Neutral is not insulated, see picture.

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Cartoon1

Cartoon1

Senior Member
Location
Florida
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Electrical Engineer
Opened up a panel today and the neutral is not insulated as shown. I presume pulling new neutral is the best option to fix this issue?

Thanks

Panel.jpg
 
A bigger concern is that the hot lugs above (upstream of) the main circuit breaker are not insulated in this old panel.

It's not a violation (grandparent clause) and does not not need to be changed, but it does present an electrical-contact-injury hazard to anyone working in this panel.
 
I thought that was de rigueur practice. (they just don't call it an "axe")

DSC00426.jpg

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drcampbell said:
A bigger concern is that the hot lugs above (upstream of) the main circuit breaker are not insulated in this old panel.

It's not a violation (grandparent clause) and does not not need to be changed, but it does present an electrical-contact-injury hazard to anyone working in this panel.
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Well, certainly true but as you know this has only been in the code for the last 2 cycles. So the are 10s of millions out there just like this. The Canadians were way ahead of us on this.
 
Concentric neutral, covered by sheath, is common, but it does require some attention to wire placement once it is stripped inside a panel.
There is the potential for very long loose strands if any are nicked at the point where the sheath is stripped.
 
That panel is clearly newer than the wall as well as the old NM cables.

The bare neutral is no worse than a bundle of bare EGCs.
 
jaggedben said:
How are you going to pull a new neutral inside that cable? ;)
I just hope we can presume that's the service panel and the cable is not a feeder.
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Well, I see a bonding screw, it has a main breaker, grounds and neutrals terminated on neutral bar and I'm sure not missed by you. Looks like a duck, walks like a duck... but as we know, anything is possible.
 
texie said:
My thought as well. One might argue that it needs its own breaker but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
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Shouldn't need it's own breaker. And QO and Homeline breakers 30 amp and less are perfect to put them on with other loads because the lugs on those do accept multiple conductors.
 
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