Wiring Question - 220v Bullet Master Caster

[AnthonyB]

I have a 220v Master Caster I would like to get set up in my shop. I have plenty of open slots in the junction box and will need to run around 80 feet (call it 100 feet to be safe) of wire to get the pot where I want it. I know nothing about electricity other than that 220 knocked me for a loop the last time I messed with it - lesson learned about taking the breaker with me from now on. My question is about what size wire I need to run that distance. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Tony

[Froogal]

It depends on how many amps that Master Caster needs. My upright air compressor out in the shop is wired with 10 gauge. My arc welder is wired with 4 gauge. Electric kitchen ranges and clothes dryers used to all call for 8 gauge, but both are now happy with 10 gauge.

[gwpercle]

Hire a real Electrician.
Show him the pot you want to use , answer any questions he might have then go inside and let the man do his job.
It will be worth every penny.
Not getting electrocuted , not burning your house or shop down, getting a good night sleep because you know the wire size , breaker size and connections are all correct ....Priceless!!!
Gary

[AnthonyB]

240 volts, 12.5 Amps and 300 watts from the Magma website.
Tony

[mattw]

Well... 10 gauge would be fine, but over the distance I would go 8. At 100 feet the voltage drop on 8 gauge will be less than 1%, 10 gauge is just over 1%. This is for copper conductors, I would not use aluminum. I am also assuming single phase 240 distribution.

[Springfield]

3000 watts, not 300.

[mattw]

3000 watts, not 300.

That sounds much better... assumed a typo and based the voltage drop on current.

[AnthonyB]

Correct, fat finger typo. 3000 watts. Matt, what is "single phase 240 distribution?" I am only YouTube smart at this point.
Tony

[ReloaderFred]

You can change that Master Caster to 110 volts by simply moving two wires behind the thermostat. The wiring diagram is on the Magma website here:

http://www.magmaengineering.com/PDF/...structions.pdf

Page 5 has the information needed.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[AnthonyB]

Not my day for typing. This is a 90 lb Cast Master pot, not a Master Caster.
Tony

[HATCH]

run 10-3 romex for a 100 foot run
You will have a 3 volt drop over the distance of the run.
You could go with 8-3 and have a 2 volt drop.

By the book 14-3 will give you a 3% drop and still be acceptable.
Personally I think 12/3 is plenty

Its easy to wire up.
you have 3 wire.
Red/black/green
Red and black are HOT wire.
Green is ground.

Your breaker has 2 poles (levers). You are gonna hook the red and black wires to them. One per pole.
The green wire or bare copper will go to the ground bar in your panel.
I would wire up the pot first then wire up the panel last.
Its REALLY easy.

[mattw]

Hatch, nice instructions, knew I should not answer from my phone at work. Even forgot to double the drop. At our university, if 100 plus feet, we upgauge.

[AnthonyB]

Thanks for all the help. I’ll go with 8 gauge and let my son do the connections!
Tony

[Catshooter]

Anthony,

The Romex you want is called 10-2, with ground (not 10-3). Thirty amp two pole breaker in your panel.

I've been a commercial/industrial electrician for more than 40 years and if I were running it for me (or anyone else) I'd use the #10. There is a considerable jump in price between #8 and #10.

There is no reason to care about voltage loss. If one wants to get technical, this is a resistive load, so dropping (if a 100 foot run would do so) the voltage by a few percent only means that the wattage would drop accordingly. Utility company will vary the voltage on any give day more than that.

No problem, no concerns for safety in any corner.

If this was a motor (like a compressor) then one would take a few other considerations up and might end up with #8. Might. The 8-2 will work, but you'll spend more, drill bigger holes to run it through and work much harder to install it. To gain nothing.



Cat

[lightman]

If you have not already bought the material, consider this. I use an app for voltage drop and it shows 14 gauge copper wire would have a 2.79% loss using 100 feet and 12.5 amps at 240 volts. Seeing this, I would run 12. I would use 12-3 if I were doing this job for you. Most consider 3% to be an acceptable loss.

Larger wire is more difficult to make up and sometimes the terminals on the device won't accept much larger wire. I've used this app a lot. Everything from residential use to commercial and I have compared it to my hand calculations enough to trust it.

[Randy Bohannon]

Anthony you’re a funny guy, ‘I’m only YouTube’ smart, ‘ I’ll let my Son do the connections’ .

[Lloyd Smale]

12.5 amps means 6.24 on each leg so a 10 amp breaker is fine and so would be #14 wire. You sure don't need anything bigger then 12 for it.

[Lloyd Smale]

12.5 amps means 6.24 on each leg so a 10 amp breaker is fine and so would be #14 wire. You sure don't need anything bigger then 12 for it. Nothing wrong with over kill but think of it like this. the average toaster draws about a 1000 watts. Same circuit in my house feeds my toaster, fridge, microwave and any plug in 120 appliance. MANY times my fridge is running when the toaster or microwave are running and maybe even 3 things at once and my house is wired with 14 and those are all 120 vt loads so all the amperage is on one leg. My house is 60 feet long and the breakbox is on one end the kitchen on the other. I guess id look at it like this. If I knew all id ever use that plug for is your pot I wouldn't waste money on anything bigger then 14. If I possibly would someday use it for something with a 3/4 hp or smaller 220 vt motor that needed start up amperage that would run higher id step up to 12. Anything bigger is a waste unless your using it for a big welder, compressor or a 1hp or larger pump.

[Catshooter]

Anthony,

This is a forum of shooters. Not electricians. A lot of the advice you've gotten here is worse than useless. Virtually every thread I've seen here asking for electrical advice is full of very poor or worse advice.

Run what you think is best. Or if you've got a sparky for a friend ask him. Or just hire one. Good luck.



Cat

[Paper Puncher]

12.5 amps means 6.24 on each leg so a 10 amp breaker is fine and so would be #14 wire. You sure don't need anything bigger then 12 for it.

Doesn't work that way.

Your house has two hot leads coming in to it. L1 and L2. The voltage from L1 to L2 is 220v (sine wave). There is a Neutral wire at zero volts. The voltage from L1 to Neutral is 110v. (Top half of sine wave). The voltage from L2 to Neutral is 110v. (Bottom half of sine wave).

On a 220v volt circuit each leg (L1 and L2) is seeing the full load. In Anthony's case 12.5 Amps.