Question about valence? Honestly it was a few years ago since i did my first semester and i could be wrong but i believe they are the odd electron that gets passed from atom to atom during current flow. I believe it aluminum and copper have this odd electron more then most of the abudant metals which is why we favor them as conductors. I believe as we move to semi conductors this becomes more convoluted dont ask because i dont know. Why this question is odd to me is because nobody in engineering even talks about valence or the physics behind it. We do talk about copper heat loss which is what i chimed in about and going back to the physics and math and ohms law this was your issue. The only response youve had are questions and ad hominems and no real substance to your replies.

That "breaker" is actually an old nema rated contactor which got put in as a "temporary" solution. I didn't like it so i took a picture. The arc shoots have been removed and the bus has been modified. The most surprising thing to me about this combination starter is that the fusing and o/l were correct