2-2-2-4 vs 2-2-4-6 MHF

[exranger06]

I'm about ready to buy wire to feed my subpanel. It's going to be fed from a 90 amp breaker. Total length is only about 16 ft. I was going to use 2-2-2-4 MHF cable, but Home Depot only has this 2-2-4-6 cable: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-By-the-Foot-2-2-4-6-Gray-Stranded-Al-MHF-Cable-30163099/205001794
Is there any reason I couldn't use this? Should I stick with the original plan to and find 2-2-2-4?

 

[ard]

No electrical supply houses around you?!?

FWIW- I will call and check pricing, very causal: "hey Bob, Dave here- trying to cheek pricing on XYZ", They may ask "who are you with again?" I use my biz name, which doenst have an account. I may say "ABC biz, no account with you".... But I try to get a price first. I have, on occasion, been surprised at the counter with one or two stores. Applies to all trades.

 

[colomboj]

It's probably just fine to use the cable with the 2/2/4/6 if you have some 240v loads on it, but the age old adage of "better safe than sorry" comes to mind. I would try to source some 2/2/2/4 before I tried my luck with the inspector.

 

[howpeculiar]

Wire and cable your way will cut to the foot and 2-2-2-4 is $1.17ft.

 

[mm08822]

2-2-4-6 is perfectly acceptable. A reduced neutral is very typical as it only carries the imbalance between legs. 240v loads typically do not use a neutral and all 120vac circuits are staggered across the legs - A-B-A-B..... So the load on a neutral is very low. You would have to try really hard to overload a neutral in a feeder.

I wouldn't spend too much time searching best price for 16-20'

 

[Stuff]

Why MHF? For 16' use SER or conduit end-to-end with THHN/THWN.

 

[exranger06]

Wire and cable your way will cut to the foot and 2-2-2-4 is $1.17ft.

Minimum quantity is 50 ft. I don't need anywhere near that much.

 

[exranger06]

Why MHF? For 16' use SER or conduit end-to-end with THHN/THWN.

Can't use SER as it's going underground. I don't really feel like installing conduit the whole way either, so it's being direct buried.

 

[pattenp]

Just use the 2-2-4-6 and move on. Not worth the effort to find 2-2-2-4.

But if you have a local Lowe's. My local Lowe's carries 2-2-2-4 @ $1.49ft.

 

[Falcon67]

Or find another HD or Lowes - should be common. Is around here, but we also have lots of mobile homes around here too.

>Wire and cable your way will cut to the foot and 2-2-2-4 is $1.17ft.
Which is about .40 cheaper than what I paid at HD for 2-2-2-4 back in 2011. Nice.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

The 2-2-4-6 should be fine, but every Lowes I've ever been to has had 2-2-2-4, if you have one nearby. Other than that, a supply house should carry it, but may cost more than the big box stores.

 

[terabitdan]

Wireandcableyourway shipped me 2-2-4-6 when I ordered 2-2-2-4. They caught their own mistake and called to ask if it would be an issue. Rather than dealing with the returns I asked my inspector who immediately approved it.


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[klassenl]

In my part of the world you can't run a reduced neutral after the main. I even had to remind my boss one day of this rule.