Fat Fusion Posted January 8, 2014 at 01:35 AM Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 01:35 AM Guys n Gals, I have my post sunk with the charger, hoop, and holster attached. The flex conduit is run to a junction box that was installed by an electrician. The only thing left is to connect the wires in the box. The instructions say to connect the black wire to "Line 1" and the red wire to "Line 2." Both my leg wires are black *I think* and the white is the common and the green is clearly the ground. How do I tell which black wire is "Line 1" and which is "Line 2?" See pics below for what I'm working with. BTW- before I connect anything I will verify 120V from each leg to ensure the big black wires are both 120V legs. I yanked out a scraggly old bush to make room! This is the contents of the junction box. These are the wires for the Clipper Creek charger. FusionEnergi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted January 8, 2014 at 01:47 AM Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 01:47 AM (edited) Make sure the power is turned off. It doesn't matter which black wire you connect to. Pick a black and connect the black from the Clipper to it. Connect the red from the Clipper to the other black.Connect the green from the Clipper to the green in the box.The white wire in the box is unused and should not have been run.Pure 240 volt appliances do not use neutral. I can't tell if that is a plastic or metal box.If it is a metal box the green wire should also be connected to the box to ground (earth) it.I see the letters GRD next to a place for a screw but no screw in sight. Edited January 8, 2014 at 01:55 AM by murphy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted January 8, 2014 at 01:55 AM Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 01:55 AM Thanks murphy, that's pretty much what I was thinking. Just wasn't sure why they called them Line 1 and Line 2. For fun I'll measure the voltages with my multimeter before I hook them up. The electrician had not seen the charger or any documentation. Oh one last thing. He put a 50 amp breaker in there. The instructions say to use a 25 amp breaker. Is that a big deal? I like to assume ( :whistling: ), so if everything is ok then I'll never really test the breaker. If it ever shorts, it'll trip the breaker regardless, right? Should I worry about it and get a 25 amp breaker? The wires are large and very, very short, maybe 2 feet long from the junction box to the panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:19 AM Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:19 AM Breakers are sized to protect the wire. It has nothing to do with what is connected to the circuit. Breaker size for copper wire sizesBreaker Size (Amps) Wire Gauge (Copper*) 15 14 20 12 30 10 40 8 50 6* If you have aluminum wiring then the gauge should go up one level.As an example; for a 15 amp circuit using aluminum wire the correct wire gauge is 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:32 AM Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:32 AM Thanks murphy. I'm pretty sure it's 6 gauge wire from the box to the panel, and it's new copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:34 AM Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:34 AM The only other consideration at this point is I might shorten the cable from the charger to the "gun." It's way longer than I need. I think I need about 10 feet and I have about 25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jza80 Posted January 8, 2014 at 05:15 AM Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 05:15 AM Just one thought about breaker size, it is true that the breaker amperage is based on wire size however in a dedicated circuit one school of thought is to size the breaker to your actual need and not to wire size. What that gets you is a faster disconnect if something ever goes wrong. With a 50A breaker the CC will probably light off pretty good before the breaker trips should something fail and cause a short. Also, the connection wire from the CC is only 12GA so that is also a consideration IMO. This is advice an electrician friend gave me one time and it seemed to make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted January 8, 2014 at 10:18 AM Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 10:18 AM Just one thought about breaker size, it is true that the breaker amperage is based on wire size however in a dedicated circuit one school of thought is to size the breaker to your actual need and not to wire size. What that gets you is a faster disconnect if something ever goes wrong. With a 50A breaker the CC will probably light off pretty good before the breaker trips should something fail and cause a short. Also, the connection wire from the CC is only 12GA so that is also a consideration IMO. This is advice an electrician friend gave me one time and it seemed to make sense.That is a good point. A smaller breaker can always be used and I missed the fact that the charger feed wire is 12 gauge. 12 gauge wire should be protected with a 20 amp breaker but Clipper recommended a 25 amp breaker. Since the 12 gauge wire is out in the open where it can't build up heat like it could in a wall a 25 amp breaker should be fine. I'm surprised that Clipper would use 12 gauge wire with a device that can apparently draw more than 20 amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jza80 Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:24 PM Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:24 PM I was also surprised, I contacted Clipper about it and they confirmed that it was correct. Apparently the max draw is 20A so the breaker is sized to 25A and with a 20A load the 12GA is correct. I can say that the connection from the Clipper to the box in my garage gets warm when in use... 10GA would be preferred but they are building to a price... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveEnergi Posted January 8, 2014 at 08:05 PM Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 08:05 PM I can say that the connection from the Clipper to the box in my garage gets warm when in use... 10GA would be preferred but they are building to a price... I have the same Clipper Creek, although mine has a plug. That's why the instructions say to unwind the cord all the way when charging. Keeping it coiled together makes it harder for the heat to dissipate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted January 8, 2014 at 08:30 PM Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 08:30 PM I think I'll swap out the breaker for a smaller amperage one. Thanks for all the replies, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted January 8, 2014 at 10:34 PM Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 10:34 PM You may want to consider a GFCI breaker since your unit is outdoors. They're very expensive (mine was about 90 for a Square D Homeline one) but it's an extra device to protect you from electric shocks. I also have a breaker box surge protector which supposedly protects the whole house... that was also about 90 for a Siemens panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted January 11, 2014 at 12:27 AM Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 at 12:27 AM You may want to consider a GFCI breaker since your unit is outdoors. They're very expensive (mine was about 90 for a Square D Homeline one) but it's an extra device to protect you from electric shocks. I also have a breaker box surge protector which supposedly protects the whole house... that was also about 90 for a Siemens panel. Thanks for the advice. Whether I follow it or not depends on if they have one! I just found out, after buying the wrong breaker, that it's a type Z breaker that kinda looks like this. I'm headed out to Home Depot now. FusionEnergi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted January 11, 2014 at 01:50 AM Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 at 01:50 AM Woohoo! Everything went smoothly. The breaker was in there a little tight, but that's better than loose. They didn't have a GFCI breaker so that was a no go. Not really worried about that, ignorance is bliss. :noobie: Thanks again for the help guys! FusionEnergi and jeff_h 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDad Posted January 11, 2014 at 05:23 AM Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 at 05:23 AM I just wired a used Leviton 16 amp L2 charger last week in my son's house for the daily Fusion feed. It came with a whip and we put it on the garage wall next to the 1964 Bryant panel. Other than finding the correct Eaton breaker to match the outmoded panel, the installation was a breeze. Both black wires to the two breaker posts, and the ground wire to the ground bar... and that was that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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