What is the maximum current for a load on a 230-volt branch circuit supplied by 4 AWG copper conductors and a voltage drop of 4.6 volts?

To determine the maximum current for a load on a 230-volt branch circuit supplied by 4 AWG copper conductors with a voltage drop of 4.6 volts, it is necessary to apply the voltage drop calculation formula.

The formula for calculating maximum current based on voltage drop is:

[ I = \frac{V_d \times 1000}{V \times L} ]

Where:

• ( I ) is the current in amperes,

• ( V_d ) is the allowable voltage drop (4.6 volts in this case),

• ( V ) is the voltage of the circuit (230 volts),

• ( L ) is the one-way length of the circuit in feet.

However, in this case, we don't have the length of the circuit, so we will use a standard reference for 4 AWG copper conductor:

For a 4 AWG copper conductor, the ampacity is typically around 70-95 amperes, depending on the installation conditions (ambient temperature, etc.). The voltage drop should not exceed 3-5% for feeder circuits, leading to a maximum allowable drop of roughly 6.9 volts for a 230-volt circuit. Since we are working with