How do you tell if you have 60 amp or 100 amp service?
Jonathan Grobe
The wiring in the service cable is aluminum. What sizes
would be 60 amp and what would be 100 amp?
I have an old size fusebox, with main on the left
side and range on the right side. While right now
there are 4 of the long 60 amp fuses in the fuse box,
am I correct that probably the correct numbers should
be 60 amp in the main and 40 amp in the range for a total
of 100 amps--and that this is probably a 100 amp service?
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My guess (non professional) is 60A.
RBM
"Jonathan Grobe" <gr...@netins.net> wrote in message
news:slrng3shhb...@worf.netins.net...
You are correct. The service entrance cable will determine the service size.
If it is aluminum, it should be #2, if it's copper #4. Anything smaller
would be a 60 amp service
>
Jonathan Grobe
>
> You are correct. The service entrance cable will determine the service size.
> If it is aluminum, it should be #2, if it's copper #4. Anything smaller
> would be a 60 amp service
>>
hal...@aol.com
theres a chance of a miss match, like a undersized meter socket.......
my bet 60 amps....
might as well upgrade once to 200 amps........
Jonathan Grobe
>
> theres a chance of a miss match, like a undersized meter socket.......
>
I have a 200 amp Sangamo meter. Would that still fit if it
were an undersized meter socket?
DerbyDad03
I'm not too familiar with fuse boxes, but in a typical breaker box,
the main breaker is sized to match the size of the service. If my main
breaker (the one at the top of the box that would kill the entire
house if thrown) is labeled as 150A, then I have a 150A service.
I don't think you'd have a service wire size that was rated higher by
any great extent than the main breaker (or fuse in your case) and
you'd better not have a service wire size that was rated lower.
Do fuse boxes not have a "main fuse" for the entire system?
bud--
> On 2008-05-29, RBM <r...@noemail.com> wrote:
>> You are correct. The service entrance cable will determine the service size.
>> If it is aluminum, it should be #2, if it's copper #4. Anything smaller
>> would be a 60 amp service
> What is the diameter of #2 aluminum?
>
#2 wire is about 0.097" diameter.
Sounds like a "main and range" panel with both "main" and "range" being
service disconnects (the range circuit will still be hot if you pull out
the "main" fuses). I believe these all had a rating of 100A. You can
use 60A fuses in both the "main" and "range" (but you may want to limit
the range to 40). (If a calculation of the proper size of the service
for the house is 100A the fuses can all be 60A.)
--
bud--
Jonathan Grobe
RBM
No, they don't. They only know how much you use. They may have a record of
the size meter you have, but any newer installation would use a 4 or 5 jaw
meter good for 200 amps. I don't know, offhand the circular mils of a #2
aluminum conductor, but even if you had that info, it probably won't help.
The cable should have the numbers written on it's sheath. It would say
something like 2-2-4 al
RBM
"DerbyDad03" <teama...@eznet.net> wrote in message
news:86a311e8-1f5d-4ff7...@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
His particular fuse box has two main disconnects, and it was common for
split buss breaker panels to have up to six main disconnects. The common
misconception is that the total amperage of the main disconnects cannot
exceed the rating of the service entrance cables. Theoretically you can have
a 200 amp service with six 100 amp main disconnects.
dpb
> On 2008-05-29, RBM <r...@noemail.com> wrote:
>> You are correct. The service entrance cable will determine the service size.
>> If it is aluminum, it should be #2, if it's copper #4. Anything smaller
>> would be a 60 amp service
> What is the diameter of #2 aluminum?
#2 is #2, whether it's Al or Cu -- it's the wire gauge and the gauge is
independent of material. Only the conductivity of Cu is better than Al
so can use smaller gauge wire compared to Cu for the same ampacity.
That said, #2 is roughly 0.25" diameter. See following link for table
of AWG dimensions.
http://www.rbeelectronics.com/wtable.htm
--
CJT
> Jonathan Grobe wrote:
>
>> On 2008-05-29, RBM <r...@noemail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>> You are correct. The service entrance cable will determine the
>>> service size. If it is aluminum, it should be #2, if it's copper #4.
>>> Anything smaller would be a 60 amp service
>
>
>> What is the diameter of #2 aluminum?
>>
>
> #2 wire is about 0.097" diameter.
>
Huh?
> Sounds like a "main and range" panel with both "main" and "range" being
> service disconnects (the range circuit will still be hot if you pull out
> the "main" fuses). I believe these all had a rating of 100A. You can
> use 60A fuses in both the "main" and "range" (but you may want to limit
> the range to 40). (If a calculation of the proper size of the service
> for the house is 100A the fuses can all be 60A.)
>
You'd better at least consider the size of the wire downstream of the
breaker before making such claims.
--
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bud--
> Jonathan Grobe wrote:
>> On 2008-05-29, RBM <r...@noemail.com> wrote:
>
>>> You are correct. The service entrance cable will determine the
>>> service size. If it is aluminum, it should be #2, if it's copper #4.
>>> Anything smaller would be a 60 amp service
>
>> What is the diameter of #2 aluminum?
>>
>
> #2 wire is about 0.097" diameter.
Oops, read the wrong column. #2 wire (conductor - stranded) is about
0.292" diameter. This is reasonable compared to dpb's value of "roughly
0.25" which may be solid wire.
--
bud--