"gregz" wrote in message
...
DerbyDad03 wrote:

stuff snipped

Maybe they were just saving air time by using that explanation, but it
seems to me that a lot more investigation should have been done as
opposed to simply letting the wire size determine the breaker size. To
even imply that the wire size is the determining factor seems
irresponsible on their part.

In my house, a 12 gauge might feed a 14 gauge circuit. So, whether that is
legal, don't know. I do know it exists. That circuit might have been on a
15 amp breaker, and it should have been noted.

In an old house, there's no telling if the circuit's been under
semi-permanent overload and has tripped and reset so many times that the
breaker itself has or is about to fail. I sure there are at least some
tenants or homeowners who, when discovering that a breaker no longer trips
the way it used to, assume the problem is fixed and not that the breaker has
failed. For me the bottom line is that it's not likely labeling the wire
and which breaker it went to is going to rob the job of all its profit.

I've seen electricians do other questionable things on This Old House, etc.
I watched one electrician take long wires in the attic and instead of
stripping them out where the light was good and she could sit in a
comfortable position she chose to lie prone in a dark corner and strip the
wires after they had been fed into the box, mounted far into the edge of the
attic. I like to strip the wire in the best light possible so I can see any
potential problems. Wires nicked during stripping can lead to arc faults
and I would say that wires nicked while being stripped is one of the more
common issues I've seen, especially from DIY electricians who don't do it
every day.

She also couldn't drive a straight staple - it went crooked and looked like
the next hammer blow would drive the narrow edge of the staple into the
insulation. I also saw her put more than one cable under the stable, which
I've read makes some AHJ inspectors unhappy but is probably compliant with
the NEC if the right staples are used.

I use separate staples just because it's a few seconds extra time and a few
cents of extra cost to make a cleaner looking install that means less chance
of damaging the insulation if for any reason you have to replace one of the
wires. She did, however, make sure the cables were laying flat on each
other. I think the inspectors worry that the staples used to tack down
multiple wires might not be long enough to securely anchor them.

--
Bobby G.