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Can you reverse feed a circuit breaker and have it work?
Tech support optionsResource: safe electric wiring
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Can you reverse feed a circuit breaker and have it work?Tech support optionsResource: safe electric wiring |
| Use only 600 volt wire. Lamp cord, extension cords are not rated 600 volt. Use copper wire only. Aluminum wire is fire risk and should be avoided or installed by professional. 30 amp breaker use 10 gauge / 120-240 volt 30 amp outlet can be installed on 30 amp breaker only/ use 10 gauge wire ... cannot be connected to 15-20-40 amp breaker.  Orange/ #10 gauge wire, with ground ... 30 amp capacity. Safe maximum: 30 x 80% = 24 amps. Buy: 10-2 gauge/ 30 amp 10-3/ 30 amp Southwire electric tools |
Yellow
12 gauge 20 amp 120 volt 20 amp outlet can be installed on 20 amp breaker, but not 15 amp breaker/ use 12 ga wire. ... cannot be connected to 30-40 amp breaker. 1  Yellow/ #12 gauge wire, with ground ... 20 amp capacity. Safe maximum 16 amps. Buy: 12-2 gauge/ 20 amp 12-3/ 20 amp NMB is house wiring UF is underground Rolls of stranded wire HOOK UP Wires |
White
14 gauge 15 amp 120 volt 15 amp outlet, AFCI, GFCI, timer, switch etc can be installed on 15 or 20 amp breaker. Never connect 15 gauge wire to 20-30-40 amp breaker.  White/ #14 gauge wire, with ground ... 15 amp capacity. Safe maximum 12 amps. Buy: 14-2 gauge/ 15 amp 14-3/ 15 amp NMB is house wiring UF is underground |
| 50-60
amp breaker use 6 gauge / 240 volt 50 outlet can be installed on 50 amp breaker only  Buy: 6-2 wire Southwire electric tools NMB is house wiring UF is underground |
40-50
amp breaker use 8 gauge / 240 volt 40 amp outlet can be installed on 40 or 50 amp breaker only  Buy: 8-2 wire Southwire electric tools NMB is house wiring UF is underground |
  Copper ground wire. Every device, load, metal enclosure etc must be grounded. Ground wire must be continuous throughout installation, never switched on-off, never used as a Neutral wire. Generally ... use same size as other wire in circuit Buy: 12 gauge copper ground wire Ground wire Green ground wire Ground pigtails Ground rods/ ground clamps at Amazon |
 Non metallic flexible cables must carry ground wire, but do not have hazard of short circuit causing injury from shock. Armored steel cable can be used as a grounded connection, and will protect wires from damage. Metal can be energized from an insulation failure. All conduit ...metal, plastic ... flexible and rigid ... must be attached to structure, and attached to enclosures, boxes. Movement, damage and deterioration are major cause of electrical failure. Buy: Non-metallic flexible conduit Power whip Armored cable Southwire armored cable cutter Pull boxes |
 Electrical tools must be insulated. Always best to disconnect power, but insulation failure, lack of proper grounding, grounded neutral, lack of GFCI, out-of-code wiring, generator operating without transfer switch, and other problems still pose a risk to anyone working on electric power ... even when breaker is off. Buy: Electrician tools kits KLEIN TOOLS Tools kits IRWIN tools KNIPEX Telephone cable knife Low Voltage Mounting Bracket for Telephone |
Push-on wire connectors in place of twist-on connectorsBuy:Push on wire connectors Amazon Red 3P connector for 10-14 gauge wire Lever connectors for stranded wire at Amazon HOOK UP Wires |
 Protect wiring from damage Use nipper instead of pliers or screwdriver for removing staples (and nails). Do not damage cable or wires inside cable. -Code says: Cable SHALL BE secured without damage to the outer covering. NEC sec. 336-15 Buy End cutting nippers at Amazon |
  Electrically insulated tools When removing insulation from wire, do NOT score or put cuts on surface of copper wire. Doing so increases resistance and heat on wire and creates possible weak point. Buy tools: KLEIN TOOLS Wire strippers at Amazon Electric Wire Stripping Machine Linesman pliers Utility knife at Amazon |
 Multimeters Voltage is tested across two separate wires. Ohms or resistance is tested across both ends of same wire. Amperage is tested along one or two points on same wire. Buy: Analog multimeter Multimeters at Amazon Klein multimeter Electric testers at Amazon Clampmeter for testing amp flow on line |
 GFCI circuit breaker A GFCI circuit breaker will protect all boxes on circuit. Circuit must be grounded. Ground wire must be continuous and connected to each piece of equipment. White wire on circuit breaker must be connected to Neutral busbar inside the breaker panel. Buy GFCI circuit breakers |
Push down 1" wide Push down breaker Plug-in breaker Buy single-pole: Choose from 15 to 60 amp Eaton CL series Siemens 15-60 amp Single-pole tandem breaker Tandem breakers |
Push down 2" wide Push down breaker Plug-in breakers Buy double-pole: Choose from 15 to 125 amp Choose from 15 amp to 200 amp Eaton CL series circuit breaker Siemens circuit breaker Double pole GFCI |
 Question:Can you reverse feed a circuit breaker and have it work? My
main breaker burned out on Thursday night. On Friday the electric
company pulled the electric meter so my neighbor could make a temporary
fix for the weekend.
He took the wires off the main breaker and off a 50 amp air conditioner breaker. Then he ran the main breaker wires into the air conditioner breaker. This means the electric power for the house was feeding into the 50 amp circuit breaker in reverse ... power was feeding into the breaker box instead of feeding out to the air conditioner. Is this safe? Does the circuit breaker work correctly if somebody does this? Answer: Yes, most ordinary molded-case circuit breakers can be reverse fed and they work fine. However, if the circuit breaker has LINE and LOAD embossed or printed on each end of breaker, then it cannot be reverse fed.  Note the same LINE and LOAD markings apply to GFCI and AFCI breakers. If a GFCI or AFCI breaker is susceptible to damage, then that breaker will be marked with LINE and LOAD. Resource: Reverse feed breakers .pdf |
  Main
breaker wires are HOT when main breaker is OFF unless meter is
pulledWhen working inside main breaker box, the lugs on main breaker are Hot all the time, even when main breaker is turned OFF. Absolute electrocution danger when removing cover off main panel. The meter must be pulled to de-energize the main breaker. How to pull meter |
| Electricity
is a combination of voltage and amperage.
Volts x Amps = Watts (power consumed) Resource: Ohm's Law Voltage is the force that pushes amperage (current of electrons) across and through the matrix (atomic structure) of a conductor (wire). The conductor always offers resistance (measured in ohms) to the current of amperage. Resistance is like friction, so when too much amperage is being pushed down a wire because of undersized wire or short circuit (fault), then the wire begins to get hot, melt and catch fire. The circuit breaker (overcurrent protection) responds to amperage (current of electrons) on wire and trips off the power. The breaker responds to amperage, not voltage. The breaker does not respond to ordinary household voltage spikes, for example when inductive loads like a motor activates, but a breaker can trip if direct lightning strike energizes the wire with enough voltage. For voltage spikes such as nearby lightning strike, motor start-ups etc, a surge protector is used. Resource: How to wire whole house surge Household circuit breakers are designed with thermal and magnetic properties that respond to different overcurrent conditions. The thermal
mechanism located inside breaker expands in response to temperature and
is calibrated to trip when current exceeds breaker rating. Thermal
protection is designed to respond slowly (not instantly). This
allows overcurrent to exceed breaker rating for a moment so when a
motor start-up pulls a surge of amps, then the breaker does not trip.
The magnetic protection is for emergency conditions such as short circuit or faults where the magnitude of current surpasses normal amp flow on the line. The surge of electrons passes through a coil of wire located inside the breaker, which creates a strong magnetic field, causing the breaker to trip instantly. Thermal and magnetic protection means the household breaker is designed to trip 'instantly' when a short circuit occurs, but delays an appropriate amount of time before tripping in the event of ordinary overload (when a circuit is briefly drawing too many amps). During emergency conditions, such as a short circuit, the breaker does not respond as quickly as the ground wire, nor as quickly as GFCI. The overcurrent from a fault starts running into the ground wire first, helping the breaker and wires by redirecting as many electrons as possible into the ground rod and earth. Because the breaker does not trip as fast as GFCI, a fault current poses hazard to anyone coming into contact with live electricity. This problem is mitigated by properly grounding all circuits, metal boxes etc, never using ground wire as a Neutral, or Neutral as a ground ,and installing GFCI where needed. How to wire GFCI |
| Push
down 1" wide Push down breaker Plug-in breaker Buy single-pole: Choose from 15 to 60 amp Eaton CL series Siemens 15-60 amp Single-pole tandem breaker Tandem breakers |
Push
down 2" wide Push down breaker Plug-in breakers Buy double-pole: Choose from 15 to 125 amp Choose from 15 amp to 200 amp Eaton CL series circuit breaker Siemens circuit breaker Double pole GFCI |
 How to wire contactors/ relays |
 How to wire inline fuseholder |
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