albator
Member
- Location
- Santa Cruz, California
Hello,
First post, but long time reader.
I'm planning the electrical for a small cabin. About 100 feet from main house. There are 3 #8 copper wires in a PVC conduit coming from the house. 2 hots, 1 neutral, no ground. Inside the house, those #8 are connected to a double-pole 30A circuit breaker. Inside the old cabin, it's all old and rotten, nothing will be kept, all will be new.
I have a few questions:
1. the 30A breakers seem conservative for #8. I think I can upgrade it to a 40A, right? Or even 50A?
2. Would the length cause an excessive voltage drop?
3. The wires coming from the house are barely long enough to reach the inside of the cabin, but too short to install a sub panel inside the cabin. Would you rather install the sub panel on the outside of the cabin, or install a junction box on the outside and run another cable to the inside and place the sub panel inside?
4. How should I deal with the lack of ground wire? I believe the ground should be connected only in one place near the main panel, and the neutral-ground connection should exist only in one place too (at the main panel). Is that correct? If I install another rod at the cabin, would the voltage difference between ground and neutral cause problems?
First post, but long time reader.
I'm planning the electrical for a small cabin. About 100 feet from main house. There are 3 #8 copper wires in a PVC conduit coming from the house. 2 hots, 1 neutral, no ground. Inside the house, those #8 are connected to a double-pole 30A circuit breaker. Inside the old cabin, it's all old and rotten, nothing will be kept, all will be new.
I have a few questions:
1. the 30A breakers seem conservative for #8. I think I can upgrade it to a 40A, right? Or even 50A?
2. Would the length cause an excessive voltage drop?
3. The wires coming from the house are barely long enough to reach the inside of the cabin, but too short to install a sub panel inside the cabin. Would you rather install the sub panel on the outside of the cabin, or install a junction box on the outside and run another cable to the inside and place the sub panel inside?
4. How should I deal with the lack of ground wire? I believe the ground should be connected only in one place near the main panel, and the neutral-ground connection should exist only in one place too (at the main panel). Is that correct? If I install another rod at the cabin, would the voltage difference between ground and neutral cause problems?
