Unused feeders in distribution panel

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bcnj

Member
Location
NYC
Can unterminated wiring be left in a 277/480 distribution panel?

I'm on a job which originally required feeds for future panels scattered throughout the building. The feeds are no longer needed but the conduit and wiring has been run. A coil of wiring has been left hanging out the conduit where the future panels would go.

The inspector told me to either remove the wiring or safe it off on both ends out side the 277/480 distribution panel.

Is there a code that says I have to remove the wire from the distribution panel or can I just safe it off inside the panel?


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bcnj

Member
Location
NYC
My thoughts exactly but if I have to pull it out of a panel and install a jbox, knockout seal it would be a pain in the ass. There's about 8 2" rigid conduits to work around and install a jbox


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Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Can unterminated wiring be left in a 277/480 distribution panel?

I'm on a job which originally required feeds for future panels scattered throughout the building. The feeds are no longer needed but the conduit and wiring has been run. A coil of wiring has been left hanging out the conduit where the future panels would go.

The inspector told me to either remove the wiring or safe it off on both ends out side the 277/480 distribution panel.

Is there a code that says I have to remove the wire from the distribution panel or can I just safe it off inside the panel?

so it's a "someday we might need this" deal then?
might be a year or five till it's needed....

don't butcher the distribution panel... if it's all made up, leave it be.
phase the wires on the outbound end, cut them off a foot from the
end of conduit, tape them up, and put a 12 x12 box on the end of the
conduit. make it tidy, and the inspector can shut up, and move on.
 

Carultch

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
so it's a "someday we might need this" deal then?
might be a year or five till it's needed....

don't butcher the distribution panel... if it's all made up, leave it be.
phase the wires on the outbound end, cut them off a foot from the
end of conduit, tape them up, and put a 12 x12 box on the end of the
conduit. make it tidy, and the inspector can shut up, and move on.


I agree. Better to properly terminate in the panel, tag it for future use, and insulate the end of a service loop near the destination for a future load. This way, when you use it in the future, you only need to de-energize that particular circuit, instead of the entire MDP.

That being said, the NEC still allows unterminated wires in the gutters of a panel, provided that you insulate the ends in an approved manner.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
That being said, the NEC still allows unterminated wires in the gutters of a panel, provided that you insulate the ends in an approved manner.

Can you cite a code section requiring insulating a dead conductor in an enclosure?
 
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The original message is not clear:

You have one panel with the not-used wires already pulled in. These you can tape off and leave.

What's at the other end (aka the far end)? "A coil of wiring has been left hanging out the conduit where the future panels would go." That's where I'd put a jbox.
 

bcnj

Member
Location
NYC
The inspector doesn't want the unused wire inside the MDP. He wants me to remover it from the panel and leave the conduit or put it in a jbox on both ends of the conduit run outside the MDP. I'm looking to find the code section that allows it to stay in the MDP taped up or safes off.


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jumper

Senior Member
:happyno:
The inspector doesn't want the unused wire inside the MDP. He wants me to remover it from the panel and leave the conduit or put it in a jbox on both ends of the conduit run outside the MDP. I'm looking to find the code section that allows it to stay in the MDP taped up or safes off.

What the inspector wants and what is required are two different things. Ask the inspector for the code section that disallows the unused conductors in the MDP to stay.
 
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