electricalrange
We're replacing our range and I want to confirm that the wire size is adequate. The existing wires are part of a cable which is not visible in the panel or outlet and the wires themselves appear to be unmarked.
Is there a reliable way to determine the size of the wire? I seem to recall that US wire gauge is the number of turns per inch – so for 8 gauge wire (16 KW range) would I expect a diameter of about 0.125" (1/8) or will it be different for stranded wire?
In general, the circuit will look something like this
Though you may need a resistor in line ("in series") with the coil.
The documentation for the float switch says it can directly control a 1 hp pump at 230V, so I'm not sure why you're using the contactor at all. You might be able to simplify the setup, and remove the contactor. Then you'd wire it up like this
You have confirmed my suspicion that, with the switch off, the outlet and the light are in series. That is the reason that both light dim when a 100 watt light is plugged in.
The fact that the outlet shows hot/neutral reversed when the switch is off tells me exactly what the "electrician" did. The outlet must be wired as follows:
This way, when the switch is on, it is shorting out the outlet (hot-to-hot). When the switch is off, you have a full path from hot into the neutral side of the outlet, from the hot side of the outlet to the hot side of the lamp, and from the neutral side of the lamp to neutral.
Bottom line - the switch and lamp seem to be wired correctly. The outlet is miswired. Frankly, the wiring of the outlet is so screwed up, I wouldn't let the same "electrician" back in your house. Find a real pro to straighten it out.
Best Answer
Wire gauge is based upon the conductor cross sectional area of the wire. There are tables all over the internet that show the characteristics of wire. Here is one for stranded wire.
For a given conductor cross sectional area the solid wire will have the smallest effective diameter. Stranded wire will have a slightly larger outside diameter due to the small spaces that exist between individual conductors. Different stranding (number and size of the individual conductors) will lead to different outside diameters because certain strandings will pack tighter together than others.