pumps besides a compressor motor overload. I'm not a pro and maybe I'm clueless though...
I think you hit the nail on the head with your last statement in that post. Unless one has a full understanding of motors and their requirements one would go thinking that the conductor has to fit the breaker or fuse which is far from the facts.
Study careful section 430.32 of the NEC and I think you might change your mind about the size wire you would install for a heat pump
I do understand motors. I've also seen a running 2 1/2 ton AC unit trip a known good 50A breaker with both motors running apparently normally, messed up external capacitors that drew 20A or so, flames and smoke coming out of control boards, etc. Despite what the code says, I prefer my electrical fires to be outside.The heat pump has two motors, one for the compressor and one for the fan. There is nothing else to go wrong in the unit as there is nothing else there to go wrong. In the event of a short the breaker will open. In case of a ground fault the breaker will open. In the event that either of the two motors drawing to much current for whatever reason the overload will open so what else is there to go wrong that would require a larger conductor?
I think you hit the nail on the head with your last statement in that post. Unless one has a full understanding of motors and their requirements one would go thinking that the conductor has to fit the breaker or fuse which is far from the facts.
Study careful section 430.32 of the NEC and I think you might change your mind about the size wire you would install for a heat pump
A cap that is drawing 20 amps trips a 50 amp breaker? Sounds like a bad breaker to me. Smoking circuit boards burn out in milliseconds so what is the danger?I do understand motors. I've also seen a running 2 1/2 ton AC unit trip a known good 50A breaker with both motors running apparently normally, messed up external capacitors that drew 20A or so, flames and smoke coming out of control boards, etc. Despite what the code says, I prefer my electrical fires to be outside.
A cap that is drawing 20 amps trips a 50 amp breaker? Sounds like a bad breaker to me. Smoking circuit boards burn out in milliseconds so what is the danger?
Now comes the $64 question, if the cap is bad and the circuit board is spitting flames pray tell how the motors are running normally. I got it, neither the cap or the circuit board plays any part in how the unit works. They were installed as extras.
You can try till the cows comes home but you will never find a reason to waste natural resources by installing a larger than needed conductor to an outside unit. Your leading statement in that post is far from the truth if we are to believe the part about keeping fires on the outside.
Caps swell up and stop working and circuit boards burn and open. if the breaker tripped then it did its job and evidently there wasn't a fire or you wouldn't have seen the unit and like you said the breaker tripped so where is the problem?
I think I have figured it all out, the grass got so high that the unit couldn't breath so the cap smothered to death and the circuit board caught a fever and burned up, or was it the filter never got changed causing a high head pressure which caused the unit to short cycle until the cap failed and the board burned up.
Well it doesn't much matter as the breaker tripped and all was safe.
The overload is on the inside of the compressor or it is integral with the motor. It protects the motor and branch circuit from an overload due to motor failure.I'm not a pro and maybe I'm clueless though...
I happen to be a highly trained Engineer with far more "formal education" than you will ever have.
If you'd rather I didn't post, then I'd be fine with that. Not that it matters to you, because you could always just shut me down...If you want to post your opinion based on your formal education please expect others to question you as to why you feel that your information is indeed factual. If you are just wanting to post to spend the time of day then for the love of those seeking information let it be known that it is nothing more than a pass time for you but I ask that you don’t post information and say it is because you barely passed some class in college. Some of these fine folks can hardly feed their self and don’t have extra money lying around like the two of us with all our formal education to spend on some half-baked idea that was read on wiki.
This is awkward, but...
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