Jim Katen Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 OK. I'm stumped. A cable enters this panel from the lower left side and exits the panel at the upper left side. This cable's black wire runs through the panel uninterrupted. This cable's lower white wire lands on a 20-amp breaker. This cable's upper white wire lands on the neutral terminal bar. Of course, nothing is labeled. What do you suppose someone was trying to achieve here? What do you suppose he did achieve here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ghent Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Is the red wire lower left fried? And the one above marked Kitchen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Was there a wall switch nearby? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 I suppose the energized white wire is feeding the bottom cable black wire. The upper white wire is the neutral for the black wire. I wonder if the ground wire was acting as a neutral for the bottom black load. The single breaker could control two loads anywhere in the house from the one location. I can't think of any compelling reason to wire it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted July 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 15 hours ago, John Ghent said: Is the red wire lower left fried? And the one above marked Kitchen? Yes. In fact it was fizzing the whole time I was trying to figure out everything else. I eventually pulled that breaker, tightened it up, and put it back just because the fizzing noise was bothersome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted July 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 15 hours ago, Marc said: Was there a wall switch nearby? It's in a garage with several nearby switches, but nothing out of the ordinary. All of the switches seemed to work fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted July 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 11 hours ago, Chad Fabry said: I suppose the energized white wire is feeding the bottom cable black wire. The upper white wire is the neutral for the black wire. I wonder if the ground wire was acting as a neutral for the bottom black load. The single breaker could control two loads anywhere in the house from the one location. I can't think of any compelling reason to wire it that way. Possibly. This one just makes my brain hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 7 hours ago, Jim Katen said: It's in a garage with several nearby switches, but nothing out of the ordinary. All of the switches seemed to work fine. It would work fine if the black wire was the return for a switched circuit. The lower white would be the supply and the upper white delivered a neutral connection to whatever was being switched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 8 hours ago, Marc said: It would work fine if the black wire was the return for a switched circuit. The lower white would be the supply and the upper white delivered a neutral connection to whatever was being switched. It would. No matter what, it's not the simplest way to accomplish whatever they did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted July 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2018 14 hours ago, Marc said: It would work fine if the black wire was the return for a switched circuit. The lower white would be the supply and the upper white delivered a neutral connection to whatever was being switched. I see how that could work. But if that's what's going on, whoever did it must be cognitively impaired. It would also violate 404.2(C) (neutrals have to run to switches) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 12, 2018 Report Share Posted July 12, 2018 49 minutes ago, Jim Katen said: I see how that could work. But if that's what's going on, whoever did it must be cognitively impaired. It would also violate 404.2(C) (neutrals have to run to switches) 404.2(C) is a new one, right? Which cycle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted July 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2018 2011. As I recall, it was added because of all these "smart" gizmos that might need a neutral at the switch location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.