My plan for garage install, will this work?

[mpovolo]

I am running a line for a 14-50 receptacle.

40 AMP breaker
6/3 Romex from fuse panel to garage wall
Either a sub-panel with another 40 AMP breaker or electrical box and terminate 6/3 romex
Run 6/3 BX from electrical box along the ceiling to the 14-50 receptacle

I believe the above will work. The electrical box is the easiest without adding a sub-panel. Not sure though if you are allowed to break the circuit and just terminate in a closed box.

thanks

 

[Ostrichsak]

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS NOT ELECTRICAL ADVICE AND IS ONLY HYPOTHETICAL DISCUSSION & I'M NOT A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN NOR SHOULD ANYTHING I SAY BE TAKEN AS INSTRUCTION. IF YOU BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN OR KILL YOURSELF (POSSIBLE WITH THE KINDS OF JUICE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT) I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE. SEEK THE ADVICE OF A LICENSED PROFESSIONAL IN YOUR AREA BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANYTHING ELECTRICAL RELATED.

Now that we've got that out of the way....

I would recommend running a 50A breaker for a 14-50 circuit. While you plan to use the outlet for a 32A continuous draw right now you may have need for for that 40A continuous draw later. Additionally and probably more importantly is if you sell the house or someone else plugs something 14-50 into that outlet expecting a 50A breaker to be on the other end it could cause issues. The cost difference between a 40A and a proper 50A install for a NEMA 14-50 is too minimal to chance issues down the road.

You kind of lost me on the rest though. Are you trying to install two different 14-50's on the same circuit with the breakers in-line? If so, this isn't possible. You need to run two separate circuits or one for each 14-50 outlet. If you run one circuit off of a breaker for two 14-50 outlets you will have issues later even if you know now to plug in both at the same time... doesn't mean everyone will also. You also wouldn't have a panel feeding a receptacle and then another subpanel afterwards then another receptacle. I may be lost on what you're describing though so maybe you can better clarify if I have that wrong.

There will be local codes that will likely support what I've said above with regulations that don't allow for this sort of thing. Read and know your codes as ultimately they're there for your protection and to save your house from being burned down. Most will frown upon homeowners doing their on electrical (again, most local codes require a licensed electrician to do anything for a reason) so at bare minimum you need to understand 100% what it is you're doing and what code applies to that inside and out. If you can't say that you do unequivocally get a professional to help. It will be the best money you ever spent when you consider the alternative.

 

[mpovolo]

Thanks so much, I'll try to explain better. I could use Romex 6/3 from the house electrical panel to the garage as it is run in the ceiling of an unfinished basement. Once I get into the garage however my line will be along the wall of the finished garage. At that point either it needs to be BX or Romex in conduit. So I was thinking, on the wall in the garage where the Romex cable will come through, I will use conduit for a foot or two into an enclosed PVC electrical box. I will terminate the Romex to BX cable and exit the electrical box and run along the wall with BX to the 15-50 plug. As I write this though, given the guage of the wire I will not be able to connect the Romex to the BX like a splice.
Having said that, what I could do is put a small circuit breaker panel and wire the romex into that, out of that 50AMP breaker use BX along the wall to the 14-50.
The whole point was to avoid having to use BX all the way from the house panel to the 14-50. But in the end the cost difference of using only BX is cheaper than having to put a sub panel just for the purposes of being able to use Romex up until the garage wall where the wire enters the garage.

I guess I answered my own question lol. I plan to use BX from the 50AMP house panel breaker all the way to the 14-50 mounted on the face of the wall in the garage.
That sound right?

On the point of the garage run, I believe the BX run along the drywall needs to be along the ceiling as opposed to low along one of the walls. I believe having it low will not pass code as a vehicle bumper could penetrate and damage the BX at that level.

thanks again

 

[SilverSp33d3r]

Thanks so much, I'll try to explain better. I could use Romex 6/3 from the house electrical panel to the garage as it is run in the ceiling of an unfinished basement. Once I get into the garage however my line will be along the wall of the finished garage. At that point either it needs to be BX or Romex in conduit. So I was thinking, on the wall in the garage where the Romex cable will come through, I will use conduit for a foot or two into an enclosed PVC electrical box. I will terminate the Romex to BX cable and exit the electrical box and run along the wall with BX to the 15-50 plug. As I write this though, given the guage of the wire I will not be able to connect the Romex to the BX like a splice.
Having said that, what I could do is put a small circuit breaker panel and wire the romex into that, out of that 50AMP breaker use BX along the wall to the 14-50.
The whole point was to avoid having to use BX all the way from the house panel to the 14-50. But in the end the cost difference of using only BX is cheaper than having to put a sub panel just for the purposes of being able to use Romex up until the garage wall where the wire enters the garage.

I guess I answered my own question lol. I plan to use BX from the 50AMP house panel breaker all the way to the 14-50 mounted on the face of the wall in the garage.
That sound right?

On the point of the garage run, I believe the BX run along the drywall needs to be along the ceiling as opposed to low along one of the walls. I believe having it low will not pass code as a vehicle bumper could penetrate and damage the BX at that level.

thanks again

Can you install the 14-50 where it enters the garage? The UMC has 20’ of cable to work with. Your right about breaking the circuit, should almost never be done on a high current continuous load.

 

[mpovolo]

thanks, I could do that, install the plug right where the romex enters the garage. The only issue I have with that is this is the wall face that enters the house. If I drive into the garage nose in I need to then hang the power connector across the garage to get to the rear of the car. Otherwise I need to back the car in and the plug would be right at the rear of the car. Backing in the car every time is a great option, but painful process every time. I typically just drive straight in

 

[pdx_m3s]

The better solution would be to run conduit (or BX cable maybe) all the way from outlet to panel, and pull through individual wires. That way you have one seamless, unbroken circuit. Since it’s an unfinished basement, this shouldn’t be a problem? Then you don’t have to worry about how to terminate the romex upon entering the garage.