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?
Not necessarily. Using 10AWG wire with a 20A breaker can help reduce voltage drop.
The wire should never heat up, the breaker should trip at 20A. No problem. |
@roccity said:
You might want to check with the HOA first. Exposed MC cable will not be as pleasing to the eye as EMT conduit. MC exposed kind of looks like installing Romex exposed on a wall. You can support the heck out of it and it still doesn’t look pretty... Questions: How much of the the exposed MC cable will be seen in the garage before it enters the wall of dwelling unit? What is the garage wall finish of the wall it will be installed on? Example, wood studs covered by drywall? Cement block? Other? Horizontal elevation off the floor of the MC cable? Distance down from the ceiling? Is the electrical panel surfaced mounted to the wall? Vertical length of the MC cable above the electrical panel before it is installed horizontally? Can you post a picture of the electrical panel and the area the MC cable will be installed? . |
What you have is basically 10ft extensions of equipment power cords. 10ft of branch circuit wiring does little, if anything, to decouple the power supplies of digital equipment from analog equipment.
I assume you hired an electrician for the electrical wiring installation. Per NEC code when the two receptacles of the duplex receptacle are split and are fed from separate circuit breakers, both outlets shall be de-energized by a single handle action for electrical safety. Single action, use of a 2 pole circuit breaker or two single pole breakers using an approved, Listed, breaker tie. Problem? Just a guess the sub panel is wired as a 120/240V electrical panel. Not a 120V only sub panel. Best practices accepted by many audiophiles, is all 120V audio equipment that will be connected together by wire interconnects, should be fed by circuit breakers that are connected to the same bus, Leg, Line, in the 120/240V electrical panel. All to Line 1 or all to Line 2. Not from both L1 & L2 though. Another problem I see is the close proximity of different dedicated circuits to one another. Therein induced voltage, noise, from the Hot and neutral current carrying conductor of one circuit to the other. Again it defeats the purpose of more than one dedicated circuit to feed audio equipment. I posted this above in this thread, not sure it you read them. Some reading material for you: An Overview of Audio System Grounding & Interfacing Read page 16, and pages 31 thru 36. . Integrating Electronic Equipment and Power Read pages 11, 12, &13. . |
The living room wall where the outlet will be is directly above the garage door. The cable will run from the ceiling of the garage down a foot or so, then to the left over the pedestrian door, along the wall with the panels, and down to the lower of my two panels (wired together to function as a single panel rather than a main and a sub). Or, it could run across the ceiling, then down to my panel. That'd be a shorter run.
Wood studs with sheetrock/drywall, with plywood over it where the panels are.
I haven't taken measurements, but you can probably ballpark them from the photos. And yes, surface mounted panel(s).
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