AI for calculating conductor size

C

ChasM

Member
Location
North Texas
Occupation
Retired. Electrical System engineer/simulator architect
This may be a stupid question. I have found that the AI apps are notoriously incorrect at calculating the correct conductor size based on type of conductor, voltage drop, ampacity, load current, distance of run, temperature, power factor, and single/three phase. I have found that none of their calculated conductor sizes compares even approximately to the values given in 2020 NEC table 331..16 or Chapter 9, table 8. It appears i will develop my own spread sheet based on fundamentals, i.e., V=IxR and various derivatives. I had hoped AI might save time, but the effort in answer verification takes too long.
Are there any reliable trustworthy apps out there which do a good job at calculating conductor size? When will an AI app be trained on the NEC code?
 
ChasM said:
This may be a stupid question. I have found that the AI apps are notoriously incorrect at calculating the correct conductor size based on type of conductor, voltage drop, ampacity, load current, distance of run, temperature, power factor, and single/three phase. I have found that none of their calculated conductor sizes compares even approximately to the values given in 2020 NEC table 331..16 or Chapter 9, table 8. It appears i will develop my own spread sheet based on fundamentals, i.e., V=IxR and various derivatives. I had hoped AI might save time, but the effort in answer verification takes too long.
Are there any reliable trustworthy apps out there which do a good job at calculating conductor size? When will an AI app be trained on the NEC code?
Click to expand...
There used to be a web site called Electrician2.com, also maybe electriciancalculators.com that had a simple wire size calc that was a web page with boxes you type numbers into and it had all the bundling, temp, insulation, termination, voltage drop, etc. but sadly it recently went off line.
 
Asking 'AI' to do these sort of calculations is a poor use of the tool.

These things that we call 'AI' are models of _language_, derived from studying huge samples of human writing. You use 'AI' to ferret out pattern in language or to toss in some randomness yet still get text that fits a pattern.

In the case of wire sizing, you have known rules and calculations that must be applied. These calculations are far better done with a spreadsheet than with 'AI'.

Where 'AI' is best applied for this application is to help write and debug the spreadsheet. AI would be great for searching the NEC to find all relevant code sections. We all know about section 310, but 'AI' would do a better than human job of finding the rare sections that change the required ampacity of a conductor. 'AI' is also helpful chasing down bugs in code. It might work for transcribing the ampacity table into the spreadsheet.

Jonathan
 
That's what I was thinking. But perhaps I had been overlooking something. It appears i had not been overlooking anything ... a spreadsheet works great.
 
There are too many variables in our industry for AI to be able to handle these sorts of calculations/decisions in its current state. Electricians/engineers will be needed for the foreseeable future in this industry.

Like others have mentioned, take time and make your own table and you will be much better off.
 
lielec11 said:
There are too many variables in our industry for AI to be able to handle these sorts of calculations/decisions in its current state. Electricians/engineers will be needed for the foreseeable future in this industry.
Click to expand...

And calculating conductor size is relatively simple. There are a lot of calculations that have way more nuance and complication and yet AI can't get the simple one right.
 
Southwire has one also but you have to guess at the size conduit and it will tell you the fill % and it only works for one size wire.

Conduit Fill Calculator | Southwire

Get accurate conduit fill percentages with Southwire's Conduit Fill Calculator. Perfect for electricians, engineers, and contractors.
www.southwire.com www.southwire.com

Annex C will tell you want size is needed if all the conductors are the same size.
 
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