Color coding # 6 thhn

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Carultch

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
macmikeman said:
If an inspector whines about green tape on a grounding conductor, I'm standing right next to him with my knife in hand........ Whoosh.... insulation gone...........
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The issue there is that removed wire from an insulated conductor doesn't automatically become a listed bare wire. It is common that the insulated wire has finer strands than the bare wire of the same size, and depends on the insulation to keep it together.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Carultch said:
The issue there is that removed wire from an insulated conductor doesn't automatically become a listed bare wire. It is common that the insulated wire has finer strands than the bare wire of the same size, and depends on the insulation to keep it together.
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Where are those strands going if the end is landed in some sort of termination device?
 
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jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Yet, you can phase tape any size wire if part of a cable assembly and need to reidentify it. I've done it all the time with NM and tray cable. NEC finds crazy things to pick over. Part of why I have lost so much respect for it.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
jmellc said:
Yet, you can phase tape any size wire if part of a cable assembly and need to reidentify it. I've done it all the time with NM and tray cable. NEC finds crazy things to pick over. Part of why I have lost so much respect for it.
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I have always felt if you can't tell that white wire (from a cable assembly) landed on a breaker is an ungrounded conductor, you have no business messing around in the enclosure. Piece of tape isn't going to magically make it any more or less safe.
 
C

Carultch

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
kwired said:
I have always felt if you can't tell that white wire (from a cable assembly) landed on a breaker is an ungrounded conductor, you have no business messing around in the enclosure. Piece of tape isn't going to magically make it any more or less safe.
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It will when you aren't in the panelboard, and are instead in the enclosure at the other end of the circuit. It helps you identify that the white wire didn't originate at a neutral busbar, but instead originated at a breaker.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Carultch said:
It will when you aren't in the panelboard, and are instead in the enclosure at the other end of the circuit. It helps you identify that the white wire didn't originate at a neutral busbar, but instead originated at a breaker.
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To some extent yes. A grounded conductor is still a current carrying conductor and you shouldn't mess with it unless the ungrounded conductors are turned off. Still mostly an attempt at protecting the non qualified IMO. Keep in mind this only applies to a cable assembly - if you understand what it is supplying you still will have a pretty good idea whether it is a grounded or ungrounded conductor most of the time.

White conductor used in switch leg - again if you understand what it is doing is pretty obvious it is ungrounded. Light fixture box - that one group of blacks with one white - gets my attention every time as being the switch loop whether it has black markings on it or not.
 
augie47

augie47

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee
Occupation
State Electrical Inspector (Retired)
hillbilly1 said:
I had one inspector that open carried, he said the city required it “because he was a code enforcement officer”.
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That was the case in one of our jurisdictions some years back. The inspectors still have "police powers" (can write citations, etc) but are not armed.
In one City close by, the poloice are the inspectors.
 
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