Thinking about a new tank....

[musclebenz]

can't wait to see the final product

 

[sfsuphysics]

10/2 for a 20 amp circuit? A bit overkill no?
Either way, good call in running some dedicated circuits.

 

[magnetar68]

10/2 for a 20 amp circuit? A bit overkill no?

I know you know this, but it all depends on how far you need to run the line. I assumed that someday the tanks will be gone and who knows what might get plugged in there. I do not have practical experience, so I went with the gauge recommended by a few of the online calculators.

I do need all 100' to get back to the tanks. The calculators said that for 120V through copper on #10 you can from 10 to almost 15amps. That seemed like a reasonable load for 20amp circuit. 12/2 gets you right up to 10amps, so I probably could have gotten away with it assuming 50% lod, but I decided to go with the 10/2 for an extra $50/roll.

 

[sfsuphysics]

10 amps from 12/2? That number sounds a little squirly, the resistance of 12 gauge is only 1.6ohms per 1000feet, so a 100 foot length you'll have a voltage drop of only 3.2V if you pulled 20 amps from it.

But whatever, extra wire isn't necessarily a bad thing, and you'll absolutely love having dedicated circuits. For my 200g I have 2 - 20amps circuits just for it.

 

[jccaclimber]

10/2 for a 20 amp circuit? A bit overkill no?
Either way, good call in running some dedicated circuits.

When I made my runs in TX I used 12/2 because I had it on hand already. That said, I was planning on pulling 15-20 A continuous (2 circuits) and the payoff time due to the resistance difference was much shorter than I thought before calculating it out.