225a Load Center

I'm going to start my wiring for my addition this weekend.....



I'm going to be running at least half the ckts using THWN wire from the load center to a distribution box with terminal blocks in it.



The blacks and whites will be 12 AWG....can the ground be 14 AWG?  I've got a crap load of it and it would be nice to use up some of it.
      

What size wire is needed to run 100' from the main breaker panel at the house to a portable building? The load center at the protable building will run an 8000 BTU 110V window AC, two single bulb light fixtures and one 110V wall eletrical outlet.



Thanks for your help.
      

Help!  We decided to raise the ceiling in our kitchen for some new taller cabinets. We have 30" cabinets with a 7' drop ceiling. By taking out the drop ceiling we can go to an 8' ceiling with 36" cabinets.  We just had the ceiling taken out and now I see I got a problem!



This is a 2 story home, the wall in question is a load bearing wall (runs through the center of the house) The main breaker panel is in this wall (the panel opening is in the adjacent family room)



As you can see in the photos I cannot extend the wall up because all of the home wiring is in the way!  I expected I might have to run longer wires but not this. 



Some ideas we've thought about...

notch the double 2x4s (not sure how much I need to notch or allowed to)



build a cove (box) and leave the wires like they are (might be an eyesore in our new kitchen)



put up a large crown moulding along the entire wall (would be the only crown moulding in the house)



extend the ceiling up 6-7" instead of 12" (should leave enough room for wire to stay)



I'm leaning to the notching option if I can find a way to reinforce that section.



Any ideas?



thanks!
      

We want to run 110V service to a portable building 95' from the breaker box at the house. It will run a 110V 8000 BTU AC (dedicated breaker), two single bulb light fixtures and 2 additional wall outlets. Our breaker box at the house is full, but I am being told I can remove a single breaker in the box and replace it with one that contains two breakers. What is the name of this type of breaker and where can I get one? What size breaker should be used for this amount of power requirement? What size breakers should I have in the load center on the portable building?
      

I'm buying a 12 lead Stamford generator, engine driven, and have a question or two about over current protection and ground fault protection.  I will normally have it wired for single phase 120 and 240 in the double delta configuration.  I may occasionally rewire it for 3 phase 240 in the series delta configuration.



For the single phase setup, what I've read so far leads me to believe I should have a main circuit breaker of about 125% continuous ampacity; it's a 10 kw generator.  Is that correct?  What kind of breaker do I need?  Should this main be a GFCI?  Do I bond neutral and ground?  This is a portable unit so I need to package a load center on the generator frame.  Can I wire one 240 receptacle directly to the main and two or three 120 volt GFCI's on it as well?  Or do I need another 240 breaker downstream of the main?  What should I be thinking about for swithching back and forth between single phase and three phase?  Alot of questions, trying to get smart and be safe.  Thanks.
      

I have this cirucit with a GFCI outlet, then two regular outlets off the load.  None of them work.  The GFCI reset button was out, push it in, it pops back out. 



I replaced the GFCI with a new one and it seems to be fine.  (GFCI outlet and load outlets are working).



Is this common?  (I mean that a GFCI would go bad, and display this for behavior?)



Thank you, and if this is a stupid question, you may electronically "dope slap" me!
      

Hello All,



I'm about to "re-locate" some existing breakers and wires into a subpanel and have a few questions.



1) My existing hot water heater is wired with 2 conductor w/ground wiring (30 amp, #10 wire). Is this still Code compliant or do you have to have 3 conductor now as with dryers?



My existing dryer also has 2 conductor w/ground wiring (installed in 1999).



If I relocated it or the hot water wires/breakers to my new subpanel will they require me to upgrade to current code (3 conductor, if applicable)? The subpanel will attach to the Main Load Center which is where those breakers/wires are currently attached.



Main question is will I be grandfathered with existing wiring in only relocating the breakers/wires to subpanel?  I'm not relocating the appliances or recepticles themselves.



2) I have 3 conductor w/ground wires for my cook top. It only requires 2 conducter w/ground however. They wired the ground/neutrals together but has flexible metal conduit running to the cook top itself. Should I remove the ground and bond it to the metal conduit?



Thanks, Ralph
      

Not sure if this is an electrical or a PC post.

  I wanted to install a 28" leviton SMC panel in my basement, horizontally on the wall insted of the traditional vertical way, cant find anything that says i can or cant, it would save me a ton of work to do it horizontally. Has anyone done it or seen it this way?
      

I installed an Intermatic brand programmable timer switch to operate some outside house lights (2 CFLs, total 30 watts). The thing worked for a few months and then became non-operational. I just realized that the sticker on the back of the timer switch states "max load ratings: 15 amp, 120 vac", and the circuit I installed it on is 20 amps. Is this why the switched failed? If so, why did it work for a few months? I thought 'load' was the amount of power needed to operate whatever is downstream of the switch, in this case my outside lights, which is under one amp?



Thanks!