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What wire to use instead of Romex
I want to install a dedicated 20amp outlet (likely an AQ NRG). The run from the main panel in the garage to my living room above is relatively short - maybe 25 or 30 feet. Because of HOA rules/regs, I cannot use Romex. Wires in the garage must be inside conduit. I will run 10AWG, but I'm unsure what other specs I should implement. Should I use solid core or stranded? Should it be copper? Is BX the way to go? I've read where using stranded silver or silver tungsten is best, but I'd be concerned about the silver oxidizing/tarnishing over time, especially at the junction points where the wire has no insulation. Is it important to twist the three (including ground) wires or will they perform just as well if run side-by-side?
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I just stumbled across this thread, I went thru this earlier this year. I bought a large amount of bulk Audience Hidden Treasure AC wire for 4 runs from a panel to my Audio room. My electrician was smarter than me, he added a 50 A sub outside the Audio room that made for very short runs of the Hidden Treasure. First, I would suggest if you are going thru the trouble of adding a dedicated line make it at least 3. One for your amp ( I have monoblocks so I added one for each), one for your digital and one for analog. The one thing I was told about this was to make sure they were all on the same leg (Phase?) of the panel. Not an electrician so don't know what that means. Second, I have a lot of the Hidden Treasure, PM me if you want a good deal on it. I can show you the invoice from The Cable Co. |
I actually plan on doing two duplex outlets. One for the power amp and the other for my Niagara 1200 which has my preamp, DAC and streamer plugged into it. My TV and a couple of other things will remained plugged into my 79 cent 15 amp Home Depot outlet running off of a subpanel along with umpteen other outlets on the same circuit.
I've been told that that's a good idea too. I have a vague idea of what the means, and in a traditional panel with two bus bars, I know that mean to run both breakers off of the same bar, but with my new-fangled panels (see photos above in thread), I'm not sure how to tell whether or not two breakers are on the same leg/phase. I'll certainly clear that up before any work is done. I had an electrician come out the other day who said that the two side-by-side spots in my bottom panel would be on the same phase but couldn't explain to me how he knew that, so that didn't inspire confidence. I have someone else coming out in about 2 weeks who's the nephew of a friend of a friend who is licensed and, by all accounts, knows what he's doing.
Given the layout of my home, a new subpanel would need to be on the wall right between my new outlets (at the same height and I'm guessing surface mounted) or above my garage door in my garage to shorten the run. I don't think I'd like the look of a panel on the wall below the windows in my living room even if it'd be mostly hidden by my TV/hi-fi stand and gear, and I doubt the HOA would like one on the garage wall above my garage door. It'd be a great idea given the right layout though. I took a rough measurement: the total distance from panel to outlet(s) is about 20 to 25 feet. I'll be in touch about the Audience cable. Thanks! |
@roccity said:
They are not on the same Leg, Line. One is on Leg, Line 1, and the other is on Leg, Line 2. He’s not an electrician. Keep looking. Why are you wanting to feed the two new dedicated branch circuits from the bottom panel? I would use the Top panel instead. There is one spare space available. Use this breaker to feed the two branch circuits. Homeline 2-20 Amp Single-Pole Tandem Circuit Breaker Tell the electrician to feed the two new dedicated branch circuits out of the top right side of the panel. Save the top left side for a Type 2 SPD (Surge Protection Device). As I said in an earlier post, A Type 3 plug-in point of use SPD will not work because the length of the branch circuit wiring is less than 30ft. As for this.
As long as the TV and other things are not connected to the audio equipment with wire interconnects. . |
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