Odd question about possible wire overheating

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J.P.

Senior Member
Location
United States
Hello I am new here. Now thats out of the way.....

I had a thought the other day when I was setting up to replace a old panel with a gutter and re-feed it's circuits from a new panel/service.
There are 25 20A 120V circuits that need power. I pulled 25 M/C's over and just extended each circuit to the new pane...... BUT I idly wondered what would have happened if I set a neutral bar and ground bar in the gutter. Landed all the neutrals and grounds then pulled #6 ground and a #3 neutral along with 25 strands of hots. Would it get hot inductance wise?

i realize it's completely illegal and won't be doing this, but would it work? I asked around at my job and a few guys thought it would work and a few guys thought the wire would get very hot.

I personally think it would work. But I could be wrong.
 

augie47

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee
Occupation
State Electrical Inspector (Retired)
Would work. Was a fairly common practice in this area at one time.
No longer allowed for the grounded conductor.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
Now I just have to find a 25 pole breaker.............
:)
You are hoping that there is no reason to cap a MultiWire Branch Circuit at 3 or 4 wires just because you have only two or three phases? It is probably just as hard to find a 25 way handle tie. :lol:
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
12 won't get it, you need to use 10 solid.

are you guys new? i use a broomhandle, and router a groove the right dimensions
down the length of it, an cut it off as needed..... sometimes it's just faster to make
two the length of the panel, and take care of every breaker at once.

note: you want to use something like silicone to glue it on, so you can pull it off later
if you need to change out a breaker......

making sure the silicone is listed for the purpose, of course.

and if you need a font to indicate sarcasm, that is a problem in and of itself.
 

J.P.

Senior Member
Location
United States
The broom handle is a great idea! You could group breakers no matter their relation to each other.
I could even cut slots in the panel door so you could reach it without having to open the door.
I could even label the front of the door! Added convenience is what it's all about.

I was thinking that screws would be more secure than silicon though. To change your groupings you could just add or remove screws. One day this will replace contactors........
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I could even label the front of the door! Added convenience is what it's all about.

Sounds simple, one label that just says "Everything"

Well you probably end up with two handles just because there are two sides to the panel, maybe the second label can say "Everything else"

:cool:
 

J.P.

Senior Member
Location
United States
saves time writing lights lights lights lights lights outlets outlets lights.....

That's funny I opened up some panels at our brand new city convention center to turn off power to some meeting rooms we were called into work on.
Literally 8 panels of
Lights
lights
lights
Lights
Recep
Recep
Recep
Lights
Lights
Hallway
ect.

I didn't know what to think. I sure didn't know what to turn off. Had to get a toner and find the panel and breaker.
The upside is, at least three rooms are labeled now...........
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
That's funny I opened up some panels at our brand new city convention center to turn off power to some meeting rooms we were called into work on.
Literally 8 panels of
Lights
lights
lights
Lights
Recep
Recep
Recep
Lights
Lights
Hallway
ect.

I didn't know what to think. I sure didn't know what to turn off. Had to get a toner and find the panel and breaker.
The upside is, at least three rooms are labeled now...........

I am happy to find out I am not the only one that runs into this kind of labeling:)
 

rt66electric

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
GEN REC

GEN REC

Dont ya know that " GEN REC " or "General purpose receptacle" is the electrician code for " I do not have a clue, but, everthing is working"
 
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