Max Amp Rating of 14 AWG Wire?

The 110 outlet will be used for things like a
drill, circular saw, angle grinder, battery charger, etc.
Drills, saws, grinders, etc. will normally be
run outside of the shed using a short extension cord.

Will the #14 wire be OK for this.

Right now I run all this stuff off a 100ft extension cord plugged into a GFCI outlet on the back poarch.
Been doing this for 2 years. I'm tired of having
to roll up the cord to mow the yard, or just plain
tripping over it in the dark. And other annoyances.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

Dusty

The burial depth will be 18-20 inches.
I've spent the last two days digging it.
Two passes with the rototiller. Shovel it out.
Then more rototiller and more shoveling.
At least I'll get to use the tractor to cover it up.

Pooh Bear

My 2 cents, I'd want more than a 14ga going out there. If you had 12 laying around, that would give you a 20 amp receptical, you'd have enough to run a light bulb & a 15amp motor at the same time. On 14ga, it's just not much available.

--->Paul

If you use type UF (underground feeder) cable, you will not need to run conduit except where the cable enters and exits the ground. But you will need to bury it 2 feet underground.

Now all that being said, in residentail applications the standard garden variety uses are 15 amps for 14 Gauge Wire... Buttttt tt you have to temper that with any voltage drop caused by long wire runs which might require larger gauge wire be used!!!!! !!

Sooooo ooooo if you protect those 14 gauge feeders with a 15 amp overload protection device (circuit breaker or fuse) and install at least a 15 amp rated receptacle (NEMA 15R) at the external location anddddd dddd ifffff fffff any maximum sustained continuous load is not greater then 80% (like 12 amps) anddddd dddd ifffff fff the load does not cause excess voltage drop in the wire run which falls below the minimum voltage requirements SURE YOU MAY (depedns on motor load currents) SQUEAK BY AND NOT VIOLATE THE NEC Buttttt tt I fear continuous sustained motor loads may exceed 80% plus the motors may run warm using such a marginal wire size due to volatge drop in the line!!!!!

HOWEVERRRRR RRRRR all that sounds muchhhhh hh too marginal for my liking. I would at a minimuum use 12 (or even 10 if voltage drop is a problem) gauge wire fed with a 20 amp overload protective device and a 20 amp NEMA 20 R receptacle.

Since you have to buy new wire anyway, why NOT play it safe and use 10 Gauge wire to reduce voltage drop (makes motors run hotter) ??? You can direct bury type UF (Underground Feeder) 10/2 with ground, the gray lookin stuff and its not all that expensive for 100 foot roll.

Alsooooo ooo I would at the minimum for safety use a cheap n dirty 30 amp blade type Safety Switch at that remote location, fuzed at 20 if you install 12 gauge wire out of it to a 20 amp receptacle.

Nowwwww wwww lets spend even more of your money lol cuz when doing a project like this you may as well do it right the first time Eh?????

Why not go ahead and run 4 conductors out to the remote location so you will have 240 volt out there????? ? That would be 10/3 with ground (4 conductor) type UF or whatever you use wire. The conducotrs would be like 2 hots, red n black, one white Neutral, one green or bare safety equipment ground. Then have a small inexpensive like 4 circuit panel at the remote location for two 120 volt 20 amp circuits (put one on each phase for balance) and a two pole 240 volt circuit if ever needed Yayyyyy yyyyy yyyyy yyyyy That how I would do it lol

John T Long retired Electrical Engineer

To do this right I would run #6 wire or maybe #8
and put a sub panel out there to run everything.
But that's really over kill.

This should work if I just use it for my chair.
I would like a light for a the few minutes it takes
to plug the chair in after dark. Sometimes I
might run a small 3/8 drill for a few minutes.

For any big work I go next door to my parents'
house and I have a big shed used as a woodwork shop.

I plan on adding a big garage to my house in the
near future and all this electrical stuff will get
moved into it and the little shed will no longer
need any electric. Mite even get rid of it.

I've been getting by for 2 years on an extension cord.
Now I just want to get by till I can get a garage.
The garage will be 3 bays 14 feet wide by 28 deep.
One of the bays will be walled off seperate so I
can move my wood work equipment up here to it.
I am going to further subdivide that one bay so
I can have a place for my welder and any future
metal working equipment. Probably 8x14.

Those are my plans. And it sure beats using
that 100 foot extension cord.

Pooh Bear

14 gauge copper wire on a 15 amp breaker is correct. The problem you will have is voltage drop. 2% or less voltage drop is ideal. Running 60' with #14 wire you'll have a 3% drop when running a 10 amp tool. But compared to a 100' extension cord it will seem like all the power in the world. 100' of #16 wire extension cord is almost a 10% voltage drop for a 10 amp tool.

A 30 amp breaker is correct for #10 wire, 240 volt circuit. If you increase the size of the breaker, you increase the chance that the wire will be the weak part of the circuit---not good because the wire has to melt or burn to open the circuit.

A 6% duty cycle means you can weld for 36 total seconds out of every ten minutes. If your 30 amp breaker on #10 wire is inadequate for your welder, it will trip the breaker regardless of what the duty cycle is. It's not an ideal situation but it shouldn't be dangerous if your electrical system is working properly. The real problem with a low duty cycle is that exceeding the duty cycle is hard on the welder. Some of those inexpensive arc welders get a bit more sensitive each time the thermal overload breaker trips. The way you're using it sounds like you're doing everything right to deal with the limitations of the equipment you've got.

All the best, Stan

It's not quite 60 feet of wire.
I bought 6 ten foot lengths of conduit, and three
90 degree sweeps. I had 4-5 feet of conduit left over.
Other than the chair's battery charger the two things
that get used most are a 3/8 drill and an angle grinder.
The drill is about 4 amps and the angle grinder is 7.

And since the kitchen poarch is just the right height,
I use it as a work bench most of the time.
It has a GFCI outlet right there for access.

So this whole setup should work great for me.

36 seconds, huh. I use about half that.
1/8 rods at a 100 amps don't last long.
1/16 rods mite last 10 seconds. Doubt it, tho.

Thanks for all the info.

Pooh Bear

I have been using a 30amp breaker for my tiny stick
welder, Just wondering if I can upsize that breaker.
Just in case I ever want to run something larger.

Pooh Bear

Input: single phase, 230/115 Volts Draws 22 amps @ 115 volts, 20 amps @ 230 volts Output @ 115 volts: 15% duty cycle @ 65 amps Output @ 230 volts: 6% duty cycle @ 95 amps Welding current: 20-70 amps @ 115 volts; 30-110 amps @ 230 volts Weldable electrodes: 1/16'' Dimensions: 9-3/4'' x 13-5/8'' x 15-5/8'' Weight: 30 lbs.

I'm not a welder. I got this one off ebay for five dollars.
I set up my work and get everything ready to weld.
I put a rod in the clamp and have it ready to go.
Then I turn the welder on, burn one rod, and turn the welder off.
I usually weld at full power with 1/8 rods.
Even as short as the duty cycle is on this welder
I don't believe I'm in any danger of exceeding it.

Pooh Bear

Glenn F.

Pooh Bear

I'm trying to get by with buying as little as possible.
I have the #14 wire. Like to use it if I could.

No further wiring is necessary.
Planning on a garage with attached workshop.
Little storage building will just be storage then.

Pooh Bear