# #6 Cloth Covered SE Cable



## nchvac (Jan 19, 2011)

The NEC books that I have do not list #6 in table 310.15(B)(6) as being a Service cable size. I have an old house that has a #6 Copper SE cable that is the old cloth cover and the wire insulation is some type of rubber. What amperage was this used to feed back in the day? 
Looking at the table #3 is good for 110 amps and #4 is good for 100 amps so would #6 be good for 80 amps as a Service Cable back in the older NEC books?

For reference for table 310.16, what type of cable would this be or what degree Celsius would it have been classified?

Thanks


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

nchvac said:


> The NEC books that I have do not list #6 in table 310.15(B)(6) as being a Service cable size. I have an old house that has a #6 Copper SE cable that is the old cloth cover and the wire insulation is some type of rubber. What amperage was this used to feed back in the day?
> Looking at the table #3 is good for 110 amps and #4 is good for 100 amps so would #6 be good for 80 amps as a Service Cable back in the older NEC books?
> 
> For reference for table 310.16, what type of cable would this be or what degree Celsius would it have been classified?
> ...


That would be a 60 amp service.

I have seen 30 amp services with 4 fuse spots with a pull out with 30 amp fuses.


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## electricguy (Mar 22, 2007)

I have seen a 120 V 30 amp service


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

electricguy said:


> I have seen a 120 V 30 amp service


What was it for? A commercial sign or something?


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

MHElectric said:


> What was it for? A commercial sign or something?


A house...


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

Black Dog said:


> A house...


Dang! How old was that thing?


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## bkmichael65 (Mar 25, 2013)

MHElectric said:


> Dang! How old was that thing?


I think they were fairly common before WWII. Running a couple of lights and maybe a radio didn't take much power


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## pete87 (Oct 22, 2012)

I have seen the 120 v 30 amp service to Old Knob & Tube House , built in the 30's .

What i never seen , till last year , was a Under Ground , 2 unit house service , that had a 4 Blade Copper Disco on it . It was cut after the disco so not in use anymore . House was built in late 1800's .

2 Phase Power ? Or Disco switched both 120v units of House with one pull ?
I don't know . Anybody ?




Pete


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## fdew (Mar 26, 2009)

My first house came with a 30 amp service. It had two fuses, one for up stairs where there was a light in each room (No outlets) and one for down stairs where there was one outlet in each room (no lights.) I installed a 100 amp service, and hooked those two circuits to 15 amp breakers (Each was wired with #14 copper in rigid conduit and some BX) I also installed a row of outlets next to the panel and ran extension cords to things like the washing machine that I didn't want to add to the antique wiring. Then as each room was renovated it was rewired and the new wiring tied into the panel.


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## nchvac (Jan 19, 2011)

I did a panel change at my brothers house 3 years ago. He had a 100 amp service but when I pulled the main fuses they were 60 amp. 1600 sq.ft house. He had been running a well pump, water heater, washer/dryer, stove top and separate oven, stand alone freezer, refrigerator, dishwasher, oil furnace and 2 ton A/C unit and whatever else 2 people use in a house on those 60 amps and never blew the main fuses. And the last year he heated his house with several portable electric heaters that pull about 1500 watts each. Had he only needed an additional 5kw electric strip backup heat I may not have needed to change the service when I installed his new heat pump. He needed 10kw and it would have sometimes been running with the heat pump as auxiliary heat or during defrost, so I installed a 200 amp panel and was done with it. But no more than auxiliary strip heat runs and being that is usually in the middle of the night, I bet it would have done just fine because nothing else would be on at 2 am other than maybe the water heater.

Why would #6 only be good for 60 Amps as a service cable when they bump up #4 to 100 and #3 to 110 (from the listing in 310.15)? Looks like the 6 would do 80 on a service. I see #6 ran to 10kw furnaces all the time and open the cabinet to find #10 feeding the heaters- and I've never seen one of those smaller wires burn when it didn't have a loose connection on the end. Seems like overkill on our wiring sizes, especially when you see the smaller wires the utilities hook to our service wires (like a #1 AWG for 200 amps).


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

pete87 said:


> I have seen the 120 v 30 amp service to Old Knob & Tube House , built in the 30's .
> 
> What i never seen , till last year , was a Under Ground , 2 unit house service , that had a 4 Blade Copper Disco on it . It was cut after the disco so not in use anymore . House was built in late 1800's .
> 
> ...


Single phase x 2 houses?


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