wire size

[jociha]

I have a heat pump that will run 24 hours a day and it has a mca of 49amps,which we all know is the total of the 4 moters plus 25% of the largest can i use #8 thhn copper and be legal [50amps] or do i still need to be carful not to exceed 80% of the wire capacity? john

 

[electricman2]

Re: wire size

The MCA given on the nameplate takes everthing into consideration. No. 8 will be OK if the terminations are rated for 75C conductors. Voltage drop may be a factor that may make using No. 6 necessary however depending on the circuit length.