Juice
May 13th, 2009How Much Headroom is Enough?
Let’s say you have a plasma cutter which goes as high as 40 amps. And you have a beefy 60-amp circuit. And you have an air conditioner that draws 9 amps.
Would you put a socket for the AC on the plasma circuit and see what happens?
May 13th, 2009 at 1:58 PM
What gauge wire did you use?
May 13th, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Your air conditioner is 220V?
May 13th, 2009 at 2:27 PM
You’re not telling us you bought a cheep 220 volt AC I hope?
If it were me and it were 110V and I didn’t have a convenient existing outlet near the new “hole in the wall” (are you also serving food and alcohol?) I’d just buy a nice thick extension cord and run it around the base of the wall from where the power is to where the power is needed.
The problem with wiring an AC compressor that draws 9 amps into the circuit you describe is that the “starting” current required for the AC compressor with is often 2 or 3 times as much current and it could trip the breaker if you’re cutting and conditioning at the same time.
Of course the plasma cutter will be only used intermittantly so as long as you can remember to turn off the AC when making plasma cutting to me it’s a good use of the breaker and wiring to hang the AC out there.
The zoning Nazis and the national electrical code zeallots will object however.
May 13th, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Why not go Euro on it? No, not like that. Put a switch on the plasma cutter and AC outlet so that only one operates at a time. Voila.
-XC
May 13th, 2009 at 3:33 PM
It’s cheep all right.
I can’t remember the wire gauge. I had to join it with nuts, if that helps. It’s like rebar.
May 13th, 2009 at 3:49 PM
let’s say, just for example, that the 9 amp air conditioner has a little metal part that comes loose inside. And let’s say that it shorts across the power leads WITHOUT touching ground. The circuit breaker could interpret this as a resistance load like a heating element, and proceed to pump all 60 available amps into the small piece of metal (while it lasts). A separate circuit is wisest. I’d rather not see you get fried.
You can also put a point of use circuit breaker in place for the 9 (ok, 15) amps.
May 13th, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Sounds like 8 or 10 gauge, You may pop the breaker, but you won’t make the wires glow. If it is a 110V AC make sure you wire only one hot to the neutral or you will toast the AC.
May 13th, 2009 at 11:02 PM
get the Workmate out and get busy stripping and pulling wire…