Discuss 16A device on a 15A breaker, do I need to replace the breaker? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

csdude55

DIY
Reaction score
2
I'm going to have to replace my faulty EVSE car charger with a new one. The Clipper Creek one is pretty pricey, so I'm looking at a much less expensive Zencar.

The concern is that it says it requires 16A.

My garage has a single 15A breaker for it that's in the house, but I don't know the size of the wire and have no clue how to find it.

Is that 1A difference going to cause the breaker to keep flipping? If so, what steps should I take to determine whether it's OK to change it to a 20A breaker?
 
different rules on your side of the pond, but the breaker size should be determined by the size of the cable. generally a 20A breaker would be correct as long as the cable can carry 20A. over here we use metric cable as opposed to you AWG, so can't be sure without knowing cable size. as a start, i'd leave the 15A breaker as is and see how it goes. it will probably be happy at 16A for as long as is needed, if it gets overly warm or trips, then get a local spark to advise.
 
I'm more or less assuming that the breaker size would be determined by the gauge and length of the wire.

The farthest receptacle is about 50' (15 meters, @telectrix) from the breaker box, but that doesn't include turns and other wiring variables. So probably more like 75-100' of wire (28-30 meters). But they PROBABLY ran one wire underground to the garage, then split it to run one wire down one wall and another wire down the other.

Can you guys suggest what gauge wire this would need? And how do I find the size if it's not printed on the part of the wire visible by taking out the receptacle?

i'd leave the 15A breaker as is and see how it goes

That's what I'm thinking, too, BUT! I'll be saving about $300 USD using Zencar over Clipper Creek, but if I have to replace the wiring to the garage then that will cost a lot more than the $300 saved :-(
 
for that load, i'd suggest awg14, (although volt drop might be a problem over the length you have, so maybe a larger cable may be required) the conductor diameter of that awg14 is 1.63mm, or 0.064". over here we is forced to use metric, but I think in inches.
 
Cool, thanks :) I think I can borrow some calipers to measure the wire in metric... I don't know why but in the US we seem to alternate back and forth between metric and imperial! lol
 
I'm going to have to replace my faulty EVSE car charger with a new one. The Clipper Creek one is pretty pricey, so I'm looking at a much less expensive Zencar.

The concern is that it says it requires 16A.

My garage has a single 15A breaker for it that's in the house, but I don't know the size of the wire and have no clue how to find it.

Is that 1A difference going to cause the breaker to keep flipping? If so, what steps should I take to determine whether it's OK to change it to a 20A breaker?
Yes you need to install a 20 amp breaker. You can read the wire size on the wire itself after you turn breaker off. 20 amp requires # 12 wire
 

Reply to 16A device on a 15A breaker, do I need to replace the breaker? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock