I am installing an Air Conditioner 60 amp disconnect on the side of the house and running it up and into the attic in conduit and then over approximately 50 feet and down to a 50 amp feeder breaker with no conduit. What is the correct way to wire this.
You would have to use UF type wire, but seriously. what ton AC unit do you have, 50 amp feeder is ridiculously high... Do you have the unit on site? What does the nameplate actually require? MAX Breaker, and MIN Amperage is what you are looking for.
I am going to have a 4 ton unit installed and it seems pretty high to me too. I am going by what the installers requirements are. I do not have the equipment on site, it will be installed in a few weeks. It will be an American Standard and from the specs i found, minimum amps are 28 and protection required 50 amp.
I am going to have a 4 ton unit installed and it seems pretty high to me too. I am going by what the installers requirements are. I do not have the equipment on site, it will be installed in a few weeks.
I figure 7-8 amps per ton, but that's usually on the high end.... can you wait till the unit is in place before wiring? Im guessing no on this...
Some installers don't know how to size a AC unit, Im guessing you could easily run #10 wire and be safe.... but you should ask for the model number or the actual nameplate to save yourself some money in wire...
And don't be scared to install a larger size breaker than wire size you ran... just follow the name plate.
The reason you can use a much larger breaker on AC systems is because the over current protection is actually built into the hermetically sealed motor, so in essence, the breaker you install is only providing ground fault and short circuit protection, this way the motor will start with its high current start up.
The nameplate should tell you the mininum amperage and maximum amperage. Which means that you can either go minimum or maximum or if you have the serial # and model #, I can tell you the requirment. I typically go in between. so for example, min=28, max=40. I usually put in a 35 disconnect and 35 breaker. As for wire size, this guys (electrician should help you). That distant seem pretty long. You sure you want to do this by yourself? I am an hvac licensed contractor and I wouldn't even touch that kind of work (out of my scope, typically we sub it out to an electrician). Do you know if your breaker panel are sufficient to handle the 4 ton unit? This 4 ton unit would probabally running at around 12-20 amps (Depend on the unit, and startup can be x7. You have already spend alot of money on the new A/C, why not just call an electrician and do it right. Just my two cents.
That is NOT what it is telling you.... The minimum amperage is the SMALLEST possible size wire required, the MAXIUMUM is the largest circuit breaker possible, but has NOTHING to do with the wire size.
These numbers are pre calculated at the factory using NEC Article 440....
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
DIY Home Improvement Forum
3.1M posts
319.6K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to Do it yourself-ers and home improvement enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about tools, projects, builds, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more! Helping You to Do It Yourself!