DIYbanter - View Single Post - Can you use white for one leg of 240V circuit?

The Daring Dufas[_7_]

On 5/1/2011 7:40 PM, wrote:
OK, here'e the questiond du jour. Was helping a friend and when we
took off the circuit breaker panel cover we discovered that for both
AC units, whoever did this used white for one of the 240V hots. There
is no tape or tag to identify it as a hot. Is this allowed by code?
Even if it is, seems bad practice to me. I would have used either red
or black.

If you see a 10/2 with ground hooked to a two pole breaker on one end
and disconnect for an AC condensing unit, water heater or dryer plug
on the other end, you pretty much know that the white wire is another
240 volt leg. You can wrap a piece of black tape around it if you like
but most electricians don't bother because the wires are in the same
jacket. If it's a loose wire pulled into conduit and the installer
didn't have a red wire and used a white instead, it's going to be marked
with a strip of black or red tape every 6 inches or so to indicate it's
another hot leg. You may see green tape on a black or
white wire to indicate it's being used as a ground. You will see this
on larger sized loose wire where the conductors are all black and each
is marked with red, white or green tape to indicate their purpose. It
all depends on the inspectors in your area. Around here what I wrote
will pass inspection but may not in another jurisdiction.

TDD