Can 10 gauge wire be used on a 20 amp breaker?

Answer 1

NO! The circuit is being overloaded. Danger of fire will result from just changing the size of the fuse or breaker.

A 30 amp breaker may be used with #10 wiring. #10 is rated for 30 amps. I would be hesitant to do this if the tripping problem is something new though.

Answer 2

No, it is not recommended. A 20 amp breaker should be used with a wire gauge of 12 or smaller to ensure the wire does not overheat and cause a fire hazard. Using a 10 gauge wire on a 20 amp breaker could potentially overload the wire and overheated it.

Answer 3

Yes.

Additional InformationBut why would you want to?

Use 10 AWG wire for 30 Amp circuits, 12 AWG wire for 20 Amps and 14 AWG for 15 Amps.

You're wasting copper if you use over-sized wire.

Answer 4

Yes, the breaker can be changed. The breaker is sized to protect the wire that is connected to it. A #10 conductor is rated at 30 amps. Any load draws what it needs to operate. It is oblivious that if the 20 amp circuit breaker is tripping then the breaker is too small for the connected load. That is probably why the #10 conductor was used in the first place. It happens quite often that if the correct breaker size is not available then a substitute is put in its place. In this case a 20 was used instead of the correct 30 amp breaker.