Recently purchased a house built in 1992. There is a subpanel by the pool equipment fed by a 70 amp breaker in the main panel. The original pool light didn't work (transformer was shot) so I am going to replace it with a low voltage led light.
When I opened the subpanel to disconnect the transformer, I found something that doesn't seem to be right. The feed to the subpanel is 4/2 with ground. I understand this is ok if the panel only has 240v loads, but the pool light is 120v.
About 10 feet to the right of the subpanel is a junction box where a conduit from the main panel terminates. There are 6 #12 conductors. 4 hot, 1 neutral and 1 ground. One pair of hots feeds a sprinkler pump and the other pair feeds an a/c condenser. Here's the odd thing. The #12 neutral exits the junction box and runs in a conduit over to the subpanel and provides the neutral for the 120 volt pool light. Neither the sprinkler pump nor the a/c condenser use the neutral.
I asked an electrician friend, and he said leave it alone. He can replace the feed to the subpanel but it would be somewhere around $800 just for materials.
Was this up to code in 1992, or was the electrician a hack and the inspector didn't catch it? Or is it actually code to do this? I'm 99% certain this is original wiring. Permit records show the pool was built at the same time the house was built.
I understand this arrangement is "safe" insofar as the neutral is properly sized for the maximum load it's carrying. Nevertheless, it doesn't feel right but I don't want to spend $800+ just to make myself feel better without any real benefit.
Would appreciate any advice on how to proceed.
When I opened the subpanel to disconnect the transformer, I found something that doesn't seem to be right. The feed to the subpanel is 4/2 with ground. I understand this is ok if the panel only has 240v loads, but the pool light is 120v.
About 10 feet to the right of the subpanel is a junction box where a conduit from the main panel terminates. There are 6 #12 conductors. 4 hot, 1 neutral and 1 ground. One pair of hots feeds a sprinkler pump and the other pair feeds an a/c condenser. Here's the odd thing. The #12 neutral exits the junction box and runs in a conduit over to the subpanel and provides the neutral for the 120 volt pool light. Neither the sprinkler pump nor the a/c condenser use the neutral.
I asked an electrician friend, and he said leave it alone. He can replace the feed to the subpanel but it would be somewhere around $800 just for materials.
Was this up to code in 1992, or was the electrician a hack and the inspector didn't catch it? Or is it actually code to do this? I'm 99% certain this is original wiring. Permit records show the pool was built at the same time the house was built.
I understand this arrangement is "safe" insofar as the neutral is properly sized for the maximum load it's carrying. Nevertheless, it doesn't feel right but I don't want to spend $800+ just to make myself feel better without any real benefit.
Would appreciate any advice on how to proceed.
