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Well I spent all my money building a new detached garage in my backyard. Of course I pulled the permit myself and trusted some of the concerns to be dealt with by subs. I had the plumber run me an under ground line for the power when they ran the sewer to the garage.
Anyways the line was only big enough to run a 6-3 line white red black and a ground. It runs a total of 120' ft to the garage. The plan is for a workshop and a small apartment above. As its set up now, its hooked to the main panel on the outside of the house with a 50 amp fuse.
What if any thing can I do to manage all the things I would need/want for a garage workshop and apartment ie- small range, small elect. water heater, maybe an occassional 240v welding.
Well Im gonna really sound like a idoit but, im not sure what it is. There is a thick blue plastic tube that was run underground when they ran the sewer. The tube is a little bigger than an one inch. I was able to push the 6-3 thru it. with a little bit of room. Dont think this is even conduit but more of a tube for conveinance.
And no one told you that stuff was completely illegal for use underground, even in conduit???
Not completely true ....
UF cable may be direct buried without being put into any pipe. So the installed thick blue plastic tube should be seen as protection against roots or garden activities. Not as conduit.
So it is not illegal.
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6/3 UF is made for 55 Amps capacity
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The real problem is that 6/3 UF cable is below official specification.
At 55 Amps for cable length beyond 90 feet 4/0 wiring is required.
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The black round 6/3NM cable is NOT UF, it is NM-B. NM-B CANNOT be used outdoors where subject to moisture and certainly NOT underground, EVEN in conduit.
For a 5% drop at 55A, I get 111 feet for #6 copper wire.
For a feed, I think you want 3%.
Breaker is rated for 50A.
Continous permissable current would be 0.8*50 = 40 Amps.
With 40A, I get 90 feet for #6 for a 2.9% drop.
Credendovidis:
Stanfortyman doesn't believe in using 120V. He wants to use 240V. I showed him a reference that 120V must be used and it was a page from a license study guide.So, he has his opinion and we have ours. I'm not sure what's required to change it. He doesn't even respect tkrussell's response either. I think we need to find it in the code somewhere or ask God for it.
Linear Mode
