Rewiring / AFCI question at ceiling demo.

[gaelectric]

I looked at a job the other day where the dropped ceiling is being removed in the kitchen and all wiring will need to be through the joists.

There are home runs going to the upstairs that are cutting through the corner of the dropped ceiling. These will need to removed from the panel and installed through the joists. This may make them too short to get back into the panel without lengthening from a j box in the attic above the panel.

Would that be considered extending the circuit and then be required to have AFCI protection? No other outlets or lighting are being added to these circuits.

 

[infinity]

Will the extension be more than 6'?

 

[gaelectric]

So are you saying that would be considered as extending the circuit? The wires from the j box to the breaker in the panel may likely need to be longer than 6'.

 

[al hildenbrand]

So are you saying that would be considered as extending the circuit? The wires from the j box to the breaker in the panel may likely need to be longer than 6'.

In a word, "Yes."

Because of the need to reroute the branch circuit wiring in a slightly longer route, the existing branch circuit cables have to have a new length of additional wiring added. The new added wire "extends" the original cable length to reach the original terminations.

From a AFCI breaker perspective, this can get real messy if any of the home runs are multiwire branch circuits and the breaker manufacturer is not GE (no neutral required).

 

[gaelectric]

I'm going to figure a way to keep the extensions under 6'...hopefully. The AFCI rules requiring an existing circuit in a house wired in 1978 to be placed on AFCI protection are just plain idiotic. You would kind of think all is well cause she's still standing at 38 years.