My Industrial Cabin Build

[WoodChuckDad]

All that flame stuff looks dangerous. I didn’t exactly set the standard for good decision making and safety with the ratchet strap. I can breath out of my nose and it looks a little swollen and bruised. It was always big and the genera shape hasn’t changed. It will heal. I have a headache and basically feel like I have a bad hangover.

I’ll probably take tonight off from the build and try to get back to it tomorrow.

 

[BoFuller]

Wow, be careful. Hope you heal quickly.

 

[dstig1]

There is an easier way....

Get well soon!

I think you mean "There is an eth-eir way"

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I’ll be back at the build today. I have been doing a lot of reading to try to determine the proper size breakers for my A/C units.
Minimum circuit ampacity vs max over protection.
What I gather from reading is that basicly I need to be somewhere in that range. For example the 27 k BTU unit I am putting in has 26 MCA and 40 MOP
So I could put in a 30 or a 40 30 might be better because it would offer more protection by breaking earlier but it might also be more prone to nuisance tripping.
The 36 k unit is 27 MCA and 45 MOP so I am thinking a 40 amp breaker for that one since it is kind of in the middle.
18 k unit is 18 MCA and 30 MOP. Ao again I can choose 20, 25, 30.
I went with the 6 guage wire for 36k,8 guage for 27k and 10 g for 18k. Those are based off the install manuals I found online. They are reshipping my order and I should have the equipment next week.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I forgot to add the link to the video I dropped his morning. Just a short update. Hard to make wiring interesting at this point.

 

[GSVette]

I’ll be back at the build today. I have been doing a lot of reading to try to determine the proper size breakers for my A/C units.
Minimum circuit ampacity vs max over protection.
What I gather from reading is that basicly I need to be somewhere in that range. For example the 27 k BTU unit I am putting in has 26 MCA and 40 MOP
So I could put in a 30 or a 40 30 might be better because it would offer more protection by breaking earlier but it might also be more prone to nuisance tripping.
The 36 k unit is 27 MCA and 45 MOP so I am thinking a 40 amp breaker for that one since it is kind of in the middle.
18 k unit is 18 MCA and 30 MOP. Ao again I can choose 20, 25, 30.
I went with the 6 guage wire for 36k,8 guage for 27k and 10 g for 18k. Those are based off the install manuals I found online. They are reshipping my order and I should have the equipment next week.

My mini split outside unit specified the breaker size necessary on a data plate on the unit

 

[gary49]

I generally wire HVAC units to be able to use the maximum overcurrent device called out on the data plate. This may mean you have to use heavier gauge wire than the minimum ampacity spec on the data plate. So, the data plate might say minimum ampacity is 18 amps, so that would be 12 gauge wire and therefore a 20 amp breaker (which would likely work just fine), but the maximum overcurrent protection according to the data plate is 30 amps, so a 30 amp breaker, but that means 10 gauge wire. Main reason for doing this is that the HVAC contractor is going to throw it in my lap if the unit has a nuisance trip due to a brown out or whatever even though he might be able to put a hard start kit in and fix the problem. There will be less voltage drop with the heavier gauge wire, which is always a good thing. I will say in your case that a 40 amp breaker is cheaper than a 45 amp breaker, so if I were doing it for myself, that’s what I’d probably use. You can always change it to a 45 if you have trouble with nuisance tripping.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I generally wire HVAC units to be able to use the maximum overcurrent device called out on the data plate. This may mean you have to use heavier gauge wire than the minimum ampacity spec on the data plate. So, the data plate might say minimum ampacity is 18 amps, so that would be 12 gauge wire and therefore a 20 amp breaker (which would likely work just fine), but the maximum overcurrent protection according to the data plate is 30 amps, so a 30 amp breaker, but that means 10 gauge wire. Main reason for doing this is that the HVAC contractor is going to throw it in my lap if the unit has a nuisance trip due to a brown out or whatever even though he might be able to put a hard start kit in and fix the problem. There will be less voltage drop with the heavier gauge wire, which is always a good thing. I will say in your case that a 40 amp breaker is cheaper than a 45 amp breaker, so if I were doing it for myself, that’s what I’d probably use. You can always change it to a 45 if you have trouble with nuisance tripping.

It when you mentioned the price difference it made me look and I see that 2020 code changes it to to a gfci breaker for a/c Which is sold out at the big box stores.
Fun. I guess I will call Meyers on Monday.
What was the code before 2020? I an asking because my building permit was from before that and I think I could use the old standard if I had to. The building inspector manager who reinstated my build permit mentioned that it was not fair to expect the inspectors to know old code. I will just call and ask Monday if I can’t find the Breakers I need.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Costco has these little giant ladders, but they look much smaller than what you use. I’m tempted to get one.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I got the 23 footers and they have been both useful and resilient. They are not as ruggedly built as the old webber I have but so far they have been worth the money to me.