Did I screw up wiring my garage?

[nissan_crawler]

With all this talk in the extension cord thread about the amount of wires and such, I'm curious about something...

when I ran all of the wiring for my 5 240 circuits...I ran 4 wires (2 hots, neutral, ground). However, all mine are the 10-30p outlets, so the one wire isn't used, and is just rolled up in the box and panel. I also ran 6 gauge, even though 4 are 30 amp, and one is 40 amp (plasma, called for 40 amp, but had the 10-30p plug). I did the extra wire and 6 gauge just in case things change later. The breakers and outlets are for the proper machine amperage, not for the wire.

Is this to code, or should the extra wire not technically be there, and the gauge only be 10/8?

I assumed at the time that it certainly couldn't matter, but after reading that thread, I'm second guessing things. It seems the code maybe isn't quite as common sense as I thought. One of these is for my (old) dryer, which is what started me thinking about adding the fourth wire for when it croaks, and I figured I might as well run it for everything, in case that stuff changes later. Maybe thinking ahead is against code, though...

 

[mrb]

its ok to have the 4th wire in the box and not connected. Did you run romex or wire in pipe? The only problem I can see is the EGC size for upsized wires. There was a LONG thread about this where several members tried to make excuses or use their own personal opinion of what the code 'meant' but the bottom line is the book says what it says....

 

[nissan_crawler]

It's mostly wire in pipe, there's some romex involved also (depending on ease of install). So technically, the larger wire is no good on the smaller service?

 

[Berserker]

It doesn't hurt to have the 4th wire, in case you ever have anything with a neutral. Not all wires have to be used, we pull spares all the time in industry.

 

[Norcal]

It's mostly wire in pipe, there's some romex involved also (depending on ease of install). So technically, the larger wire is no good on the smaller service?

If you ran it in EMT or other metallic conduit & used the pipe as a grounding conductor, there is no need to upsize the grounding conductor as required by NEC art. 250.122, if NM cable was used then there is a issue because the grounding conductor is too small & no way to correct it.

 

[Ford12508]

I don't know about code, but if you ever go with a 50A breaker, make sure those outlets can handle the passthrough load.

 

[nissan_crawler]

If you ran it in EMT or other metallic conduit & used the pipe as a grounding conductor, there is no need to upsize the grounding conductor as required by NEC art. 250.122, if NM cable was used then there is a issue because the grounding conductor is too small & no way to correct it.

I'm a little lost, everything is in pvc conduit. All of that is 6 gauge, ground included. (except the romex run to the dryer outlet, which is a few feet from the breaker box)

 

[nissan_crawler]

I don't know about code, but if you ever go with a 50A breaker, make sure those outlets can handle the passthrough load.

If I went up to 50, the outlet would be changed, also.

 

[Ford12508]

I'm a little lost, everything is in pvc conduit. All of that is 6 gauge, ground included. (except the romex run to the dryer outlet, which is a few feet from the breaker box)

When you said wire in pipe, it could have meant a few things, not just PVC. Metallic tubing(EMT) can be used a a ground conductor.

 

[bjcouche]

Since you stated "All of that is 6 gauge, ground included" you are covered as far as upsizing the ground is concerned. You can use 6awg on a 30A breaker going to a 30A outlet if you like (assuming the outlet accepts 6awg wire) because you used a 6awg ground. The NEC states that the ground shall not be required to be larger than the hot's. Where people run into problems is when they use 6awg romex which has a 10awg ground. 6awg romex on a 50A breaker with a 10awg ground is code compliant but the same cable on a 40A breaker is not, go figure.


Brian:

 

[nissan_crawler]

Since you stated "All of that is 6 gauge, ground included" you are covered as far as upsizing the ground is concerned. You can use 6awg on a 30A breaker going to a 30A outlet if you like (assuming the outlet accepts 6awg wire) because you used a 6awg ground. The NEC states that the ground shall not be required to be larger than the hot's. Where people run into problems is when they use 6awg romex which has a 10awg ground. 6awg romex on a 50A breaker with a 10awg ground is code compliant but the same cable on a 40A breaker is not, go figure.


Brian:

Thanks, now I understand what he was getting at. Dumb code, but I understand it, at least.