I need 20 amps

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jovial fucher
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by jovial fucher »

Duncan wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:21 am
explorer wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 9:03 am
Marty wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 5:18 am I am the recognized expert in amps. Likewise in volts. You do not need 20 amps. 10 amps is fine. There I have saved you money. Your welcome.
Look at all of the things you will have in your unit. What is the total power they draw?

If you are not sure, ask an electrician.

If it is borderline, err on the side of safety. You don't want a fire started by an electrical fault.

Yes your right. If you are using electrical items that are drawing a total of over 20 amps in a standed ( Khmer) home then you would be cooking the wiring.

Don't know about this ask a electrician bit though in Cambodia.
Thanks, Duncan! I plan to run this by a couple of electricians just to know they are all saying the same thing. I can build a house, but I don't mess with electricity.

Just to be clear, you're saying up to 20 amps is fine in a standard Khmer home? But anything over that and I am going to cause a fire?

I'm trying to find the tolerances without having to rewire the house. :plus1:
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by Duncan »

jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:29 am
Duncan wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:21 am
explorer wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 9:03 am
Marty wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 5:18 am I am the recognized expert in amps. Likewise in volts. You do not need 20 amps. 10 amps is fine. There I have saved you money. Your welcome.
Look at all of the things you will have in your unit. What is the total power they draw?

If you are not sure, ask an electrician.

If it is borderline, err on the side of safety. You don't want a fire started by an electrical fault.

Yes your right. If you are using electrical items that are drawing a total of over 20 amps in a standed ( Khmer) home then you would be cooking the wiring.

Don't know about this ask a electrician bit though in Cambodia.
Thanks, Duncan! I plan to run this by a couple of electricians just to know they are all saying the same thing. I can build a house, but I don't mess with electricity.

Just to be clear, you're saying up to 20 amps is fine in a standard Khmer home? But anything over that and I am going to cause a fire?

I'm trying to find the tolerances without having to rewire the house. :plus1:

You could upgrade the wiring in your house but what about the wiring to your house..

I remember being told by a real electrician with a lifetime of work in insurance claims, that most fires start because of bad connections between two wires or where the wire connects to a item, very rearly in the length of wire itself.
Cambodia,,,, Don't fall in love with her.
Like the spoilt child she is, she will not be happy till she destroys herself from within and breaks your heart.
jovial fucher
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by jovial fucher »

Duncan wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:53 am
jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:29 am
Duncan wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:21 am
explorer wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 9:03 am
Marty wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 5:18 am I am the recognized expert in amps. Likewise in volts. You do not need 20 amps. 10 amps is fine. There I have saved you money. Your welcome.
Look at all of the things you will have in your unit. What is the total power they draw?

If you are not sure, ask an electrician.

If it is borderline, err on the side of safety. You don't want a fire started by an electrical fault.

Yes your right. If you are using electrical items that are drawing a total of over 20 amps in a standed ( Khmer) home then you would be cooking the wiring.

Don't know about this ask a electrician bit though in Cambodia.
Thanks, Duncan! I plan to run this by a couple of electricians just to know they are all saying the same thing. I can build a house, but I don't mess with electricity.

Just to be clear, you're saying up to 20 amps is fine in a standard Khmer home? But anything over that and I am going to cause a fire?

I'm trying to find the tolerances without having to rewire the house. :plus1:

You could upgrade the wiring in your house but what about the wiring to your house..

I remember being told by a real electrician with a lifetime of work in insurance claims, that most fires start because of bad connections between two wires or where the wire connects to a item, very rearly in the length of wire itself.
Rewiring the house would be pushing it too far, IMO. I'm going to have to consider things a bit. Last thing I need is a fire. :hattip:
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by Singsling »

I once went to EDC to upgrade the amperage in my place. I ended up doing it through a Khmer as they have a distinct pricing for foreigners which is about 3 times the cost for a local. I don't remember the exact amount I should have paid had I done it in my name but it was shockingly expensive.
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by Marty »

jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 7:58 am
Terry Fishsauce wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 7:06 am
jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 4:20 amI've put in breakers for the AC and heaters and 1.5 wiring to them from the box.
Do you mean to say that you have AC units wired in with 1.5mm wires? :shock:
Are you going to offer anything meaningful to the topic, or are you going to do a hit and run like your (troll) brother, Marty? :hattip:
No I am not hit and run. I'll elaborate with 3 simple words: Less is More. Just use less amperage. No need to weld at home. Hot showers in a hot climate? No need. Modern appliances use much less amperage, for example high efficiency fans and inverter refrigerators. Nobody really needs elcetricity, the human race has gone billions of years without it. So even though I love electricity, I don't need it.
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by explorer »

jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:29 am Just to be clear, you're saying up to 20 amps is fine in a standard Khmer home? But anything over that and I am going to cause a fire?
No No No No

The more amps you use, the larger the size of wire you need.

If you use thin wire and draw a lot of amps, it will get hot, and may start a fire.

If you want to draw a lot of amps, use (appropriate size) thick wire.

Anyone building a new home should allow for the absolute maximum you may want to use in the future, and put in appropriate size wire.

When adding air conditioners or other appliances to existing buildings which are already wired, you or the electrician, needs to see what size wire is already there. If they used appropriate thickness wire, you can just add your appliances. If they used wire which is too thin, it needs to be replaced with thicker wire.

In many places they may not have allowed for air conditioners, and did the job as cheap as possible, so the wire may be too small. In other places they may have used larger wire, so things could be added in the future.
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by Terry Fishsauce »

jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 7:58 am
Terry Fishsauce wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 7:06 am
jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 4:20 amI've put in breakers for the AC and heaters and 1.5 wiring to them from the box.
Do you mean to say that you have AC units wired in with 1.5mm wires? :shock:
Are you going to offer anything meaningful to the topic, or are you going to do a hit and run like your (troll) brother, Marty? :hattip:
Trying to. But let me explain how a conversation works. I've asked a question, now you're supposed to answer it, then we go from there.

Let's try again. Have you used 1.5mm wires for an AC unit?
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by jovial fucher »

Terry Fishsauce wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 6:20 pm
jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 7:58 am
Terry Fishsauce wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 7:06 am
jovial fucher wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 4:20 amI've put in breakers for the AC and heaters and 1.5 wiring to them from the box.
Do you mean to say that you have AC units wired in with 1.5mm wires? :shock:
Are you going to offer anything meaningful to the topic, or are you going to do a hit and run like your (troll) brother, Marty? :hattip:
Trying to. But let me explain how a conversation works. I've asked a question, now you're supposed to answer it, then we go from there.

Let's try again. Have you used 1.5mm wires for an AC unit?
You can crawl back under whatever rock you came from. I do not need help from the likes of you, nor will I waste my time.
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by explorer »

Terry Fishsauce wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 6:20 pm Have you used 1.5mm wires for an AC unit?
In Australia, 1.5 mm wires are too small for an air conditioner.

I don't know what the other person has used. But in Cambodia, they often use the absolute minimum, and if the wire gets warm but doesn't start a fire, they got away with it.

There are different air conditioners. Some use more power, and some use less power. See how much current your air conditioner uses, and use appropriate size wire.

I would use a minimum of 2.5 mm wire for a small air conditioner that doesn't use much power.

It doesn't cost very much to use larger size wire. Err on the side of safety. Don't risk starting an electrical fire.

Could you live with yourself if you started an electrical fire and someone got killed. Could you live with yourself if finished up in one of those horrible jails. Yes. If you cause death, the penalty could be harsh.
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Re: I need 20 amps

Post by monomial »

Don't forget it also makes a big difference if the wiring is run inside or outside the walls. This isn't something that comes up often in the West, where everything is inside a wall or conduit, however over here where they just clip the wires to the cement you can pump more current through it. The heat has somewhere to go when it is out in the open. 1.5mm wiring is more than enough to run an air conditioner as long as it is not a huge, inefficient one. You can readily pull 20A through that without concern if the wire is not buried in a wall or conduit, and I can't think of a single home air conditioner you can easily buy that is going to put a strain on that.

Don't necessarily just try and translate everything from the West to Cambodia without understanding why some of the rules of thumb used there were developed. Things do change slightly over here, and we are allowed to change with it.
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