12/2 and 14/2 romex

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GG

Senior Member
Location
Ft.Worth, T.X.
I always thought 12/2 romex had a #12 ground and 14/2 had a #14 ground. I was told at a seminar that 12/2 has a #14 ground and 14/2 has a #16 ground. Is this correct? They look the same size to me and my strippers.
 

raider1

Senior Member
Staff member
Location
Logan, Utah
#12 and #14 NM cable manufactured for compliance with the NEC has a full sized EGC.

I know there is a type of NM cable manufactured for compliance with the CEC that has a smaller sized EGC such as you have described.

Chris
 

GG

Senior Member
Location
Ft.Worth, T.X.
Thank you Chris. At what size romex do they start to size the ground one size smaller? Is it 8/2? What does CEC stand for by the way.
 

raider1

Senior Member
Staff member
Location
Logan, Utah
At what size romex do they start to size the ground one size smaller? Is it 8/2?

Yes, #8 NM cable is the first size where the NEC would permit the EGC to be smaller than the ungrounded circuit conductors.

Chris
 

raider1

Senior Member
Staff member
Location
Logan, Utah
HERE is a link to Southwire's NMD90 cable that is manufactured for Canada only. You will see that the #12 cable has a #14 EGC and the #10 cable has a #12 EGC. It is also interesting to see that this cable is only rated at 300 volts.

Chris
 

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
HERE is a link to Southwire's NMD90 cable that is manufactured for Canada only. You will see that the #12 cable has a #14 EGC and the #10 cable has a #12 EGC. It is also interesting to see that this cable is only rated at 300 volts.

Chris


The Canadian NMD90 also doesn't have the nylon insulation sleeve over the conductors. It looks very similar to our pre-1984 Type NM cable.
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
In the 1965 NEC, 12 NM was allowed to have a 16 AWG ground if it was part of an approved cable assembly. It was changed to 12 in 1968. Table 250.94 for those interested.
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
The Canadian NMD90 also doesn't have the nylon insulation sleeve over the conductors.
Yeah, but they get white jackets on their #8 and #6NM, and they have the option for that neat DC :)grin:) NM cable with red and black insulated conductors.
 

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
Yeah, but they get white jackets on their #8 and #6NM, and they have the option for that neat DC :)grin:) NM cable with red and black insulated conductors.

They also have blue-jacketed NM cable for use with AFCI circuits. I was kinda thinking that would be neat to have here too. But how would they do #12 - blue jacket with a yellow tracer?

Apparently 20 amp circuits and #12 are far less common in Canadian dwelling units, therefore they only make the blue-jacketed NMD90 in #14. Or perhaps they don't require AFCI circuits in all living areas - I simply don't know.
 
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