On 3/5/2013 2:45 PM, HeyBub wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:

If gfretw was the inspector in charge I would do what he said but I
have to go by what the inspectors here and now require. I also go by
the manufacturers requirements unless they clash with the inspector
who has final say. The city here actually has stricter guidelines in
some areas than the NEC. Here, they want the circuit and wire gauge
to match no matter what the load is with the only difference being
that HACR rated breakers be used on AC and refrigeration units.
Understand that the temperature rating of the insulation also
determines the amp carrying specification of the wiring for both
copper and aluminum. ^_^

I replaced my 3-ton a/c unit after its 12-year old predecessor croaked as a
result of Hurricane Yikes*. The chap who replaced it said I could also swap
out the 40-amp breaker with a 30-amp one inasmuch as more modern units, mine
included, were more efficient and drew less power. Makes sense since the
original a/c unit was a builder model from the 1960's. The compressor unit,
no doubt, had been replaced, maybe more than once, before I bought the
house. But nobody every fiddled with changing the circuit breaker.

----------------
* The fellow who did the work is a Guatamalan off-the-books a/c technician.
Evidently he is part of a co-national underground network of repair people
in that he knew a guy who obtains and reconditions a/c units, some from
insurance companies after house fires. Anyway, the unit he chose was a
two-year old Trane, and the unit has been working swell for the past four
years. The whole business, compressor unit, installation, vacuuming, and
recharge cost $750.

One point is this: If you can find ONE immigrant tradesman, you've got
access, probably, to lots of others (roofers, sewer replacement, concrete
work, etc.). No, they're not bonded, insured, and so forth, but the proof is
in the pudding. If the job works, you're good. Besides, I know where Lewis,
the guy who did the work, lives - next door to my son - and Lewis knows I
have a gun.

Feel free to disagree, but this technique works for me.



Whatever works. I try to avoid government involvement in business
whenever I can because it tends to increase the cost of everything
but at the same time I'll do quality work and not slipshod crap which
gives folks a reason to complain to a government puke. ^_^

TDD