Wiring Question

BigDog007 · Dec 29, 2016

Hi All,

I've been using my electric brewery for about 1.5 years now. Everything was going great. I recently moved and am in process of setting up my new brewery in the basement.

I ran 12/3 w/ground from the panel to where my brewery is going to be. This is on a 30 amp double pole GFI Breaker. I use four wires for my feed.

Here are my questions:

-Is 12 gauge wire ok for this feed? My panel is setup for running a RIMS tube and boil kettle only. The boil kettle is a 4500w 240v element and the RIMS is 1500w element.

-My outlets for the RIMS and Boil Kettle are using 10/3 SJOO wire from the brew panel, is that ok still if using the 12/3 feed or should I drop them to 12/3 as well?

So basically:

My new feed is 12/3, down from 8/3 which was major overkill

My current outs from the brew panel are using 10/3, is this still ok?

Sorry about my confused post, I'm just second guessing myself.

Thanks,

RP

WI_Wino · Dec 29, 2016

No, 12 gauge house wiring is rated for 20 amps. You need 10 gauge for 30 amps.

With a 4500 way element on 240v you'll be pulling 18.75 amps. It's close but you are probably OK if nothing else is pulling amps.

It's fine to have 10 gauge wire for your plugs but the circuit needs a 20 amp breaker.

highland_brewer · Dec 29, 2016

I would move up to at LEAST 10 Gauge. 12 gauge wire is only rated for 20 amps. Depending on how far the run is to your brewery, you will experience some voltage/amperage drop. According to calculations if you are over 115 feet. (wire length not straight line) you will experience more than a 3% drop.

BigDog007 · Dec 29, 2016

It's about 60 feet of wire to the brewery. I ordered some 10/3 with ground so I should be good. I needed another home run to the box anyway for some 110v outlets so I'm gonna use the 12/3 I ran for that and only use three of the wires.

Thanks for the fast replies, at least my initial work won't go to waste.