Thread: What's wrong with this picture?

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?

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

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

Originally Posted by 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?

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.

An example of wiring dyslexia.

Originally Posted by Dwight Doane

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

- - - Updated - - -

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...

Originally Posted by jack davenport

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

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.

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

Originally Posted by Jim Port

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.