“It won’t hold for long,” she said. “At 17 amps, the conductor temperature will climb above 70°C. The PVC insulation will start to embrittle. Then the voltage drop will mess with the pump’s motor windings. Then, in about six days, we get a short circuit. And in a sealed habitat, Kael, a short circuit means fire, smoke, and no air scrubbers.”
Elara knelt, her knees sinking into the red dust. She opened the digital copy of on her wrist-pad. The standard was ancient—centuries old from Earth—but it was law. The bible of electrical installation. She scrolled to Table B.52.12, her finger tracing the columns. iec 60364 current carrying capacity 1.5 mm2
“It’s the cable run,” said Kael, her junior technician, wiping sweat from his brow. He pointed to a thin, grey wire snaking from the main distribution board to the water recycling pump. “It’s 1.5 mm². We pulled it from the emergency spool.” “It won’t hold for long,” she said