Yep, another question about electrical on a wood forum!
I passed the inspection on my shed wiring today, but the inspector and I had a discussion about one item:
I have two separate circuits running to two different outlets that are housed in the same box. Reason is for plugging in both a high amp power tool and my vacuum at the same location. Although hard to tell in the photos, one circuit is white, and the other is ivory color coded.
Both circuits are GFCI protected:
At present I have the breakers tied together. Code does not require it (two different "devices") nor does it prohibit it.
The inspector said he would not tie the breakers together, because if one circuit causes a trip, I wouldn't be able to tell which one. I was thinking that in the instance of working in the box, I would want to make sure both circuits were de-energized. He agreed that was a view of it, but said I could go either way, but he would go single breakers.
Upon thinking about it, another factor would be if I had my table-saw, router, etc running, and the vac tripped the breaker. After fixing the problem, there is the danger that I would forget to switch off the power tool before re-setting the breaker, causing it to come to life unattended. In reality, this is more probable than me having to go into the outlet box. With the GFCI, if someone did go into the box without tripping both breakers, that would provide some protection. I think it goes without saying that anyone messing around with the wiring should know enough to check the circuits, etc, but we all know the reality is that isn't a guarantee. As long as I am the owner, I don't see a problem, but my future crystal ball is on the blink. Right now, I am leaning toward the separated breakers.
I remember someone else on here recently doing the same two-circuits-in-one-box (thanks for the idea!! but don't recall the name) and was wondering which way they decided, and if anyone has a view they would care to share.
Thanks for any insight you can provide
Go
PS: In the top pic, it appears that there is a red and black wire going to the right outlet. That "black" wire is actually gray, and I also have it wrapped with a white tape tag to further denote it as neutral. I used different (NEC approved) color coding to keep me straight on the different circuits. Also, will be uploading more pics of the process in my gallery soon.
I passed the inspection on my shed wiring today, but the inspector and I had a discussion about one item:
I have two separate circuits running to two different outlets that are housed in the same box. Reason is for plugging in both a high amp power tool and my vacuum at the same location. Although hard to tell in the photos, one circuit is white, and the other is ivory color coded.
Both circuits are GFCI protected:
At present I have the breakers tied together. Code does not require it (two different "devices") nor does it prohibit it.
The inspector said he would not tie the breakers together, because if one circuit causes a trip, I wouldn't be able to tell which one. I was thinking that in the instance of working in the box, I would want to make sure both circuits were de-energized. He agreed that was a view of it, but said I could go either way, but he would go single breakers.
Upon thinking about it, another factor would be if I had my table-saw, router, etc running, and the vac tripped the breaker. After fixing the problem, there is the danger that I would forget to switch off the power tool before re-setting the breaker, causing it to come to life unattended. In reality, this is more probable than me having to go into the outlet box. With the GFCI, if someone did go into the box without tripping both breakers, that would provide some protection. I think it goes without saying that anyone messing around with the wiring should know enough to check the circuits, etc, but we all know the reality is that isn't a guarantee. As long as I am the owner, I don't see a problem, but my future crystal ball is on the blink. Right now, I am leaning toward the separated breakers.
I remember someone else on here recently doing the same two-circuits-in-one-box (thanks for the idea!! but don't recall the name) and was wondering which way they decided, and if anyone has a view they would care to share.
Thanks for any insight you can provide
Go
PS: In the top pic, it appears that there is a red and black wire going to the right outlet. That "black" wire is actually gray, and I also have it wrapped with a white tape tag to further denote it as neutral. I used different (NEC approved) color coding to keep me straight on the different circuits. Also, will be uploading more pics of the process in my gallery soon.
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