Elena looked at him. "Well?"
The problem was the new roaster. It was a beast—pulling 48 amps. The old cable feeding this part of the building was a sad, brittle #10 AWG, good for maybe 30 amps. If he just hooked it up, the wire would get hot, the insulation would melt, and this place would be a bonfire in a week. electrical cable thickness calculator
"How do you know?"
The rain hadn’t started yet, but Marco could feel it in his knees. He was crouched inside the crawlspace of the old Cannery Row building, a flashlight between his teeth, staring at a junction box that looked like a rat king of old wires. Elena looked at him
He needed thicker cable. But how thick? Too thin, fire. Too thick, he’d waste a fortune on copper he didn’t need and couldn't fit through the conduit. The old cable feeding this part of the