12AWG and 14AWG together in j box acceptable?

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marc216

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Location
Los Angeles
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Consultant
Hello, I perform work for the CSLB and have a question regarding a home i visited.
From the panel, a 20a disconnect with a 12awg conductor feeding a bedroom j-box. In the box are switches, and 14 awg conductors from the ceiling lights.
Line side is 12 load side are 14s.

1) Doesn't this essentially make the 14g overused?

I wasn't aware that 14 &12 can be connected in this manner.
Thank you in advance.
 
#14 anywhere as house wiring on a 20A breaker isn't acceptable (barring utilization equipment cords).

#14 and #12 happening to share a j-box otherwise is fine.

As retirede said, swap to 15A breaker ezpz. Not sure why a bedroom had a 20A breaker to begin with.
 
I just fixed something like this the other day. Handyman special I'm sure. Existing #12 circuit in the dining room. The built-in cabinet countertop had two switches and a receptacle. When you see old-work boxes, you know it was done later and the probability of improper work goes way up. Well, switches and receptacle were all done in #14 tapped off the #12. First thing I saw was the #12 and #14 grounds were just twisted together with no wire nut or crimp ferrule. The switches was just for low voltage transformers and I might have just left it since those loads are minimal, but the receptacle made that a bad idea.
 
It MIGHT be a local amendment. I have seen two places where they allowed #14 switch legs on 20 amp circuits.
 
CoolWill said:
It MIGHT be a local amendment. I have seen two places where they allowed #14 switch legs on 20 amp circuits.
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I've had that discussion with an inspector before. It's not code but seen it done all the time years ago. Typically if you had (2) 60 watt incandescent bulbs on a switch leg, it would only pull one amp on that 14 guage wire. It would never over load the conductors, but for some reason the code doesn't allow that.
 
CoolWill said:
It MIGHT be a local amendment. I have seen two places where they allowed #14 switch legs on 20 amp circuits.
Click to expand...
I've heard of installations like that. In reality is the #14 switch legs really that unsafe? Even when the circuit is 20 amps they probably used a 15 amp switch.
 
frofro19 said:
I've had that discussion with an inspector before. It's not code but seen it done all the time years ago. Typically if you had (2) 60 watt incandescent bulbs on a switch leg, it would only pull one amp on that 14 guage wire. It would never over load the conductors, but for some reason the code doesn't allow that.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that was the idea. The load is naturally limited. No one is going to plug a space heater into a ceiling light.
 
I think the reasoning behind not allowing it, is a what if during a remodel, the switch wiring was extended or changed to a receptacle. One of those what if’s?. Very unlikely, but what if? LOL!
 
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