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Thread: Power cord size for 5hp table Saw?

  1. #16
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    At the risk of piling on with too much information, here's the applicable NEC table:

    FlexibleCordAmpacity.jpg
    Beranek's Law:

    It has been remarked that if one selects his own components, builds his own enclosure, and is convinced he has made a wise choice of design, then his own loudspeaker sounds better to him than does anyone else's loudspeaker. In this case, the frequency response of the loudspeaker seems to play only a minor part in forming a person's opinion.
    L.L. Beranek, Acoustics (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1954), p.208.

  2. #17
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    The manual is misleading it says the 5hp saw should be hard wired to the wall and now cord used. Well that may be fine and dandy if it's in a huge shop where it can stay in the same place for the next 20 years, not all of us have that luxury. You have to remember manuals are written by the lawyers.

  3. #18
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    Power cords are always hard. Wiring in a wall always assumes it could see 100% use at maximum rated current. For a cord it's different. You're 5hp table saw isn't going to be drawing the maximum current all the time it's running. It'll have a surge when first turned on and then the draw will be much less. Even if you were to make the most demanding cut, unless you and 10,000 bft of lumber you were going to feed into the saw nonstop, it's not going to last very long. That's why an engineer may put a 14 awg cord on a piece of equipment that has a max load of 20 or even 25 amps. That being said I just use the standard wiring chart based on the FLA of the motor for a cord. You can always go a size bigger if the cord is getting hot (slightly warm isn't a problem) when being used.

  4. #19
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    Wow it just sounds like a penny pinch kind of thing sonthats what I did.

  5. Well, you have a good cord, don't worry about it and move on and enjoy your saw.

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie Velasquez View Post
    Rod, that 25 amp rating, ... is that for the 12g or the 10g?
    That’s for 12AWG......Flexible cord (cab tire) not building wire......Rod

  7. #22
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    You’re fine with the 10 awg. No worries.
    I have a 5hp commercial washer on 10awg, SOOW extension cord. No way your saw will pull the amps that washer does going into the spin cycle with two horse blankets in it.
    My 5hp air compressor is also on 10awg,SOOW cord.
    The short length of 12awg is probably about as long as 12awg can be and still meet UL ratings.

  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by michael dilday View Post
    This is what the manual says for a 36-L336, 36-L352, 36-L552 or 36-L552LVC.

    FOR FIVE HORSEPOWER, SINGLE PHASE UNITS
    The circuit should not be less than #10 wire and should be protected with a 40 Amp time delay fuse.
    he circuit breaker is there to protect the wire, not the motor. A #10 wire rated at 30A should be protected by a 30A circuit breaker.
    T

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by mike waters View Post
    I'd just a call a licensed and bonded electrician. Pay him $100 to come out and make sure everything is squared away.
    Where do you find an electrician to come to your house for $100?? It is to laugh, as the saying goes. Think more like $250-300 just to show up, lots more if they actually do something. And, at that, licensed doesn't necessarily get you competent. If you spend the time and effort to learn enough about it to know whether your electrician knows what s/he's doing you might as well do it yourself unless the law requires otherwise. Even in MA you don't need a license to put a power cord on an appliance (or table saw).

  10. Quote Originally Posted by David L Morse View Post
    At the risk of piling on with too much information, here's the applicable NEC table:
    That's the right information The ratings we all know (20A=12ga, 30A=10ga) have to do with wire running at 100% current inside walls with insulation, etc. Don't cover your table saw cord with a foot of insulation. It will be fine.

    Bruce

  11. #26
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    Insulation can include a foot of sawdust on the cord.
    Bil lD.

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    Insulation can include a foot of sawdust on the cord.
    Bil lD.
    It's not a permanent installation. The list that David posted is correct.
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Lowekamp View Post
    That's the right information The ratings we all know (20A=12ga, 30A=10ga) have to do with wire running at 100% current inside walls with insulation, etc. Don't cover your table saw cord with a foot of insulation. It will be fine.

    Bruce
    Bruce
    The ampacity ratings being referenced are for SO,SOOW,SJOW, flexible cord. #10, AWG, SO cord will carry 30 amps. If the cable is to long, there are charts for ampacity and voltage change over distance

    From Southwire's website.
    http://cord.southwire.com/docs/Cord_...EC%2070000.pdf
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  14. #29
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    Feb 2014
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Otto View Post
    he circuit breaker is there to protect the wire, not the motor. A #10 wire rated at 30A should be protected by a 30A circuit breaker.
    T
    I hear what you are saying Tim - I just copied right out of the manual.
    Michael Dilday
    Suffolk, Va.

  15. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Otto View Post
    he circuit breaker is there to protect the wire, not the motor. A #10 wire rated at 30A should be protected by a 30A circuit breaker.
    T

    Motor rules are significantly different then for branch circuits, and you can have different wire wire and fuse/circuit breaker combos then what is allowed for a branch circuit, same thing also applies to air conditioning equipment, and welders.

    With a 5 HP motor the circuit must be sized from NEC table 430.248 which lists a 5 HP 1Ø motor as 28A @ 230V and 125% of 28A is 35A so if Romex® is used it has to be 8AWG, if THHN is used 10 AWG is 35A (motor rules apply, not branch circuit) is fine. Even if a motor nameplate amperes is less then that NEC table it is still required to be sized from table 430.248.

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