Brewzilla Gen 4 240v Circuit advice

jtrainer

Per Kegland/MoreBeer, the Gen 4 needs 2400 watts at 240v, so 11 Amps. However the unit ships with a Nema 6-30 plug.
I can build a new garage circuit for 30 Amps and 10 gauge wire, but account for 80% NEC requirement and ampacity of the wire should be 8 gauge 30X80% = 37.5 . I only expect 11 Amps so 10 Gauge would suffice, but I guess pushing to 8 gauge future proofs the circuit. This upgrade simply doubles the wire costs.
What are you guys doing for wire sizing if adding a new circuit.

Bobby_M

A 240v/15 amp circuit is more than enough. Use 14 gauge wire and a NEMA 6-15R receptacle. Then replace the plug on the brewzilla to a 6-15P. The GFCI protected 15 amp breaker should be significantly cheaper than the 30amp version.
If you feel like using a 30amp circuit, and don't mind the extra cost of the GFCI breaker, 10 gauge is plenty. The 80% thing is for devices that pull maximum current for 3 hours or more. You're going to be pulling 35% of the rated current and not even for 3 hours straight.

mashdar

Not only that, but continuous loads also count at 125% when sizing breakers.
Anything with a 30A plug can go on a 30A circuit with 30A wiring (assuming compliant appliance design). Determining if your 10AWG wire is rated for 30A is the complicated bit, but "usually"
Modiying the plug may (lkely does) void the listing of the equipment. If you're competant, this would likely only come up during legal battles and insurance claims. But if you're adding a cicuit anyway I'd stick with the factory plug, unless 30A 2pole gfci breaker was prohibitively expensive. (I have an old Bryant panel and my only options were $200+ and questionably compatible, so went 120V.)
I would love to know why they use a 6-30P. It's possible the heaters are nominal 220V, so the nominal 3500W 65L is just over 20A at 240V with the continuous adjustment, and they wanted to standardize plugs. /shrug

Bobby_M

I guess I'll slightly modify my suggestion. If you're concerned about modifying the devices plug and voiding the warranty but still don't think you'll ever need a full 30amps in the future, use a 5-15R receptacle on your 15 amp circuit and build or buy an adapter that goes 6-30R to 6-15P.
For the most part, 10 gauge Romex, BX, and THHN type stranded conductors in a conduit are good for 30amps while SJ/SO type portable cords are usually downgraded to 25 amps.

jtrainer

Both of you have valid and great points. Like BobbyM, I couldn't find a reason why this couldn't be 15 Amp, maybe 20 for 55% utilization numbers. But as Mashdr pointed out, do I really feel like modifying the cord... legal/warranty, etc. So to keep costs down, I guess I could drag 10AWG wire, place notes, and notate this in the breaker box and outlet receptacle for future owners. Then as BobbyM suggests build/obtain an extension cord that converts the whatever to 6-30.
Is it legit/legal to build for 20 AMP but use the 6-30 receptacle?
I guess the question I have for Kegland is why this unit comes with a 30 AMP plug setup.
I didn't think it would be much more however it seems when electricians come into the neighborhood, prices suddenly double compared to when I get quotes for a friend's house with longer runs.

doug293cz

30A circuits with 6-30 (3-wire) or 14-30 (4-wire) outets are very common for dryers. 15A 240V circuits are rare in homes. Why would they default to a plug that very few people have outlets for?
Brew on

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Bobby_M

Definitely more dryers. 6-15R used to be a pretty popular outlet in 1960's ranch houses that often had a 12kBTU air conditioner in the wall.