splitting the load and replaceing some bx cable with 12/2


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Old 10-18-13, 08:50 PM
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Arrow splitting the load and replaceing some bx cable with 12/2

Hello. I live in an older house built in 1928. A lot of the wiring in the basement is the old BX type armored cable. We had our service replaced a few years ago and upgraded to 100 amps. (we used to have old screw in fuses in a tiny box)..

I noticed that there are way to many appliances running on a single 20 amp circuit. The fridge upstairs, the stove, 3 kitchen receptacles, the washer and a few wall outlets in the basement (with a small box freezer and sewage pump) and several more receptacles in an upstairs bedroom.

What I would like to do is split the load and run a couple of new 12/2 circuits on new breakers. I have a couple of questions.

Most of my wiring in the basement is old BX cable. Can I remove most of it in basement and attach the new circuits to the same old BX junction boxes ? I'd like to run the washer on its own 20 amp circuit. The bedroom, sump pump and another outlet close to sewage pump outlet on another breaker. Then run a 3rd new circuit to the box where the lines go into the kitchen. Am I on the right track ? Any help, suggestions, etc. are very appreciated. Thanks.

I also want to run my garage off its own 20amp circuit and split it. I picked up a couple of the space saver breakers to cut down on space in service panel
 

Last edited by PJmax; 10-18-13 at 10:56 PM. Reason: Reformated/clarified post.
  #2  
Old 10-18-13, 09:53 PM
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The first suggestion is to edit your post to make your observations and questions clearer. Please. I've read it twice now, and I don't think I understand it well enough to hazard any advice.

The second suggestion is that you buy and read a copy of Wiring Simplified, which explains how and why household electrical systems are constructed the way they are. It's inexpensive and easy to read. It's often for sale in the electrical aisle at hardware and home improvement stores.

As a general rule, your kitchen needs:
  • One or more lighting circuits. These can be 15A
  • Two or more Small Appliance Branch Circuits (SABCs) serving the countertop receptacles. These must be 20A with GFCI protection
  • Dedicated 15 or 20A circuits for the refrigerator, the dishwasher, the garbage disposal and any built-in microwave
  • The controls for gas cooking appliances may be powered from a receptacle on one of the SABCs
  • Electric cooking appliances require dedicated 240V circuits
 
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Old 10-19-13, 10:01 AM
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As Nash said, as long as you're rewiring, you might as well bring each room you rewire up to code. It's the right thing to do, will support your needs in the future, and will meet any inspection/permit requirements. You don't have to do it all at once, but as long as you're doing it, might as well do it right and up to current code.

You can branch off and re-feed your BX circuits as you listed above, but in the long run, you might find it easier to just rewire each outlet anyway. If it's that old, the BX may not have a good ground anyway, and you also may find that it's wired all wonky and really difficult to figure out how the actual wires are run. Might be better to rewire room by room.
 
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Old 10-19-13, 05:25 PM
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Is there enough slack in one or more of the BX cables so you can remove it from the original junction box?

You could temporarily install another junction box next to an existing junction box. Run a new circuit cable as a feed from the new panel to the new junction box. Remove a continuing BX cable from the original junction box and fasten it to the new junction box. Connect up the wires inside.

If a continuing BX cable had 14 gauge wires in it then the breaker for the new cable it is reconnected to may be no more than 15 amps.

The original junction box is probably not big enough to run a new circuit feed cable from the panel into it while leaving all the existing BX cables attached (and rewiring one of the continuing BX cables to the new feed cable).

For new circuits you might as well add the 20 amp circuits you need first and decommission the old receptacles near the new receptacles when this part is completed. Also when this part is completed, the remaining load on the old circuits may be lowered enough that you can delay decommissioning the old circuits completely.
 
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Old 10-19-13, 06:30 PM
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I noticed that there are way to many appliances running on a single 20 amp circuit.
I'd look at those existing circuits carefully and determine the exact wire size. Homes built in the 1920s had very little load and a 20 amp circuit would have been a rarity. It's entirely possible the protection on those circuits was raised to 20 amps as modern loads were added to the house and the circuits were just 14 AWG and should have been protected at no more than 15 amps. When you stop and think about it, what loads did they have in the '20s? A light in each room and maybe one receptacle in each room for a radio or fan and that's about it. There weren't even many electric refrigerators in those days.
 
 

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