10/3 or 10/2 to each outlet?


Going to have electrician install 4 dedicated lines from my main panel. If using 10/2 to the outlet, both plugs will share the same circuit. Am I better off going 10/3 wire with a hot wire to each plug and sharing the neutral and ground as in a 10/2 setup? What are the advantages or disadvantages of going 10/2 vs. 10/3 wire? Should I be looking at a subpanel with my runs going to be approx. 30-35 ft?

Outlet 1 - Dual mono amp with 2 cords
Outlet 2 - processor and Dvd player
OUtlet 3 - Cd player
Outlet 4 - Tube preamp

This is the plan, at the moment. Where would you put a 5 channel amp with the above? What would you switch around. I also will use a 1 duplex Stealth mini Digital conditioner and a Regular (3 duplex) conditioner. Would you use 10/2 to all outlets or go 10/3 with some? ANyhow, I value your insights and thank you all for the lesson in electricity. Cheers. Dave
canucks0

Showing 2 responses by chriskeating

I would run 10/2 w/ ground or run an isolated ground which is essentially an extra ground that runs along with the 10/2 w ground. 30-35 feet is nothing. You are already home running 10/2 to each duplex outlet. That's plenty of separation. Just make sure your ground is good. All this can be for naught if your house ground is inadequate. You might look into a ground rod just for the 4 runs to the system. This is where isolated ground hook up could be beneficial. Then the extra ground could go to the rod and really be effective if the rod is installed correctly.
Jeffcot is abslutely spot on about sizing the run to the sub panel correctly. Any potential benefit from shortening the individual runs can be lost by undersizing the feed to the panel. If you use this method, be diligent about checking polarity when you hook up your system for the first time. Don't assume that the electricial has wired everything properly.