In my country Ghana, most houses have a 3 phase 4 wire system at 220-240 volts. Some if not most electricians use 16mm2 THHN wire to connect from the service point, through the watt hour meter and to the load center. This is for 200 amp service. I thought a 200 amp service would require 2/0 cable for such service. In reference, 16mm2 is equivalent to #6. Is this type of cable efficient for such service?
Service Entrance/Feeder Conductors
Jan 29, 2006
2 Replies
In UK, IIRC (don't have tables on me), 16mm2 tails are for 60A max service. 25mm2 tails are used for 100A service. Is your 200A service
200A per phase, or 200A total on all 3 phases (in which case 16mm2 would be about right)?
#2 out of the NEC for North America table 310-16 75C is 115 amps. #2 in free air table 310-20 is 135 amps. (75C)
2/0, 310-16 is 175 amps. (75C) 2/0 in free air is 265 amps (75C)Where I live in Phoenix. Service conductors for a 200 amp service must be at least 4/0 copper or 250 mcm Al. We MUST use the derating factors at the bottom of the tables for heat. I like to see all the equipment that I install outside rated for above 40C preferably 50C. It does get that toasty here.
I have never done any electrical work other than in North America so your conditions WILL be different. If you have 3 phase I am surprised that you need anything larger than 100 amps.
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