What's wrong with this picture?

[Terry Beck]

It took me a couple of minutes to catch this. While I have seen a lot of weirdness in this world, have never seen ALL the neutral wires wired to the breakers. I didn't pull a receptacle out of the wall to see how they were wired, but all the outlets test as reverse polarity. color blind or what?

By the way. I have seen Square-D breakers in the past that were labeled as "2 copper or 1 aluminum". Do all single pole Square D breakers accept 2 wires, or are some not rated for that?

[Dwight Doane]

No discrimination here - equal opportunity for both Black and white wires :p

In theory the breakers still work - was this a sub panel ?

I am trying to figure out if the original work was done by pro but then I see that wire drop down into the same conduit as the main feed ?

All I can say is - Shocking



It took me a couple of minutes to catch this. While I have seen a lot of weirdness in this world, have never seen ALL the neutral wires wired to the breakers. I didn't pull a receptacle out of the wall to see how they were wired, but all the outlets test as reverse polarity. color blind or what?

By the way. I have seen Square-D breakers in the past that were labeled as "2 copper or 1 aluminum". Do all single pole Square D breakers accept 2 wires, or are some not rated for that?

[Joe R. Maxwell]

I saw this one time on a new house that was built out in the county where "there are no codes". Anybody can tell black and white.

[Lon Henderson]

An example of wiring dyslexia.:pound:

[Jerry Peck]

In theory the breakers still work

"In theory"?

The breakers have no idea what color conductor is attached to it and the current is going back and forth (ac = alternating) so the breaker doesn't know or care about that either.

[Victor DaGraca]

Maybe the homeowner was British...

"Prior to 2004 all wiring was - Live - Red
Neutral - Black
Earth - Bare, with green & yellow sleeving.

2004 to 2006 was a transisional period where the colours were changed to harmonise with other EU countries.

Jan 2006 onwards you can only use the new colour code.
Live - Brown
Neutral - Blue
Earth - Bare, with green & yellow sleeving.

[Terry Beck]

RE Joe's comment, this is in a rural area, minimal enformcement of code. Licensed electrician, almost never. As to question about main vs sub, that is a matter of definition.

Did a house a few years ago where the panel was correctly wired, but EVERY single outlet was wired with reverse polarity. I checled ALL the outlets with my tester, not just a random sample. At first I thought my tester had gone bad somehow, but then I pulled about a half dozen outlets and verified that he had consistently attached the hot conductor to the 'white' terminal, and visa versa for neutral - and the back of those outlets were clearly marked and very easy to read.

[William Cline]

Last time I saw something like this, it was wired by a computer guy who thought black = negative. All wires cut to exact length, 90 degree bends, stapled down 4-5 times per wire. Extremely neat, took hours of splices and reroute to correct.

[jack davenport]

What no comments about the conductor with the yellow tracer !! :D

- - - Updated - - -

[Ernie Simpson]

A possible (but unlikely) explanation: someone told me (who - I can't remember, so don't take this as spoken with authority) that the wiring in submarines (and I assume, other Navy ships) has the white wires hot and the black neutral. I recently did an inspection in Kittery Maine where there is a naval base and found the same condition as this. Given the other conditions at that property, though, I just don't think the owner knew what he was doing. Wrong, in any case...

[Jerry Peck]

What no comments about the conductor with the yellow tracer !! :D

That was covered in-depth recently and, hopefully, all remember that is probably indicating that cable is Underground Service Entrance (USE or USE-2) and that USE is intended to be installed "underground" and therefore the insulation does not have the fire-retardant treatment required for conductors used inside, therefore the first use not permitted is 'inside' ... and that appears to be inside.

[Jim Port]

I am surprised no one pointed out the flex cord being used.

[Jerry Peck]

I am surprised no one pointed out the flex cord being used.

That I didn't see, then again, I didn't look at what was in there very long either. :redface: