Several motors on one feeder · Article 430
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Worked example — for two motors — 10 HP and 5 HP, 460 V three-phase, copper, the engine returns:
10 AWG feeder — 25.1 A · OCPD 40 A (largest FLC 14.0 A)
How it works. A feeder serving several motors is sized at 125% of the largest full-load current plus the sum of the others. The starting allowance is applied once, to the largest motor only — not to every motor on the feeder, which is the mistake that oversizes the run.
What this covers:
Educational reference, not code. Based on NEC (NFPA 70) 2023 (430.24 · 430.62). Your state or local AHJ may enforce a different edition or amend it — theirs is the one that counts. No NEC text is reproduced here.