@ cissado
@ cissado
Reading your entire post from 03-23-2020 you have a background in electrical wiring/methods.
This was my response to your post.
This was your response to my above post.
It was this part of your post from 03-23-2020 that I was addressing.
Maybe I was not clear. The point I was trying to make, because the OP admittedly called himself a novice and knows very little about electrical power systems and or electrical wiring and wiring methods, it may not be a good idea to open a branch circuit neutral even though the OP turned off the breaker that feeds the circuit he is working on.
We don’t know, and the OP definitely doesn’t know, if the branch circuit he is dealing with is a 2 wire with ground branch circuit ( Hot, Neutral, and ground), or possibly part of a 3 wire multiwire with ground branch circuit. Multiwire, therein 120/240V 3 wire multiwire branch circuit consisting of 2 hot conductors with a shared neutral conductor.
(Two 120V circuits that share a common neutral conductor.)
Best regards,
Jim
.
cissado19 posts
03-23-2020
11:26am
2 tips. Be conscious of any switches outlets when testing, so there are no surprises.
When trying to find the first receptacle box, you can disconnect one pair of wires from the receptacle. THEN reapply power to find out if you’re in the beginning or middle of the circuit.
@ cissado
Reading your entire post from 03-23-2020 you have a background in electrical wiring/methods.
This was my response to your post.
jea483,307 posts
03-23-2020
12:03pm
@ cissado
Good post except in the case of where the duplex receptacle device may have been used as a junction for the make up of neutral and Hot conductors coming in and going out of the outlet box.
We don’t know what type of wiring materials/methods were used for the branch circuit wiring.
What year NEC was in effect at the time? What were the AHJ electrical code standards/requirements back then for where he lives? Was conduit required in basements back then? Is there a chance the branch circuit is part of a multi wire branch circuit? What happens if he breaks the feed neutral at an outlet and the other circuit of the multi wire branch circuit has a connected load on it?
The OP is not an electrician. An electrician would know what to look for. Like another Hot circuit conductor passing through the box he is about to open a neutral. An open neutral on a multi wire branch circuit has killed many a electricians.
This was your response to my above post.
cissado19 posts
03-23-2020
4:17pm
I’m not sure what this means exactly. Maybe because I wasn’t clear in my post. I usually am not clear... it’s my bad writing skills.
I just meant the first receptacle may have been fed from a light fixture. Also, that the wiring inside the light fixture box could be wrong.
It was this part of your post from 03-23-2020 that I was addressing.
When trying to find the first receptacle box, you can disconnect one pair of wires from the receptacle. THEN reapply power to find out if you’re in the beginning or middle of the circuit.
Maybe I was not clear. The point I was trying to make, because the OP admittedly called himself a novice and knows very little about electrical power systems and or electrical wiring and wiring methods, it may not be a good idea to open a branch circuit neutral even though the OP turned off the breaker that feeds the circuit he is working on.
We don’t know, and the OP definitely doesn’t know, if the branch circuit he is dealing with is a 2 wire with ground branch circuit ( Hot, Neutral, and ground), or possibly part of a 3 wire multiwire with ground branch circuit. Multiwire, therein 120/240V 3 wire multiwire branch circuit consisting of 2 hot conductors with a shared neutral conductor.
(Two 120V circuits that share a common neutral conductor.)
Best regards,
Jim
.