jeffmeh
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That, or any other run of wire throughout the entire circuit. To use BadNewsBrewery's example above, he may have a 50a breaker with 6awg to the stove outlet, but there are short runs of wire in the stove itself that are not 6awg. Taking an example in the other direction, if you wanted a really long run from the outlet to the controller, say over 100 feet, you might have to go with a higher rated wire than what we are discussing. Thicker wire means less resistance, longer run means more resistance.
There are formulas and tables to work all this stuff out, but that is well above my pay grade.
Of course, if you want to do the research and calculate it out, by all means do so. Perhaps you could save some money by downsizing wires, but you may or may not come out ahead, depending upon how you value your time.Most folks on this forum building panels are not electricians or electrical engineers. The most straightforward approach to safety is to just size the wire based upon your breakers and fuses.
