Wiring question for the electricians here...

[jpollman]

Hi all,

I'm right in the middle of a complete remodel on my father's kitchen. Cabinets are all installed and the granite has been ordered. The floor is done so we're just waiting for the granite counter tops to be fabricated and installed. The appliances are due in about a week. I'm installing an over the range microwave oven. That's no big deal but I noticed that the circuit that used to feed the range hood is not a dedicated circuit. It's no big deal for me to put in a dedicated circuit for the microwave but I've got a question. Getting the wire down into the basement is a piece of cake and won't take more than a few minutes work. I'm planning on running a dedicated 20A circuit for the micro. My dad seems to think that getting the wire from where the kitchen is over to the service panel will be a problem. I told him it would be no big deal and I could probably just fish it through existing holes in the joists where other wiring is. But he tells me that there are very few holes in any of his joists for plumbing or wiring. The wall where the microwave will be mounted is about 30 feet from the service panel. I don't think that popping a 1/2" hole in the joists will be a big deal but he doesn't seem to want to do that. I can run the wire through the bottom plate of the wall and into the basement and it will only be about four feet from the back wall of the house. From this point I could do a straight shot right over to the service panel. Does the wire have to run through the joist or conduit or would it be permissible to just staple the romex to the under side of the joists? He seems to think that this is not allowed. I'm just not sure if they will allow you to just staple romex to the under side of the joist. In my house I have wiring running all over the place through joists. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

John

[multibeard]

Drill the holes mid joist. If you drill near the bottom or top you can seriously weaken the joists. Drilling mid joist does not weaken the joists.

[Cpt.Chaos]

I'm not an electrician, but i did sleep at a holiday last night. I believe wiring stapled right to the bottom of the joist's is a violation of national electrical codes. You can however run it in either rigid wall conduit (e.m.t.) or flexible (greenfiled). I always ran through the joist's myself when possible.

[jpollman]

Thanks guys, that's what I thought. As I said before the wire will come down into the basement about four feet from the back wall of the house. I'll just run it back toward the back wall and run the wire through the joists. It's not going to hurt anything at all to drill a 1/2" hole in the center of a joist. I just think that because of the way they wired the house originally they didn't have to drill many (if any) holes in his joists and he'd like to keep it that way. But that new microwave really should be on its own dedicated circuit and now is the time to do it.

Thanks again!

John

[eddiejohn4]

You drill the hole right though the joists. 3 1/2 inch of meat left is all ya need . This will not weaken the joist at all. you cannot just stable them to the bottom of a joist this is a violation.

[dugfish]

man, all it takes is one call to the building dept.
they will be happy to help you any way they can
we just finished building a church i was project supervisor
by the time we were done the county building dept. new me by my first name
only takes a minute to call

[CL-Lewiston]

Does the miicrowave really need a dedicated line? Most MWs are 1000 w (10 A) or less and are run very intermittently.

[snowman11]

yes, they need a dedicated circuit

i hate kitchens

[jpollman]

Yep, I'm going to put in a dedicated 20A circuit. I'm pretty sure that it's required. Even if it's not required, it's not a bad idea. It won't take me more than an hour or so and it'll be done.

John

[s2a0d0i5e]

A good rule of thumb: 1 amp (breaker) for every 100 watt draw.

[TrekJeff]

A good rule of thumb: 1 amp (breaker) for every 100 watt draw.

That's a great rule of thumb. My neighbor up in Beal City pretty much lives in his garage. During get togethers like superbowl parties there's so many crock pots, warming plates etc for the food. When ever someone would warm up something in the micro we would trip a breaker. So we ran a dedicated circuit for the micro. Being a garage we just ran conduit on the outside of the wall, behind the work bench, but a microwave can definitely draw enough when it cycles to warrant it's own.