Single wire on 2-pole breaker

[Ken Amelin]

Ok, so we see this all the time and we always write it up as a safety issue
but I started thinking about it (that's always dangerous) and I'm wondering if it is really a safety hazard. Wouldn't both breakers trip if only one of the leads had a load greater than 20A.? They are after all linked together. If that is the case - what's the problem?

[Ken Amelin]

From an NEC perspective this is not a problem

Bob,

That's interesting - Hmm! (My brain is asking me more questions)

So from an NEC perspective - no problem. Let me take it a step further.
What if we had 2 separate 120 volt circuits on this linked breaker. I know it could be a nusiance problem but would it be a code problem?

[John Kogel]

I don't write up a single wire on a two-pole breaker.
BTW, even if the handle can't move the breaker can trip internally.

Something else to remember with those style breakers - the red and the blue on the left are on one bus and the blue and red on the right are on the other bus.

I have seen wires crossed up so that the circuit is still getting 240 volts, but the handles ties were not tying the correct handles. :confused: