Seems like I should know the answer to this, but I'm really not sure. Maybe its just because its getting late & I'm not thinking straight.
Say for example I have six branch circuits running in a single conduit. Say they are all 20 A branch circuits serving receptacles throughout a large area. Also assume its a 3 phase system, and the circuits are 1,3,5 and 7,9, and 11. So I have two multiwire branch circuits each with its own #12 neutral wire.
Could I combine the two neutral wires into a single larger neutral? I'm assuming the new neutral wire would need to be rated for 40 amps, so maybe it would be a #8.
To take this farther, if I had (4) multiwire branch circuits, could I use a single 80A neutral wire?? For example, assume I had the first 12 circuits on a panel running in the same conduit.
I just started thinking about this because I have a conduit run with several neutral wires. The conduit and branch circuits stop at several different outlets. It suddenly seems odd to have several neutral wires in the same conduit. I'm not sure how the electirican is going to keep track of which neutral wire goes with witch multiwire circuit. If he gets a neutral crossed in a jbox, then suddenly the same neutral might be serving circuits 1 and 7, and it could possibly be overloads.
Steve
Say for example I have six branch circuits running in a single conduit. Say they are all 20 A branch circuits serving receptacles throughout a large area. Also assume its a 3 phase system, and the circuits are 1,3,5 and 7,9, and 11. So I have two multiwire branch circuits each with its own #12 neutral wire.
Could I combine the two neutral wires into a single larger neutral? I'm assuming the new neutral wire would need to be rated for 40 amps, so maybe it would be a #8.
To take this farther, if I had (4) multiwire branch circuits, could I use a single 80A neutral wire?? For example, assume I had the first 12 circuits on a panel running in the same conduit.
I just started thinking about this because I have a conduit run with several neutral wires. The conduit and branch circuits stop at several different outlets. It suddenly seems odd to have several neutral wires in the same conduit. I'm not sure how the electirican is going to keep track of which neutral wire goes with witch multiwire circuit. If he gets a neutral crossed in a jbox, then suddenly the same neutral might be serving circuits 1 and 7, and it could possibly be overloads.
Steve