Neutral wire too small?

[randynavarro]

I have a 50 amp breaker feeding a sub-panel in the detached garage. The two hot lines are #8 stranded copper, the ground wire is #10 stranded copper, but the neutral wire is only #10 stranded copper.

Is the neutral too small?

[Chad Fabry]

Yes

[Jim Katen]

I have a 50 amp breaker feeding a sub-panel in the detached garage. The two hot lines are #8 stranded copper, the ground wire is #10 stranded copper, but the neutral wire is only #10 stranded copper.

Is the neutral too small?

I'm travelling out of state and I have no access to any reference materials. My best memory on this subject is that, at minimum, the feeder's neutral has to be sized to accommodate the largest unbalanced load that it will be asked to carry. So, from that perspective, you'll have to do some calculating to figure out whether or not it's adequately sized.

There might be a low end threshold on the size of the feeder in addition. I'd have to look that up.

- Jim Katen, Oregon