10/2 for 240v wire? Any reason not to use it?

hevnbnd · Feb 17, 2011

Hey, I am needing to wire in some 240v plugs. They will be powering a Rotary a10i lift, Miller 211 welder, and some brand tbd compressor. Any reason not to run some 10/2 I have left over from another job?

Thanks for the input.

While I got you looking. My lift can be wired either 3 phase or single phase 240v. Any advantages to one over the other?

sberry · Feb 17, 2011

That wire is fine and you have to wire lift single phase unless you live in an industrial park. The wire will be good for most compressors up to 5 hp. 10 is probably overkill for the lift but it wont hurt, I added a recept on mine to allow welder to be plugged in using same circuit.

79firebird · Feb 17, 2011

Yes it can be used just tape the white wire red if its got white and black,

PVO_SRT · Feb 19, 2011

#10 wire is good for 30 amps. As long as you're not exeeding 30a you'll be fine. You base your wire size by the breakers amp size, not wether you're running 120v or 240v. Hope this helps.

Grumpy365 · Feb 19, 2011

hevnbnd said:
Hey, I am needing to wire in some 240v plugs. They will be powering a Rotary a10i lift, Miller 211 welder, and some brand tbd compressor. Any reason not to run some 10/2 I have left over from another job?

Thanks for the input.

While I got you looking. My lift can be wired either 3 phase or single phase 240v. Any advantages to one over the other?

Chances are, you don't have 3 phase power (if you did, you'd know). Three phase power, would take a 3 pole breaker, if you don't have a three pole main breakers in your breaker box, you don't have 3 phase.

When you say 10/2 are you referring to Romex? Romex you would have a ground (not counted as a conductor) and would be good for wiring some 220 plugs.

If you have 10/2 SO cord, you wouldn't have a ground conductor, that is highly recommended.

The 10 gauge wire is good for 30 amps (like PVO_SRT said).

hevnbnd · Feb 19, 2011

Yes it is 10/2 romex wire I had left over from a stove install not 10/2 so cord. Thought i might could use it to save some money. As for the three phase I do not have it yet, however my now father & law is a master electrician so if there where advantages to three phase I could have it if need be. I did have three phase in my old shop, but never used it

dougmac · Feb 20, 2011

I will be the first to admit that I have not been around all that much, but this is the first I have heard of motors that are capable of both single and three phase. They must not be very common?

Milton Shaw · Feb 20, 2011

If the power pole your house is connected to has only one transformer on it you only have single phase power. Three transformers = three phase. Very unlikely in residential locations. To have three phase without three transformers requires a rotary or static phase converter. The reason for wanting three phase in a shop would be to use industrial equipment in home shops instead of regular craftsman type tools. Generating three phase with rotary converters is not as efficient as buying three phase in an industrial location. Utilities generally charge thousands to deliver three phase to new locations and also want usage above what you would want to pay on residential home use.

hevnbnd · Feb 20, 2011

Milton Shaw said:
If the power pole your house is connected to has only one transformer on it you only have single phase power. Three transformers = three phase. Very unlikely in residential locations. To have three phase without three transformers requires a rotary or static phase converter. The reason for wanting three phase in a shop would be to use industrial equipment in home shops instead of regular craftsman type tools. Generating three phase with rotary converters is not as efficient as buying three phase in an industrial location. Utilities generally charge thousands to deliver three phase to new locations and also want usage above what you would want to pay on residential home use.

Hmmm, My parents have 3 phase in their shop behind their house. It is in the middle of town, however It was the first house built in the subdivision. The shop is also as big as the house with 5k sqft and a 1200sqft loft above it. All of the power for the entire subdivision is underground too. So would be hard to tell about the pole.

REAL HOT SCHITT · Feb 20, 2011

3 phase is more efficient and smoother than single phase in electric motor driven and welder applications. B-coz in 3 phase the 4 poles are evenly distributed.

The easiest way for the layman to understand is.... Try to ride a pushbike with tri-angle tires....u will need mouth guards!, as opposed to round ( so in terms of that, think of 3 phase as round and single as 2.).... But it do not apply to lighting as its only 2 pole.

Note; if im wrong in this will some1 please tidy it up for me.

I use 16 kva lister-petter 3 phase genset..which works better on 3 than 2.

Berserker · Feb 20, 2011

Depends if anything is 120, then you need 10-3 for a neutral.

Though you do see electric dryers ran on 10-2, that have 120v timers, they use the ground as neutral. I have ran my dryer both ways, but when I ran new wire, I went to 10-3.

Grumpy365 · Feb 21, 2011

When i built my. House i was going to do 3 phase. For the house and shop.

I had it in on my road. I had to submit a load plan to the power company to approve the needs and i MAY have overestimated the numbers i would really be pullling to get it done. At th end it was a done, deal, but i backed out and went another direction. (3 phase hook up cost was = to standard power)

I would have gone with. It if anyone made a SEER rated home AC that was worth a **** for 3 phase power. All the 3 phase residential style unit have **** for a seer rating.

I can't imagine i will have a need. But for you guys who may think you want live without it, explain to the power company you will have a side business refurbishing & repairing 3 phase industrial equipment that pulls anywhere from 10 to 100 amps. If that business doesn't take off after you get your power in,oh well.

Also be ware of power rate structures in your area. I hear they can fluctuate greatly.

hevnbnd · Feb 22, 2011

Thanks for all the info. No 3 phase for this little shop. Looks like 240 will do. I just found a roll of 10/3 romex as well. So I can run my 240 plugs with either 10/2 or 10/3.

theoldwizard1 · Feb 23, 2011

If you are planning on upgrading the wiring in your garage in anticipation of some new equipment (table saw, compressor) and live in an area where the power lines were installed over 50-60 years ago, I can almost bet that the transformers in your neighborhood have never been up to the task. This can cause "issues" with motor start ups.

About 20 years ago, my Dad bought a place in a fairly rural area (1-2 acre lots). When the power company came through 60+ years ago, there were almost no houses. Since then, the neighborhood "grew up".

Consequently, any motor start up in his house or garage (pump, refrigerator, table saw) caused a big dip in voltage (below 100V). After several calls and visit from the power company an engineer did a simple count of number of homes on one transformer. They were over the recommended number of drops. An additional transformer was installed and the problem went away. (No upgrade in his wiring was required.)

The point is, if your incandescent lights dim when your equipment starts up, complain to your power company. And keep complaining. Even with 100A service, a pump or a saw start up should not cause the lights to dim (assuming you don't have any other big loads running).

hevnbnd · Feb 28, 2011

So I can run my 240 plugs with either 10/2 or 10/3? Is 10/3 preferred over 10/2 and why?

Grumpy365 · Feb 28, 2011

What does your plug look like.

My stuff is all 10/2

The third conductor gets you NOTHING.

( unless you have some odd ball **** that needs a neutral, don't bother. I have heard of such things, but i have never seen it myself).

ToddyB · Feb 28, 2011

10/3 is needed when you have a 120/240 load. Dryers and stoves are considered 120/240 because of the electronics and controls which can cause an imbalance between the two hot wires, thus making the grounding conductor current carrying. In those circumstances you need the neutral. (grounded conductor) A straight 240v load does not cause this and 10/2 is suitable for loads up to 30 amps.

10/2 for 240v wire? Any reason not to use it?

hevnbnd

Well-known member

sberry

Banned

79firebird

Well-known member

PVO_SRT

New member

Grumpy365

Well-known member

hevnbnd

Well-known member

dougmac

Well-known member

Milton Shaw

Well-known member

hevnbnd

Well-known member

REAL HOT SCHITT

Banned

Berserker

Banned

Grumpy365

Well-known member

hevnbnd

Well-known member

theoldwizard1

Well-known member

hevnbnd

Well-known member

Grumpy365

Well-known member

ToddyB

Well-known member