On Jul 30, 8:54*am, Aaron Fude wrote:
Hi,

I have a wire that seems to have only to conductors in it. It's a gray
wire in which the plastic sheath is tight over the wire. The two wires
are about 1/4" apart. I'm not sure how to better describe it.

It seems to be connected to a double breaker and carrying 240V to the
A/C unit. Does that make sense? I guess if the two wires are 120V
out-of-phase then the AC current can just flow from one of the wires to
the other?

I'm trying to make sense of this for my own education, but also
wondering what kind of wire I would need (12/2?) to replace this one
(it's routed stupidly).

Thanks,

Aaron

I would look again to make sure there is not a ground in there. Is
this an external ac compressor? Many ac's use only 240 and only need
2 hots and a ground. I've never seen one that didn't call for a
ground though. You can replace it with the appropriate guage 12/2 or
10/2 with ground. It's ok if one wire is white and the other black.
Some electricians will wrap a piece of black tape on the white wire
near the ends so that it is obvious it is a also a hot. If the ground
is missing then you should correct that situation. If you can not
tell what size it is then locate the amperage on a tag on the ac and
estimate the run length. Lots of resources on the net will calculate
the correct wire size for you. If it is routed stupidly will you have
enough wire to change the route if you just disconnect one end and re-
route it?