awg size for 60' underground line from house to shed for 60 amp

capslock

problem:
I have a shed that is about 50 feet away from the house, and about 60 feet away from the main circuit breaker. Currently UF-B 14/2 with ground underground cable is drawn from the circuit breaker to the shed, while 12/2 is primarily used in the shed.

I'd like a subpanel in my shed for 60 amps. This way I could have a couple 20 amp recepticals for my saws, 15 amps for my lights, and have room for 220v 20amp lines in the shed for my compressor and perhaps a future 220v upgrade of my table saw.

Now I know I can't do that with the current setup.

Questions:
1) What size awg would I use for the underground wire? Typically I know 60 amps require 6 gauge but does this still apply for 60+ feet? I cant seem to make sense of this issue.

2) does underground cable support higher amp rating than interior cable? I can't make sense as to why the prior owner ran 14/2 underground then in the shed used 12/2 for all the recepticals and lights.

Scuba_Dave

With 14-2 you can only have a 15a breaker, doesn't matter if its UF
For 60a use #6 TWHN in conduit

capslock

yep, i know. I noticed that the 14-2 is plugged into a receptical which is then wired to a 20amp breaker. I will be fixing this.

What size conduit? How much air space should there be for the cable inside the conduit?

So if I understand you right, you are saying to buy the following:
50' #6 black
50' #6 red
50' #6 white
50' #6 green

Fit all into one conduit (again, what size is appropriate?), then feed conduit from circuit breaker to sub-panel.

yes?

Scuba_Dave

You don't need the red, it can be black with red tape to mark it
Neutral must be white, #6
Green can actually be #10

If it is a straight run withoput any bends & twists I could use 1" grey electric PVC

I had 4 bends & still used 1" for my feed
Detached structure you also need (2) 8' ground rods
Neutrals & grounds not bonded together at the sub
Neutral bar not grounded to the case

I used a 100a 20 space main breaker panel as my sub & fed it with a 60a 240v breaker in the main panel

J. V.

Search "Sub Panels" "wire shed" "garage" ect..... in the search function of this forum. This is by far the most commonly asked question.

secutanudu

Lots of info in this sticky post too.

__________________
Andrew