electricians? a question

[mlwarriner]

is THHW the right wire to use to run a couple of circuits worth of bedroom plug-ins?

[Thunderbroom]

 

is THHW the right wire to use to run a couple of circuits worth of bedroom plug-ins?

 

 

I'm not an electrician, but I'd think if you had to ask a basic question like this one then you shouldn't be wiring wiring your bedroom outlets.

 

As you know I work at a college and work with one particular industrial electrician who teaches here. As he told me one day when I was asking an electrical question: "Anybody can make the light bulb come on; however, not everyone can do so safely. There's a reason houses burn down."

[mlwarriner]

 

I'm not an electrician, but I'd think if you had to ask a basic question like this one then you shouldn't be wiring wiring your bedroom outlets. As you know I work at a college and work with one particular industrial electrician who teaches here. As he told me one day when I was asking an electrical question: "Anybody can make the light bulb come on; however, not everyone can do so safely. There's a reason houses burn down."

 

 

actually, i know exactly how i need to wire it. i just was asking if THHW wire was ok or if i needed to use XHHW because of the power leak factor.

[Johnny_Crab]

http://www.mlec.com/Homeown.htm

 

Including tables for derating:

http://www2.iccsafe.org/states/virginia/Residential/PDFs/Chapter%2036_Branch%20Circuit%20and%20Feeder%20Requirements.pdf

 

There are plenty more with google: THHW "branch circuit"

The primary things are safety, ampacity, and color code(white, black) be correct. Even if you own the place, if sold with undisclosed wiring mods and/or no color coding to your wiring later someone gets hurt or killed then lawyers may want to talk to you. We've run across fubar wiring in old farmhouses out here in the Boonies of Texas. Fixed a lot of them, moved out of one.

 

XHHW would be preferred if you're wiring life support equipment(hospital) circuits, want more flame retard capability, or lower capacitance(you called leak) for some reason.

 

2 cents worth.

Not a licensed electrician but have been tinkering with electron-motivated stuff since 1959....

[mlwarriner]

http://www.mlec.com/Homeown.htm Including tables for derating: http://www2.iccsafe.org/states/virginia/Residential/PDFs/Chapter%2036_Branch%20Circuit%20and%20Feeder%20Requirements.pdf There are plenty more with google: THHW "branch circuit" The primary things are safety, ampacity, and color code(white, black) be correct. Even if you own the place, if sold with undisclosed wiring mods and/or no color coding to your wiring later someone gets hurt or killed then lawyers may want to talk to you. We've run across fubar wiring in old farmhouses out here in the Boonies of Texas. Fixed a lot of them, moved out of one. XHHW would be preferred if you're wiring life support equipment(hospital) circuits, want more flame retard capability, or lower capacitance(you called leak) for some reason. 2 cents worth. Not a licensed electrician but have been tinkering with electron-motivated stuff since 1959....

 

i too am in the middle of finding {censored}-tons of fubar'ed, half-assed wiring done by bob vila wanna-be's over the last 50 or so years.

 

i had an electrician run the actual circuits for me, i'm just expanding from where he stopped. he drew me the one-line diagram, explained it to me, and told me to call if i needed reminding.

 

i just wasn't sure of the precise type of wiring to use. didn't know if i needed "regular" or "heavy duty". it's a 20 amp branch circuit, and he said to use 12ga stranded wire, and gave me the color codes and all.

 

[Johnny_Crab]

Stranded?

The usual in-the-wall or branch circuit stuff is solid(softer but still solid, like ROMEX). 12 ga is right for 20A if the distance are not long and the temperatures are not elevated above ambient. Stranded will work, it's what we find in some of the old CLOTH-COVERED wiring out here(!!!??!!!).

 

Just make sure you ALWAYS verify with a meter that what you are about to work on is off(0 volts AC). Day job is in a petrochem plant in instrumentation/electrical and I've seen very unique things with breakers off but voltage still showing. Seen this also in farmhouses with shoddy grounding or no effective grounding.

[mlwarriner]

Stranded? The usual in-the-wall or branch circuit stuff is solid(softer but still solid, like ROMEX). 12 ga is right for 20A if the distance are not long and the temperatures are not elevated above ambient. Stranded will work, it's what we find in some of the old CLOTH-COVERED wiring out here(!!!??!!!). Just make sure you ALWAYS verify with a meter that what you are about to work on is off(0 volts AC). Day job is in a petrochem plant in instrumentation/electrical and I've seen very unique things with breakers off but voltage still showing. Seen this also in farmhouses with shoddy grounding or no effective grounding.

 

the branch circuit is brand new, straight from the box. we're doing some "as-we-go" upgrading.

 

we recently found that we had 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living room all running on one 15 amp circuit.

[bassman1956]

 

Just make sure you ALWAYS verify with a meter that what you are about to work on is off(0 volts AC). ... and I've seen very unique things with breakers off but voltage still showing. Seen this also in farmhouses with shoddy grounding or no effective grounding.

 

 

 

It can happen. They have standards at the lab for all this. But, we've lost more than one pump just because the pump was rewired correctly, and the incoming lines weren't.

 

And I'm facing similar issues in my house. When it was built in '62, it was all code proper, for then. It's now 48 years later, there have been a couple small fuse boxes added, some is 3-wire, some is 2, some is upgraded 2 to 3, and a few are just 3-prong outlets thrown in place. I'm not an electrician. I'll hire help for it.

[stevieb]

 

I'm not an electrician, but I'd think if you had to ask a basic question like this one then you shouldn't be wiring wiring your bedroom outlets. As you know I work at a college and work with one particular industrial electrician who teaches here. As he told me one day when I was asking an electrical question: "Anybody can make the light bulb come on; however, not everyone can do so safely. There's a reason houses burn down."

 

 

What he was REALLY saying: "Stop asking me questions and HIRE A {censored}ING ELECTRICIAN. My time is valuable."

[mlwarriner]

What he was REALLY saying: "Stop asking me questions and HIRE A {censored}ING ELECTRICIAN. My time is valuable."

 

i've already hired a {censored}ing electrician, and nobody forced tbroom to read the thread.

 

 

but thanks for playing.

[Hearafter]

Stranded? The usual in-the-wall or branch circuit stuff is solid(softer but still solid, like ROMEX)...

+1... Never heard of using stranded inside buildings.

[Kindness]

|_/\//!!!!

[mlwarriner]

+1... Never heard of using stranded inside buildings.

 

i'm running four wires inside a surface-mounted conduit and trying to make it semi-disappear on the wall.

 

he specificially said to use stranded.

[bassman1956]

Stranded, as in single solid-wire conductors, pulled through the conduit? That's standard here.

[mlwarriner]

 

Stranded, as in single solid-wire conductors, pulled through the conduit? That's standard here.

 

 

no, stranded as in stranded-wire conductors pulled through the conduit.