'23 NEC 230.7/230.85 Interesting Scenario

[augie47]

Most of TN is still under the '17 NEC so we are just addressing some of the '23 changes as some areas have adopted that version.

Scenario has arisen:

Question 1:
230.7 prohibits service and non-service conductors to be installed in the same raceway. Under '17n this was pretty cut and dry,'
Under '23, if I leave a meter base and nipple to a 230.85 "Emergency Disconnect, Not Service Equipment" and return to the meter socket thru the same nipple to supply my service panel, is it a violation of 230.7 since the return conductors are ahead of the service disconnect ??

Question 2:
Taking 230.85(B) into account, including the Informational Notes, would it make any difference if the "emergency disconnect" was a service disconnect or one of the others described in 230.85(B) ??

 

[wwhitney]

1) No, all the conductors in the nipple are service conductors.

2) Yes, if the disconnect is the service disconnect, then half the conductors are service conductors, and half are a feeder, so that would be a 230.7 violation. Unless your nipple is a chase nipple, as that is a fitting rather than a raceway, I think.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[tank728]

Unless your nipple is a chase nipple, as that is a fitting rather than a raceway, I think.

While you are probably correct, I feel like it violates the spirit of the code.

 

[augie47]

While you are probably correct, I feel like it violates the spirit of the code.

Agree...that's why I questioned it. I know it will likely change in '26 but I feel the wording could have been better. Seems a "SUSE" switch labeled "not service disconnect" would be treated the same as the other allowable disconnects.

 

[Jaybone812]

Agree...that's why I questioned it. I know it will likely change in '26 but I feel the wording could have been better. Seems a "SUSE" switch labeled "not service disconnect" would be treated the same as the other allowable disconnects.

As of the 2026 second draft final ballot 230.85 is gone and 230.70(A)(1) says the service disconnect at one and two family dwellings shall be in readily accessible outdoor location

 

[pipe_bender]

Unless your nipple is a chase nipple, as that is a fitting rather than a raceway, I think.

To exit listed electrical enclosures with a service, feeder or branch circuit conductors the way I was taught you have to use a NEC a chapter 3 wiring method no matter how short the 'run' a conduit fitting is its still UL listed as a component of a wiring method. Even an auxiliary gutter is a chapter 3 method.