whats a good practice for installing lighitng and receptacle ckts. I looking at 8 ckts for lighting 4hot 4 neu 1grnd = 9 wire in 3/4''. and for receptacles 5 ckts 5 hots and 5 neutrals 1 ground = 11 wire. I know Im ok with conduit fill but I also dont want to overfil conduit for wire pulling and have a great big box to put them into. I will drop off the circuits per room as needed. I wanted to be a little more efficient with time and materials and wanted to get take on how other guys do lighting and receptacle ckts
lighting and receptacle ckts
- Thread starter mannyb
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LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
There's no one-size-fits-all answer, as with most electrical installations. I'm guessing this is not residential.
Why are you not considering MWBCs? Can you not use the conduit for grounding? What is the physical layout?
Why are you not considering MWBCs? Can you not use the conduit for grounding? What is the physical layout?
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
Do keep in mind that 10 current-carrying conductors (plus the ground, which is not a CCC) will mean that you can't use a 20 amp breaker with #12 THHN wire.
That's my question. If I stay at 9 ccc I'm only using 70%. 30x.7= 21 amp for #12. Am I doing it wrong? My receptacle circuits the nuetral isn't ccc correct? So I can pUT more in conduit. I'm just asking to stay out of trouble what's a good method to follow.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
That is correct; you're doing it right.
That is not correct; you're doing it wrong.
Only a shared neutral can avoid being a CCC.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Here is something written by Infinity
Here's some examples of when to count the neutral as a CCC:
208Y/120 volt system-different circuit types:
A)- 2 wire circuit w/ 1 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 2 CCC's
B)- 3 wire circuit w/ 2 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 3 CCC's
C)- 4 wire circuit w/ 3 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 3 CCC's*
Notes:
A)- A normal 2 wire circuit has equal current flowing in each of the circuit conductors so they both count as CCC's.
B)- In this circuit the neutral current will be nearly equal to the current in the ungrounded conductors so the neutral counts as a CCC
C)- In this circuit the neutral will only carry the imbalance of the current between the three ungrounded conductors so it is not counted as a CCC, with one exception, *if the current is more than 50% nonlinear then the neutral would count as a CCC.
120/240 volt system-different circuit types:
D)- 2 wire circuit w/ 1 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 2 CCC's
E)- 3 wire circuit w/ 2 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 2 CCC's
Notes:
D)- A normal 2 wire circuit has equal current flowing in each of the circuit conductors so they both count as CCC's.
E)- In this circuit the neutral will only carry the imbalance between the two ungrounded condcutors so the neutral is not counted as a CCC.
Here's some examples of when to count the neutral as a CCC:
208Y/120 volt system-different circuit types:
A)- 2 wire circuit w/ 1 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 2 CCC's
B)- 3 wire circuit w/ 2 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 3 CCC's
C)- 4 wire circuit w/ 3 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 3 CCC's*
Notes:
A)- A normal 2 wire circuit has equal current flowing in each of the circuit conductors so they both count as CCC's.
B)- In this circuit the neutral current will be nearly equal to the current in the ungrounded conductors so the neutral counts as a CCC
C)- In this circuit the neutral will only carry the imbalance of the current between the three ungrounded conductors so it is not counted as a CCC, with one exception, *if the current is more than 50% nonlinear then the neutral would count as a CCC.
120/240 volt system-different circuit types:
D)- 2 wire circuit w/ 1 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 2 CCC's
E)- 3 wire circuit w/ 2 ungrounded, 1 neutral = 2 CCC's
Notes:
D)- A normal 2 wire circuit has equal current flowing in each of the circuit conductors so they both count as CCC's.
E)- In this circuit the neutral will only carry the imbalance between the two ungrounded condcutors so the neutral is not counted as a CCC.
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
If you have five circuits with 5 hots and 5 non-shared neutrals, then all 5 neutrals count as current-carrying conductors. That is because all the current leaving the source on one hot conductor will return to the source on the associated neutral. That neutral is carrying exactly the same current as its associated hot conductor.
If you can use shared neutrals (MWBCs), as Larry suggested, then the neutrals of those circuits would not (generally) count as CCCs.
If you can use shared neutrals (MWBCs), as Larry suggested, then the neutrals of those circuits would not (generally) count as CCCs.
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