Electrical question 4 gauge wire

jijiandfarmgang · Apr 20, 2015

patrickkawi37 said:
Thankyou for the reply. Amps added is up would be 60 amps on 240v and 30 amps on 120 . That's everything turned on. The panel outside that wires to the subpanel has a dual trigger 100 amp breaker

Ok I'm still confused.

Is this correct -

You have one main panel in your home.

You have one subpanel in your outbuilding.

The main panel in your home has a 100 amp breaker for wiring going to subpanel in outbuilding to a 50 amp breaker.

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- Jiji

patrickkawi37 · Apr 20, 2015

jijiandfarmgang said:
Ok I'm still confused.

Is this correct -

You have one main panel in your home.

You have one subpanel in your outbuilding.

The main panel in your home has a 100 amp breaker for wiring going to subpanel in outbuilding to a 50 amp breaker.

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- Jiji

It wires into the box in the picture above with all those breakers

patrickkawi37 · Apr 20, 2015

patrickkawi37 said:
It wires into the box in the picture above with all those breakers

Yes main panel has 100 amp specifically for the subpanel

patrickkawi37 · Apr 20, 2015

I haven't popped any breakers since the begining. I know that one of the 20 amp breakers on the subpanel is close to full because I popped it once plugging a dehu on the wrong wall . Other then that I don't think any of the breakers are full. Just the wire I don't think is supposed to be pulling that much juice. I think that's what's being said . My hat is off to electricians this stuff is not easy

jijiandfarmgang · Apr 20, 2015

patrickkawi37 said:
I haven't popped any breakers since the begining. I know that one of the 20 amp breakers on the subpanel is close to full because I popped it once plugging a dehu on the wrong wall . Other then that I don't think any of the breakers are full. Just the wire I don't think is supposed to be pulling that much juice. I think that's what's being said . My hat is off to electricians this stuff is not easy

I think I get what your saying but one of us has something wrong.

The 100 amp breaker in your home feeds directly to the subpanel to a 50 amp panel.

Thats fine, but its only 50 amp max.

I think your doing your load calculation wrong, unless your running 8-10 1000 bulbs and or massive heating or air conditioning.

- Jiji

SPLFreak808 · Apr 21, 2015

churchhaze said:
Uh no.. The current running through the wire and the resistance of the wire is what determines the voltage across the length of wire. The more current through the wire length (resistor), the more voltage will be dropped across it. Having a higher wall voltage allows you to have less current through each circuit, which means less voltage drop across those lengths of wire. That in turn translates to less power lost through the wires.

im not sure why you are quoting my post? is it because i said dont let amperage trick you? or the fact that i said it makes no sense at all? 200FT 4 guage is not on the safe border for a constant 75/120v or 37a/240v load regardless of the extra 100watts he gets from 240v. it doesnt matter though because i cant even put the circuit together in my head by only the OP's words. *edit nvmd just seen his picture, that is not 9000watts on one 4 guage.

patrickkawi37 · Apr 21, 2015

jijiandfarmgang said:
I think I get what your saying but one of us has something wrong.

The 100 amp breaker in your home feeds directly to the subpanel to a 50 amp panel.

Thats fine, but its only 50 amp max.

I think your doing your load calculation wrong, unless your running 8-10 1000 bulbs and or massive heating or air conditioning.

- Jiji

Something like that 8-10 and multiple air conditioners . The subpanel is 100 amps not 50. The lights alone use 45 amps on 240v

patrickkawi37 · Apr 21, 2015

SPLFreak808 said:
im not sure why you are quoting my post? is it because i said dont let amperage trick you? or the fact that i said it makes no sense at all? 200FT 4 guage is not on the safe border for a constant 75/120v or 37a/240v load regardless of the extra 100watts he gets from 240v. it doesnt matter though because i cant even put the circuit together in my head by only the OP's words. *edit nvmd just seen his picture, that is not 9000watts on one 4 guage.

There is 9 lights . 8 on the 50 amp dual trigger and one on the 30 amp trigger on the other leg

patrickkawi37 · Apr 21, 2015

patrickkawi37 said:
There is 9 lights . 8 on the 50 amp dual trigger and one on the 30 amp trigger on the other leg

The dual 40 is for the two 2 ton air conditioners . 3 dehus 4 inline fans . 15 wall fans . Pumps for res

jijiandfarmgang · Apr 21, 2015

Bleh,

Sorry I was wrong. Its hard to make out that photo. I thought the 50 amp breaker was feeding the panel. Now I see one of the lugs on top.

patrickkawi37 said:
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.

If you look at a standard single phase subpanel without breakers, You'll notice the bus bars the breakers set in are staggered. So every space is a different phase. Each phase is 120v. When you plug in a double pole it gets 120 from each leg (out of phase) making 240v.

So anyways the dual breakers use both legs evenly......pretty much

But still your using 4 guage copper and if your pulling all that power for continuous load.......its not looking good

http://cerrowire.com/ampacity-charts

Call an electrician.

- Jiji

patrickkawi37 · Apr 21, 2015

patrickkawi37 said:
The dual 40 is for the two 2 ton air conditioners . 3 dehus 4 inline fans . 15 wall fans . Pumps for res

jijiandfarmgang said:
Bleh,

Sorry I was wrong. Its hard to make out that photo. I thought the 50 amp breaker was feeding the panel. Now I see one of the lugs on top.

If you look at a standard single phase subpanel without breakers, You'll notice the bus bars the breakers set in are staggered. So every space is a different phase. Each phase is 120v. When you plug in a double pole it gets 120 from each leg (out of phase) making 240v.

So anyways the dual breakers use both legs evenly......pretty much

But still your using 4 guage copper and if your pulling all that power for continuous load.......its not looking good

http://cerrowire.com/ampacity-charts

Call an electrician.

- Jiji

that chart says max 75 is that 75 for each leg? Because the breakers are more than that but the amps arent.

jijiandfarmgang · Apr 21, 2015

patrickkawi37 said:
that chart says max 75 is that 75 for each leg? Because the breakers are more than that but the amps arent.

No its for the whole circuit. Not sure what column you fall under, laws rules are sometimes bent not that its a good thing.

Thinkin about it, its just in general, different rules/circumstances for feeding a subpanel. I wouldn't be surprised if its up to code (100 amp breaker for 4-4-4-6 copper)

But that doesn't mean you should be pushing those limits continuously.

Remember, I'm not an electrician, I probably just think I know what I'm talkin about.

- Jiji

Electrical question 4 gauge wire

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