E4 Electrical Installation

#2 Wire Sizing and Materials

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 AMPACITY
AMPACITY

• Ampacity is:
The AMPerage handling capACITY of wire, fuse, or CB
• It is the amperage draw PLUS a 25% safety factor
Or, the amperage load x 1.25 = Ampacity
• Example: Name plate amperage is 12 amps
12 amps load x 1.25 = 15 amps ampacity
• Ampacity is the value used to determine the correct
size of wires, fuses, and circuit breakers for inductive
(motor) loads

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 Wire Insulation

• The insulation on a wire is a factor in its

rated ampacity
• Examples of wire insulation descriptions:
• TW
– Thermoplastic, Wet (and dry) locations
• THHN
– Thermoplastic, High-Heat resistant, Nylon

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 Wire sizing

• Wire is rated in AWG (American Wire

Gauge)
• The lower the number, the thicker the wire
• The lower the number, the higher the
amperage capacity

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 Ampacity and Wire Insulation

Wire size Ampacity for Ampacity for Maximum

AWG Type TW & UF Type THHN Amp Ratings*

# 14 20 25 15*
# 12 25 30 20*
# 10 30 40 30*

*According to the electrical code, the overcurrent protection

shall not exceed 15A for #14, 20A for #12, or 30A for #10
(However, insulation is a factor in locations above 86 F)

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 Wire Marking

• Marking on the cable usually indicates wire

type, insulation, conductor size, and application.
Following are some examples:
– NM: Non Metallic casing enclosing the wire
– MC: Metal Clad casing enclosing the wire
– UF: Underground Feeder
– SEC: Service Entrance Cable
– #12 AWG: Size 12 American Wire Gauge

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 Some Examples of Common Indoor
Wiring Materials

• Non Metallic cable (NM, Romex®)

• Armored cable (AC, MC, BX)
• Rigid Metallic Conduit (EMT, “Thinwall”)

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 “Romex”

Type TW insulation

Two #12 wires with Non-metallic cable

a bare ground wire

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MC (Metal Clad) or Armored Cable (AC)

Insulating
Bushing

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Electric Metallic Tubing (EMT)

Coupling
Connector

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 Outdoor Wiring

• For outdoor condensing units, the wiring

materials must be flexible, liquid tight, and
damage resistant
• Following is one example of the wiring
used

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Flexible Liquid Tight Conduit

Coiled metal for

flexible strength
90 °
Connector Plastic sheathing to
make it “liquid tight”

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 Unit Ratings

• The unit data plate contains important

electrical information
• Based on the information on the following
slide, wire and circuit breaker sizes can be
determined

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 Sample A/C Electrical Data
Compressor Compressor OFM
Unit Rating Voltage MCA MOCP
RLA LRA FLA
7 ½ Tons 208/230-3-60 19.0 142 1.9 25.6 35

What is the wire size and circuit size for the above unit?
A unit with 25.6 ampacity (MCA) requires:
a minimum 30 amp circuit
# 10 wire

The circuit may be fused at a maximum of 35 amps (MOCP)

Note: For ampacity calculations of a multi-motor assembly, 25% is added only to the
largest motor. Example: 19.0 x 1.25 = 23.75 + 1.9 for OFM = 25.6 MCA

LEGEND
RLA – Rated Load Amps FLA – Full Load Amps
LRA – Lock Rotor Amps MCA – Minimum Circuit Amps
OFM – Outside Fan Motor MOCP – Max.*Overcurrent Protection

*Note: The overcurrent protection device must be a fuse or HACR breaker.

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 Common HVACR Ratings

• The following table is a useful guideline for

determining the wire and circuit breaker
sizes for the most common motor
amperages

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 Wire and Circuit Breaker Sizing
for Motor Loads
Total Unit Amps Circuit Breaker Amps Wire Size
0 – 12 15 # 14

13 – 16 20 # 12

17 – 24 30 # 10

25 - 32 40 #8

33 - 48 60 #6

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