Size Of Conductor ⚡ Must Try

She was quiet for a moment. Then, softer: "So bigger wire is always safer?"

He pulled out his notebook and sketched a quick diagram. "See, current is like water. Voltage is pressure. The conductor is the pipe. If the pipe is too small for the flow, the water heats up the pipe. Same here—but instead of bursting pipes, you get fire."

He knelt and picked up a piece of the ruined copper. It was brittle, almost dusty. "A conductor's job is to carry current without overheating. When you undersize it, you're asking a narrow pipe to carry a river. It chokes. It sweats. It fails."

Arjun pointed at the melted junction box. The air still smelled of burnt rubber and ozone. "The motor on Line 4 was pulling 180 amps. This feeder cable was rated for 100. The conductor was too small for the load."