Motor Lead Size

431 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by J. V., May 24, 2020

PennKent

Discussion Starter · May 23, 2020

While making up the power cord for a hydraulic motor (110V / 2.5kW), I noticed the internal motor leads are only 14 AWG. Seems undersized, given the load. I was planning to use 10 AWG SO cord, but now I'm not sure if that's overkill. I'm also not sure if the motor is incorrect for this application (car lift), even though it is a factory off-the-shelf hydraulic motor/pump/valve set-up. Motor is started with a simple push-button and relay contactor.

The receptacle is a NEMA L5 that is fed with 10 AWG from a 30A breaker.

Any explanation and/or advice (especially about why the internal motor wiring seems undersized) would be most appreciated.

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surferdude2

· #3 · May 23, 2020

It's because the motor wires are wound together around a laminated core and that increases the impedance that they present to the source supply.

Impedance is determined by a combination of frequency, capacitance, inductance and resistance.

Your supply wire must comply with what current is allowed to flow through them without regard to anything but their resistance and insulation temperature rating.

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