240.5(B)(2), (1),(2)

[PeterjOBrien]

Article 240.5(B)(2), (1),(2) I find this confusing. This part of the article deals with overcurrent protection for fixture wire and states "Fixture wire shall be permitted to be tapped to the branch-circuit in accordance with the following:
(1) 20-ampere circuits - 18 AWG, up to 15m (50 ft) of run length.
(2) 20 ampere circuits - 16 AWG, up to 30m (100 ft) of run length.

Does this mean that the total amount of #18 AWG you could use is 50 ft? Or does it mean that any run cannot exceed 50 ft? Could you feed as many lights as you wanted with #18 AWG fixture whips as long as they are under 50ft?

 

[infinity]

Up to 50' means no more than 50'. This allows you to run fixture wires through a long row of end to end fixtures and not have to carry the full size branch circuit conductors all the way through. Your connected load just cannot exceed the conductor ampacity in Table 402.5.

 

[jumper]

This older thread seems to follow what Infinity just posted.

http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=179488

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Up to 50' means no more than 50'. This allows you to run fixture wires through a long row of end to end fixtures and not have to carry the full size branch circuit conductors all the way through. Your connected load just cannot exceed the conductor ampacity in Table 402.5.

So you are saying that there is only one outlet in that example and the conductors run inside the fixture are not branch circuit conductors? It is my opinion that where the conductors serve more than one fixture, they are branch circuit conductors and you cannot use the fixture wire provisions.

 

[infinity]

(1) 20-ampere circuits - 18 AWG, up to 15m (50 ft) of run length.
(2) 20 ampere circuits - 16 AWG, up to 30m (100 ft) of run length.

So you are saying that there is only one outlet in that example and the conductors run inside the fixture are not branch circuit conductors? It is my opinion that where the conductors serve more than one fixture, they are branch circuit conductors and you cannot use the fixture wire provisions.

If that were the case how would you ever use 50' or 100' of conductor as mentioned in the OP?

 

[don_resqcapt19]

If that were the case how would you ever use 50' or 100' of conductor as mentioned in the OP?

One long fixture whip. I see anything that feeds more than one fixture as being part of the branch circuit.