I did quit my day job after 34 years of inspecting wiring.... just not
smplified residential stuff....LOL

Using a 20 ampere circuit breaker on a residential circuit wired to devices
that are only rated to be on a 15 ampere circuit is not "exceeding code" but
rather not meeting "minimum code". Ridiculous logic and would get you
laughed out of any electrical crew. Perhaps we should wire all our
residential circuits to the main breaker directly, without sub protection
because it "exceeds the code"? You must have some electrical code there.

What does your electrical code say about connections between an #18Ga wire
with a #12Ga wire?


Yup, I owned a house wire #12AL wire also and it definitely has it's
problems if not done with good techniques. It could return some day with
copper prices soaring lately. I had some "electrician" use the old "push in,
self grabbing" connections with aluminum and a few burned up. One devices
were redesigned with screws that could handle the #12AWG wire things
improved. Hope to avoid that junk in the future in my homes. Quite common on
larger conductors by utilities and higher current applications that make the
connection hassles worth the metal savings.


"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
On 8/31/2010 1:18 AM, Josepi wrote:
12 Ga wire is just a waste of time and money.

A 20 amp breaker would not be allowed to feed most of the lamp fixtures
anyway, with their #18Ga internal wiring,

If you have visions of becoming an electrician, don't quit your day job.
The "internal wiring" of a UL listed lamp fixture has no bearing on
breaker size. If it did then those fixtures would not be allowed on a
15 amp breaker either. The general rule is that the breaker is to
protect the circuit, not the device served by that circuit.

let alone get the #12 under a
screw head terminal that is not rated for the mechanics of it.

Would you be kind enough to identify a UL listed light fixture currently
on the market that has screw head terminals that will not take #12 wire?

The #14 wire is way over engineered already for the recommended max device
rules etc.. and now people come along and try to use a safety factor on
top
of all the safety factors built in?

Yep.

Usually, following recommendations and minimum requirements are the "best
practice" from a century of engineering design and field experience.

Nope. The code is a _minimum_ standard. No inspector is going to fault
an electrician for _exceeding_ code. I wish that code had been exceeded
in my house--they wired it all with 12 gage aluminum, barely meeting
code, which I'm slowly replacing with 12 gage copper.

Having said that, many long runs should have #12 used for voltage drop in
ling houses.

Whatever a "ling house" may be.

"J. wrote in message
...
On 8/29/2010 2:32 AM, Morgans wrote:
There is "code" and there is "best practice". Quite frankly if you are
the sort of contractor who does everything to barely pass inspection I
don't want you to work for me.