A long distance wiring question

[vjcoppola]

woodlandfarms,
Yes you will have less voltage drop, like someone said, the total resistance will be less and you will have less voltage drop. However, you will not have the equivelent of using larger wire for both hot and neutral. The current rating (amps) of the breaker for a given wire size has to do with the temperature of the wire at the breakers trip current and varies with the class of service which has many factors like insulation material, whether the wire is in a conduit or not ... etc. You'll probably be okay but a voltage test when you are under load is a good idea.


S19,
You are correct about flow and current but since the circuit is protected by a breaker or fuse you will never be close to limiting current by the resistance of the wire.

eddiewalker,
you should be concerned about voltage too. If you are running lenghths long enough to see a significant voltage drop your motors will run hot and may fail sooner than normal. I know this is counter intuitive but when a motor is loaded it will draw whatever current is necessary to obtain the required HP because speed is fixed. When the voltage is lower it will take more current, when it takes more current the windings get hotter. This is why some motors have thermal protection devices.

 

[hr3]

10 feet from the meter box is the change over. Where the old relay was. I am wired to code (I believe) with 4 wires (Hot Hot Nuetral Ground) coming out of my box to the 12 guage running to the outlets (old pump)

I not only have a voltage meter but I also have that amp meter that plugs into the outlet (cannot remember the name at the moment). I will give it a go once it stops raining, taking a high amp tool down to see what happens when it all gets turned on.

From what you have said about your wireing setup I would go ahead and try it.. check the voltage drop first.. " meter the voltage before and after you put some load on" Do this at the outlet.. Then put the two hots together like you said and try again..
If it works and it should I would install a GFI outlet at that location putting the 2 hots on one side and the lone white on the other and of course you will be useing a 20a breaker in your panel..
Let me know how you make out...

 

[s219]

S19,
You are correct about flow and current but since the circuit is protected by a breaker or fuse you will never be close to limiting current by the resistance of the wire.

I agree, and of course the breaker has to be sized to protect the lowest-capacity wiring in the circuit. So that is ultimately the limiter.