Mr. Cool 36k BTU DIY Electrical work

Apalchen said:
I already left the house this morning, if the OP doesn't post the info I can but it will be this evening.
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Yeah just wanna make sure we aren't missing something.

It it is a 35 amp feed then use #8 copper. May have a little difficulty locating a 35 amp double pole at the local big box store but an electrical supply would have it. They do make them, it's just rarely used lol.
 
I agree with the earlier post saying that adding the breaker to the box is the scary part. When I installed the car charger I completely staged it before bringing in the handyman...bought the 40A breaker, made sure the wire was run etc. In this case you could make sure the wire reached the a/c unit (if not actually hooking it up). Matching the breaker to the wire is a google search away.
Once I had everything set up the dude charged me $100 to hook everything up at the breaker box.

FWIW, IIRC, the guidance for the car charger was that a 40A breaker would deliver 32A to the car. This kinda sounds like that...are you sure its not a 40A that you need? as noted the 35v isn't very common. g/l
 
JPinkPaw said:
I agree with the earlier post saying that adding the breaker to the box is the scary part. When I installed the car charger I completely staged it before bringing in the handyman...bought the 40A breaker, made sure the wire was run etc. In this case you could make sure the wire reached the a/c unit (if not actually hooking it up). Matching the breaker to the wire is a google search away.
Once I had everything set up the dude charged me $100 to hook everything up at the breaker box.

FWIW, IIRC, the guidance for the car charger was that a 40A breaker would deliver 32A to the car. This kinda sounds like that...are you sure its not a 40A that you need? as noted the 35v isn't very common. g/l
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If you are scared of working in the like switch panel, you are smart. It is good to fear things that we are not familiar with. Like I am scared shitless by folks like bee keepers for example. lol

When working in a live panel, always work with only one hand, the right hand, and don't put your off hand on something grounded. We want to avoid electricity hitting your heart. So right hand, one hand, stuff lefty in the pocket lol. Wear electrically insulated boots. Don't stand in water. Wear an insulating glove if you think you may slip into something live trying to stab a breaker.

Honestly if you are insulated from ground you could touch a phase without problem, like a squirrel running on a wire.

If you think things through and work safely there is nothing to fear.
 
JPinkPaw said:
I agree with the earlier post saying that adding the breaker to the box is the scary part. When I installed the car charger I completely staged it before bringing in the handyman...bought the 40A breaker, made sure the wire was run etc. In this case you could make sure the wire reached the a/c unit (if not actually hooking it up). Matching the breaker to the wire is a google search away.
Once I had everything set up the dude charged me $100 to hook everything up at the breaker box.

FWIW, IIRC, the guidance for the car charger was that a 40A breaker would deliver 32A to the car. This kinda sounds like that...are you sure its not a 40A that you need? as noted the 35v isn't very common. g/l
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We want to see what rating he is looking at. We want the max disconnect rating, definitely not a LRA figure lol.
 
Renfro said:
Let me see a shot of that section of the install manual, 35 amp breaker is very odd. Also a shot of the nameplate on the condenser unit outside (where it has the #'s for charge weight and amperage.
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Where it says "Max Fuse", that is the rating for the over current protection device (OCPD), that could be a breaker or a fuse. So we want a 40 amp HACR breaker and #8 copper is good for 40 amps.
 
You will also want to grab a #8 whip to go from the outside disconnect box to the condenser. Easy to forget that when shopping for supplies.
 
Renfro said:
Where it says "Max Fuse", that is the rating for the over current protection device (OCPD), that could be a breaker or a fuse. So we want a 40 amp HACR breaker and #8 copper is good for 40 amps.
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Renfro your the man for this job lol, can i pull this off with no experience. What youtube videos u recommend. Lastly whats the detailed to do list steps.
 
Blissfarms2020 said:
Renfro your the man for this job lol, can i pull this off with no experience.
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I suppose that depends on how handy you are with tools. Common sense and a good set of tools goes a long way. No clue on the videos.

For your wire you can use 8-2 cable. You don't need the neutral so we will use the white wire for a phase and mark it on both ends with red or black electrical tape.

Steps, well pretty simple there:

Mount the outside disconnect (probably wanna drill for the wire first making sure you don't drill into anything you don't want to).

Run the cable from the disconnect back to the switch panel (breaker box). Depending on how you intend to run the cable you will either want proper staples for non-metallic (NM) cable or if the cable is exposed (not in the attic or walls) you should consider using metal clad (MC) cable or install conduit.

Use appropriate box connectors on each end where the cable enters the box (the little black plastic snap in ones work well in the back of a disconnect).

Terminate the wires in the disconnect.

Terminate the wires in the switch panel (bare to ground bus, black and white (with red or black indicator) to the breaker.

Stab the breaker (usually you put the outside edge of the breaker thats closest to the terminal screws) under a little plastic tab and rock the breaker down onto the bus connectors).
 
2017 ed of the NEC NFPA 70 and 440 talk about wire sizing for HVAC. and most importantly NEC Article 110.3(B) states: Listed or labeled equipment shall be installed and used in accordance with any instructions included in the listing or labeling.

Your unit needs a 40a ocpd and wire sized for 25 amps (MCA).
 
p0opstlnksal0t said:
2017 ed of the NEC NFPA 70 and 440 talk about wire sizing for HVAC. and most importantly NEC Article 110.3(B) states: Listed or labeled equipment shall be installed and used in accordance with any instructions included in the listing or labeling.

Your unit needs a 40a ocpd and wire sized for 25 amps (MCA).
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This isn't commercial refrigeration requiring a large amperage feed, raceway, THHN @ 75c lol. This is basically residential. We don't downrate conductors to save a few pennies going from #8 to #10 with NM cable 60c. It's just silliness at that point and I don't know any residential inspector that would pass that if they saw #10 NM (30 amps @ 60c) going into a 40 amp breaker. I suppose if the OP really wants to try and pull that one off they should run it over at Mike Holt and see what they think.
 
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@Renfro Would the unit underperform on 30 amp breaker or just trip it?

I had down loaded the manual and the spec sheet online before the unit got here and the spec sheet said 35 amp and manual also says 35 amp. I didn't realize it was 40 amp max fuse, in fact I thought we had different models or something til I walked out to look at the tag.

As far as a dedicated AC circuit passing inspection with undersized wire for the breaker, my understanding is it's okay as long as it matches the tag on the equipment. I asked a few different guys I know about it. It was explained to me that on an AC circuit they have an initial inrush of current but it's very short period of time not a constant current.

I only used 10 wire cause I had a bunch of it already if I was going out to buy supplies I would have bought 8 wire. And I guess I need a 40 amp breaker now cause for some reason the literature I had is misleading compared to the name plate.
 
Apalchen said:
I guess it depends on how handy you are, I did it on the day of install. I'd say I had 8 hours total for installation. But I don't work that fast. As for the electrical I wired my whole building after being shown once how to wire a grow room. I had some guys I would call and ask questions but I did the whole thing. So just depends on how handy you are, I can watch a video or have something explained and usually figure it out. It can be dangerous in a panel though so if your not comfortable might need to hire someone.

EDIT: also wiring up 240 is not that hard both wires white and black go to the breaker one on each side of the 2 pole breaker and the copper wire goes to the ground bar. Might want to mark your 240 white wires with red tape so someone else working on the panel knows they are hot.
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You wouldn't need to mark the wire because it connects to 30+ amp breaker just label it on your panel what breaker it's for.
 
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