White #6 and smaller must be used as a grounded conductor in conduits because there is no excuse for not doing so.......is not a valid reason
Re identification of neutral wire
- Thread starter Djelite
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electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
IMO not being able to reidentify 6 and smaller as white is a dumb rule. This is America dammit and I will decide!
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Occupation
- PE (Retired) - Power Systems
The NEC requires the grounded conductor to be white, or grey.
The NEC specifically defines a grounded conductor including:
The grounded conductor of a 2 wire system (like the negative conductor in a DC circuit)
The corner grounded conductor on a delta system (like a grounded B phase)
The grounded conductor connected to the neutral point of a system (like theNEC definition for a neutral conductor).
I dont see nothing wrong with but no one can tell me why 6awg was chosen and more importantly how is this a safety issue between 6awg and 4
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
Like many things in the code, they had to pick a value and draw the line somewhere. I doubt there was much technical reason behind that choice.
Now tell me where it states theres no such wire as a neutral wire
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
I think it has to do with availability of conductors. In the past white conductors larger than 6 were not regularly available
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
As to why taping a white wire is taboo is simply to avoid a case of misidentification, especially if the marking is just at the end of the conductor
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
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- Retired PV System Designer
How about "There is no such thing as a neutral wire. There are only wires that are used as the neutral conductor of a circuit."?
Until you connect it, it is not a neutral.
In addition, in most cases when a neutral exists the NEC requires that it be grounded.
But not all neutrals are grounded, and no all grounded conductors are neutrals.
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electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
Why was 1/0 chosen as the minimum parallel size? Why was 10 foot chosen for the tap rule? Why was 6 chosen for the 6 handle rule? although you can probably conclude that going over a given quantity or length would pose an increased hazard for some reason,. Choosing where to draw the line is pretty much going to be arbitrary.
What does that have to do with safety. One can make the availability argument with just about anything
Perfect.How about "There is no such thing as a neutral wire. There are only wires that are used as the neutral conductor of a circuit."?
Until you connect it, it is not a neutral.
In addition, in most cases when a neutral exists the NEC requires that it be grounded.
But not all neutrals are grounded, and no all grounded conductors are neutrals.
Use color wire
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
Because you have to weigh the costs vs benefits.
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
With AFCI they definitely demonstrated they do not care About cost vs benefit......
Clearly though a standard takes into account cost vs benefit. If not the NEC would only allow rigid, there would be no tap rules, no next size up rule, and everything would be 12 volts. If they were strictly concerned about safety with no concern for cost, why not?
Tap rules has science and test to back up their theory. Im still trying to find out why 6awg vs4awg thats it. And no i dont want to hear it was someones opinion since everything else gets tested before passing
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