Electrical question 4 gauge wire

I am running 4 gauge wire about 100 feet to a subpanel . The electrician said he knew what he was doing but I'm quite sure now he was full of shit. The wire is getting warm. On the subpanel I am running a dual 50amp breaker and dual 30 on one leg and the other leg is a dual 20 and two single 20s. I am mechanically retarded so I really have no idea what im talking about when it comes to this. I am worried with the wire getting warm that I am using too much juice? As far as I know, individually none of the breakers are being overloaded . It has been working for a few months now, I am just worried one day it will start a fire or something. Please someone with info on this subject, give me some insight .thanks

I think there is one more dual 20 lol. No help people?

I wouldnt have more than 60 amps on that.. If it's more I would stop.

M4sT3rM1nD said:

I wouldnt have more than 60 amps on that.. If it's more I would stop.

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I would say it's closer to 100 amps used. The wire is warm to the touch is that bad?

4Ga or 14Ga??? I used, i believe, 8ga when i made an extension for my welder..that will draw upwards of 200A at full blast..and i overrated the cable..could have gone with a 10ga. A 4ga should handle a few hundred amps....I'm going to assume 14ga, and if that's the case..FIRE HAZARD. I ran 10ga for one 30 A 240V circuit, an 12ga for my 120V's...

WeedFreak78 said:

4Ga or 14Ga??? I used, i believe, 8ga when i made an extension for my welder..that will draw upwards of 200A at full blast..and i overrated the cable..could have gone with a 10ga. A 4ga should handle a few hundred amps....I'm going to assume 14ga, and if that's the case..FIRE HAZARD. I ran 10ga for one 30 A 240V circuit, an 12ga for my 120V's...

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It is definitely 4 gauge. I am running 240 and 120 on the box. The air conditioners and the lights are on 240 everything else is 120. I've estimated about 60 Amps being used of 240 and about 25-30 amps on the 120. The wire is warm to the touch. So I assume this means it is closed to max?

Herb & Suds said:

https://static.grainger.com/images/14-ECOMMA-251 Wire Size CHART.pdf?cm_sp=CS_Banner-_-Electrical-_-Wire-_-WIRESIZEAMP

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According to this I am close to max it not a little over. Is this unsafe? Also it is running about 100 feet So I assume it's working pretty hard to get the power that far

Mine runs warm
shorter run too
Seems you are really close but those charts run to the safe side...
Resistance should be a non-issue with #4
Light it up !

Herb & Suds said:

Mine runs warm
shorter run too
Seems you are really close but those charts run to the safe side...
Resistance should be a non-issue with #4
Light it up !

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Thankyou!

the important question is what size breaker feeds your sub panel? that is the most possible power supplied to that 4 gauge wire.

and i believe 4 gauge is rated for 80 amps or so. not too sure with length consideration.

Just to clarify, what color is the wire? With 4 Ga wire, you should be good to like 70 Amp if NM wire was used. If aluminum wire was used your max amp rating gets decreased significantly. As for overloading, you should use a breaker that will exceed your max amp draw by 25% according to most local codes in the U.S. As for the length of the wire, it getting warm (not hot) is normal for long runs of wire with higher amp draw as you had mentioned already.
Are the breakers themselves warm or just the run of wire?

I am to
Scared to open the subpanel and feel the breakers lol I will
Ask a friend to do it when they come over next haha. The wire is definitely warm but it is about 100 feet from the panel to subpanel. The breaker feeding subpanel is 100 amps. Sorry it took so long to write back I didn't see the messages

HydroRed said:

Just to clarify, what color is the wire? With 4 Ga wire, you should be good to like 70 Amp if NM wire was used. If aluminum wire was used your max amp rating gets decreased significantly. As for overloading, you should use a breaker that will exceed your max amp draw by 25% according to most local codes in the U.S. As for the length of the wire, it getting warm (not hot) is normal for long runs of wire with higher amp draw as you had mentioned already.
Are the breakers themselves warm or just the run of wire?

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The wire is black

Honestly i think you want at least 2 gauge copper for the hot leads. probably can do 6 gauge for the ground.
But 4 gauge is too small. you could replace the 100 amp breaker with a 60 or 70 to supply the power to sub panel and it would be safe.
If you need all 100 amps you should upgrade your wire.

clayawesome said:

Honestly i think you want at least 2 gauge copper for the hot leads. probably can do 6 gauge for the ground.
But 4 gauge is too small. you could replace the 100 amp breaker with a 60 or 70 to supply the power to sub panel and it would be safe.
If you need all 100 amps you should upgrade your wire.

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I'm pretty sure it needs a hundred . Specially with the number of breakers on the subpannel. I spent 700 in wire to run it that far. That sure sucks to have to throw it away. Isn't this something the electrician should of known ahead of time? What a fucking idiot

It took the dude like 4 days to do it all and made all kinds of noise and had me freaking out panicing. I rent lol. So the thought of having to do this all over again is breaking my heart and my wallet

patrickkawi37 said:

It took the dude like 4 days to do it all and made all kinds of noise and had me freaking out panicing. I rent lol. So the thought of having to do this all over again is breaking my heart and my wallet

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A 100A breaker is too large for that gauge wire, even if it was a short run, let alone a 100' run.

Aeroknow said:

A 100A breaker is too large for that gauge wire, even if it was a short run, let alone a 100' run.

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Am I at a fire risk? I wish I could call the guy and ask for my money back