Back feed through neutral

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Jack plunkett

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Electrician
Wondering if anyone with more experience could help give me some knowledge on this.
I was doing a rewire of smoke detectors in an apartment today,they were turned off at the breaker and I had checked with my voltstick that they were dead
When I cut the cable I got a small bang though as the previous sparks had taken his neutral for the lights off the smoke feed and the lights were still one
Was just wondering has anyone else had any experience with something similar and is there anyway to check for this in the future (eg check for voltage coming back on the neutral with a multi meter for instance)
 
Clamp an amprobe on the neutral. If you have any current when the circuit it’s supposed to be on is deenergized, you have an issue.
 
Courtesy of my college roommate I have a pair of dykes with two holes perfectly spaced and sized to strip 18ga zip cord in one operation.
He wanted to make an exact length extension cord so he put a male plug on one end of a coil of cord, plugged it in, ran it to where he needed it and cut it.
:(
 
GoldDigger said:
Courtesy of my college roommate I have a pair of dykes with two holes perfectly spaced and sized to strip 18ga zip cord in one operation.
He wanted to make an exact length extension cord so he put a male plug on one end of a coil of cord, plugged it in, ran it to where he needed it and cut it.
:(
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So that's how they make NM strippers! :D
 
electrofelon said:
You could use your voltstick after you cut it to verify its not serving as the neutral for another circuit. If it is it will read as hot. I generally have gotten in the habit of sticking all conductors I am working on, even the white ones.
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If it's grounded back at the panel, it won't show as a hot.
 
If we terminate neutral leads from each circuit in the same sequence as the breakers for the corresponding circuits in the panel, it would be a good workmanship and may also avoid such a problem in future.
 
Sahib said:
If we terminate neutral leads from each circuit in the same sequence as the breakers for the corresponding circuits in the panel, it would be a good workmanship and may also avoid such a problem in future.
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In my opinion, for anyone to be able to rely on that, the neutral terminals would need to be numbered.
 
Sahib said:
If we terminate neutral leads from each circuit in the same sequence as the breakers for the corresponding circuits in the panel, it would be a good workmanship and may also avoid such a problem in future.
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This doesn’t apply to the OP’s case. He had someone bootleg off the neutral away from the panel. Most likely a handyman, not the electrician who wired the panel.
 
retirede said:
This doesn’t apply to the OP’s case. He had someone bootleg off the neutral away from the panel. Most likely a handyman, not the electrician who wired the panel.
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Had one that handiman did something like that in an attic jbox, tied neutrals from 2 lighting circuits together. Breaker off, and was fine until someone turned a light on in another room that was on the other circuit and I got hit, found 30V N-G. The handiman on site (he evidently did some of the wiring originally) and he said he was "always told to tie all the whites together".
 
480sparky said:
What 'other end'? You mean AFTER it's cut? Using an idiot pen BEFORE it's cut is useless.
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yes after its cut. I understand OP was asking about identification B4 its cut, I was just adding in that its worth checking for open neuters after its cut because, in my experience, you dont notice when you cut a bootleged or MWBC neutral (unless the lights go out!)

PS I question how cutters would be damaged from cutting an active neutral, something else must have been going on.
 
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