splice in panel box

[SheppardJ]

Can anyone tell me where in the code it says the proper way spice a wire in a panel? One of my electricians de-rated a #4 aluminum to a #10 copper so it would fit under a breaker with a split bolt and wrapped it with black tape thoroughly. A home inspector is saying it is a code violation even though the inspector had no problem with it. Home inspector says it must be wrapped in a double layer of heat shrink.

 

[roger]

Ask the HI to show you where he came up with his statement.

In the meantime read 110.3(B) and all of 110.14

Roger

 

[infinity]

Split bolts have been taped for a hundred years with varying methods from rubber tape covered in friction tape to plastic tape to Scotch Pads. You can also use a plastic cover to insulate the connection like below and forget the tape altogether. I would guess that the person inspecting the connection would need to determine if it is adequately insulated.


http://ecat.burndy.com/Comergent/burndy/cat/611322

 

[SheppardJ]

H.I.

H.I.

Thank for the info. I'm not sure he could tell me where he found it. He also put that he didn't understand why there where no main breakers in the 2 panels "the homeowner and I finally found it outside on the meter" brilliant! Seems like these guys just love to scare homeowners.

 

[user 100]

Seems like these guys just love to scare homeowners.

I think that with a lot of them it's more ignorance than anything else and they need to learn that just because they are unfamiliar/uncomfortable with a certain practice that doesn't mean that practice is wrong/dangerous or "against code".

He may be concerned about future failure of the tape job, but if it was done correctly, its fine- we have many, many failure-free examples that were taped up decades ago.

 

[480sparky]

First thing I would do is request the HI to back up his/her demands with Code references.

 

[al hildenbrand]

There was a period of time back in the Eighties when my local electrical inspectors would occasionally gig me for wire nutting a few branch circuit conductors when doing a service upgrade in the existing location. I would have pigtailed an additional length of wire with a wire nut for a legacy branch circuit conductor.

The inspector was misreading the section on cross sectional area fill for the open space between the breaker assembly and the metal can. The Code language was easy to misinterpret back then.

I still have amateurs question whether any splicing can be done in electrical breaker boxes to this day. The HI community is so fraught with claims of fact based solely upon what someone says they "heard" that it gets really frustrating. . .

 

[infinity]

HI's are not code inspectors and should not be giving code references. In fact in many cases they're prohibited from doing so by their SOP. It sounds like in evaluating the splice mentioned in the OP the HI was giving his opinion which is what they're supposed to do. Having seen no evidence of what this splice actually looks like it's hard to say if he was correct or not.

 

[kwired]

If a HI sees something he doesn't know anything about or understand, but still has concerns over he should make a note that it needs checked out by someone that is qualified to determine it's condition. They should not be saying it is wrong or is a hazard, or saying that it is safe either.

Situation like the OP has may possibly be a case where they make a note of what was seen and consult some other qualified person before proceeding with a report, he may find out that tape is considered acceptable insulation for a split bolt connection and mark that questionable item off his list.

 

[Cavie]

Thank for the info. I'm not sure he could tell me where he found it. He also put that he didn't understand why there where no main breakers in the 2 panels "the homeowner and I finally found it outside on the meter" brilliant! Seems like these guys just love to scare homeowners.

Many of them are DA's that have authority over this they know nothing about. They read a book.