What do you do when finding existing wiring that is the wrong guage..
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What do you do when finding existing wiring that is the wrong guage..
I am adding a Wall heater to an existing but unused Junction Box, and moving another a few feet on the same circuit. The existing breaker is 40 Amp and 220v, but the existing wiring is only 10 gauge, not the 8 gauge that is now recommended. The Condo is about 40 years old, Was it common to run 10 gauge on a 40 amp circuit then? .
I am not running the full amount of juice through this circuit, I am only pulling about 18 amps total, but hope to connect the third heater for 5 more amps, or 23 amps total.
Is the easy fix of simply changing the breaker to 30 amp enough? Are there any downsides except having to calculate the potential Amperage a bit more carefully?
I am not running the full amount of juice through this circuit, I am only pulling about 18 amps total, but hope to connect the third heater for 5 more amps, or 23 amps total.
Is the easy fix of simply changing the breaker to 30 amp enough? Are there any downsides except having to calculate the potential Amperage a bit more carefully?