Oven wiring size?

[Fred Leiter]

Need to move a freestanding range/oven and have to move wiring as well, house is 50+ years old and had a new panel put in 2 years ago, the electrician put the range on a 50 amp circuit and reused the old cloth wrapped wire (aluminum) I am positive that the wire is to small for a 50 amp circuit (appears to be in between #4 and #8) . In addition the wiring itself is in bad condition (covering is unraveling in several spots)

I need to move it and would like to rewire at the same time, the run is approximately 50 feet, what size wiring should I use (I'm guessing #4 for copper). What size if I use aluminum again?

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

You first need to look at the tag of the oven and get the amps required to run to it first. Then post back here and the fellows here can give you a straight answer with out guessing.

OK here is your guess:

50 amp breaker / 50 feet run and the guess is #6 Copper wire in any kind made / #8 wire in THW, THWN, and THHN. In Al. #4 wire in any type wire / #6 Al. Wire In THW, THWN, and THHN .

Now with all this guessing going on here. What does the breaker need to be to correct for the oven?

TURTLE

[John Hines]

#6 copper would work fine for a 50 amp circuit.

[SQLit]

Typical range is 50 amps, 240v single phase, 4 wire now days in some places.

3 wire in others. I believe that 6 AL or 8 copper is the correct size. You should look for SER or SEU cable depending on what your locality requires.

[HA HA Budys Here]

In copper, the range feed would be #8 for 40a, or #6 for 50a.

In aluminum, #6 for 40a and #4 for 50a.

[zxcvbob]

#6 copper cable for a 50A circuit, so that would probably be #4 aluminum. You can easily go up to 60A and *maybe* even 70A with #6 individual copper wires in conduit.

The existing wires could be tinned copper. My dryer was on a 45A circuit with a range outlet when I moved into my 50 y.o. house, and it had silver-colored #8 copper cable with rubber and cloth covered hot wires. I think it was old type SE service entrance cable.

#8 copper NM-B cable with a 40A breaker is really common for electric ranges.

Best regards, Bob

[Fred Leiter]

Checked the range, it requires a 50 amp 240v circuit according to tag I went to a local Electrical supply house and was told that I could use 6/3 Aluminum SEU cable without a problem, does this sound ok or should I go for 4/3??? (I noticed that most of the 4 prong range

50 amp receptacles are only rated for 6/3 AL/Cu connections)

[zxcvbob]

I was surprised to see that #6 aluminum SER is adequate for 50A (Table

310-16). I thought you'd need #4 or #3.

Best regards, Bob

[HA HA Budys Here]

Me too. Benefit of aluminum - it's lighter. Drawback - it's thicker and...

when you sell the buyer's inspector might point out the use of aluminum wire without adding that it's perfectly acceptable for use in high-load single circuit applications. They love pulling that stunt.