"Roger Morton" wrote in message
news:HrTHe.22902$DJ5.8295@trnddc07...
To make a long story short ... About 10 years ago had an electrician add a
subpanel in my then new workshop (state of Virginia). He placed a 30 amp
breaker in my main box and used that breaker to feed the subpanel in the
shop. Wiring was run in such a way that if 220v was ever needed it would
be a simple matter to get it to the work area. Now I am attempting to
sell my house and the inspector says "double taps on a circuit breaker are
not allowed." I think the electrician just placed the "extra" wire there
to keep it from floating around in the panel but leave it available if 220
was ever desired. I guess I have 3 questions.
Are double taps on a circuit breaker against the NEC?
If double taps are permissible under the NEC, does anyone happen to have
the reference handy?
If it is against the NEC, can a pigtail be used to join the 2 wires and
then connect the pigtail to the circuit breaker?
Would appreciate any other thoughts. Thanks a bunch.
A pigtail is equivelent to coming out of the box on one wire and then
branching to more than one fixture which is premitted so long as there are
not too many loads which would require another circuit anyway. Connect
pigtail outside the breaker box and inside a seperate J-box and it should be
good. Not sure, but it may be just a matter of putting two wires in a
connector made for one.
"I think the electrician just placed the "extra" wire there to keep it from
floating around in the panel but leave it available if 220 was ever
desired. "
If you have a wire leading somewhere that may be used in the future than it
should be taped off and labeled "future" inside the box but not connected to
a breaker just to keep it captive. What about the other end of the wire, is
there a receptacle? Shouldn't be live if not. If he really wanted to
restrain a loose wire, it should be connected to ground or neutral. I must
be misunderstanding the reason for the double tap in the first place cause
that don't make too much sense.
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