Sanity check please

[TallahasseeBrew]

Ok, my home has a 4 wire 50 amp outlet with a 50 amp gfci breaker all with 6 awg wire. I plan on making a plug that pigtails out to two L6-30 connectors to hook each connector to a stilldragon controller to run a 4500 watt boilcoil, so i can heat a hlt and a boil kettle simultaneously.

this cable was going to use 10 awg wire since it is only powering one 4500 watt element per side. Does that pass a sanity check or should it all use 6 gauge? Should i fuse each stilldragon, and if so, should i fuse both hots or just one? A voice in my head is telling me to put a 30 amp fuse on each leg going into each stilldragon, but that voice is known to be crazy

 

[passedpawn]

Ok, my home has a 4 wire 50 amp outlet with a 50 amp gfci breaker all with 6 awg wire. I plan on making a plug that pigtails out to two L6-30 connectors to hook each connector to a stilldragon controller to run a 4500 watt boilcoil, so i can heat a hlt and a boil kettle simultaneously.

this cable was going to use 10 awg wire since it is only powering one 4500 watt element per side. Does that pass a sanity check or should it all use 6 gauge? Should i fuse each stilldragon, and if so, should i fuse both hots or just one? A voice in my head is telling me to put a 30 amp fuse on each leg going into each stilldragon, but that voice is known to be crazy

If you're only running that one element, you can use the 10awg (or 12awg). 4500W @ 240VAC is less than 20A . You should fuse your box upstream for the wire size you use; for example, if you use 12awg, fuse for 20A. If you have a neutral, you need to fuse both hot legs as either leg could have an overcurrent event to the neutral. If you do not run the neutral into your box, you can get away with only one fuse on either leg (that's assuming that you go have a GFCI as you stated).

 

[TallahasseeBrew]

I dont plan on using neutral as i have no 120 volt parts. I think i will put a fuse or breaker in each control box just for cheap peace of mind.

 

[TallahasseeBrew]

pardon the crude paint diagram, but that seems right, correct? It's all 10 gauge wiring, except the pot of course, and uses a 30 amp switch. Switch is grounded too, just didn't add the wire to the diagram

 

[doug293cz]

That will work, but personally, I would fuse both hot legs. Gives slightly more protection in the event of a GFCI breaker failure.

Brew on

 

[TallahasseeBrew]

I got it all finished. I did end up pitting a fuse on both hots.

it fires up and runs great. Took 30 minutes to take 53 degree water to a boil. Im happy with that.