Neutral Wire Size

[BentBierz]

I was looking at a 20 amp circuit in my building over the weekend and discovered that there is an approx. 15’ section in conduit where the hot and ground are 12 ga. but the neutral is 10 ga. I have often seen the question “can I have a smaller neutral” but have never seen “can it be bigger.” I wonder if the person who wired this ran out of 12 ga. and threw in some 10 ga. that was laying around.

 

[Sumboodie]

Bigger is fine

 

[justsam]

Where does the splicing of the 10 to 12 take place? Is in in a box, tucked inside the conduit, or? Not that it will make a difference but does this circuit perchance terminate on a double ganged breaker?

 

[BentBierz]

Where does the splicing of the 10 to 12 take place? Is in in a box, tucked inside the conduit, or? Not that it will make a difference but does this circuit perchance terminate on a double ganged breaker?

There are actually two sections. All connections are made inside j-boxes. One runs the entire length from a breaker panel through a j-box and on to a 120v outlet; the other runs from a j-box (wire nutted to an incoming 12 ga) and on to another 120v outlet. In each case only the neutral is 10 ga, the rest is 12 ga.

 

[justsam]

There are actually two sections. All connections are made inside j-boxes. One runs the entire length from a breaker panel through a j-box and on to a 120v outlet; the other runs from a j-box (wire nutted to an incoming 12 ga) and on to another 120v outlet. In each case only the neutral is 10 ga, the rest is 12 ga.

Sounds like someone ran out of white 12 ga. I will let the real pros speak but I suspect it is not UL approved to terminate 10 gauge on a standard receptacle. Would require a pig tail.

 

[mike93lx]

There are actually two sections. All connections are made inside j-boxes. One runs the entire length from a breaker panel through a j-box and on to a 120v outlet; the other runs from a j-box (wire nutted to an incoming 12 ga) and on to another 120v outlet. In each case only the neutral is 10 ga, the rest is 12 ga.

It creates an imbalance where the electrons get back quicker than they get out, eventually developing electrical cavitation at the receptacle. If allowed to run for too long, a black hole begins to develop and the world will end. Glad you caught it.

Other than that, I'm not aware of an issue

 

[BentBierz]

I am perfectly fine with the black hole as my guess is that the particular routing of this wire and the amp draw of my beer fridge offsets the black hole coordinates at least two property lines over…I hate the chickens over there anyway!

 

[sparky 1971]

It creates an imbalance where the electrons get back quicker than they get out, eventually developing electrical cavitation at the receptacle. If allowed to run for too long, a black hole begins to develop and the world will end. Glad you caught it.

Other than that, I'm not aware of an issue

That issue can easily be remedied by replacing the doohickey with a thingamajig. Amateurs.

 

[mike93lx]

That issue can easily be remedied by replacing the doohickey with a thingamajig. Amateurs.

And this is why we keep you around!

 

[sparky 1971]

And this is why we keep you around!

I know, my vast knowledge base that only comes from having been everywhere three times and talked to everyone twice.

 

[nadogail]

I thought I was smart when I condensed my resume down to only four words.

My whole career can be summarized as “ BEEN THERE, DONE THAT “.

 

[u2slow]

It may not be a mistake, or case of using up on-hand material.

I've worked on jobs where an engineer spec'ed to install oversize neutrals. The rationale was harmonics (computer power supplies and such) where theres possibility of the return current becoming additive instead of cancelling.

For those installs, the #10 was pigtailed to #12 for the device connection.

 

[Debcrow]

If allowed to run for too long, a black hole begins to develop and the world will end. Glad you caught it.

Other than that, I'm not aware of an issue

NO!......... he is talking about the Neutral, the little round "Black Hole" in the receptacle is the "Ground"!

Obviously, you do not know your **** (splice) from a black hole in the ground!!