Does it violate code to wrap my 220v line in the rafters with red looming?
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Does it violate code to wrap my 220v line in the rafters with red looming?
It doesn't, but why do you want to?
Just for a reminder
I took a felt tip pen and wrote on the wire "240 volts" every ten feet or so where the wire was exposed. I have the 240V line running with some 120V lines so I just want to know which is which.
Writing on it may help someone who comes after you. You'll know that the red is 240V but the next person won't know that. if you write on the wire, the next person will know.
Mike
Don't you guys have to work to code? Stick to the regulations and no-one gets fried somewhere down the track. Cheers
I could be wrong but I was instructed by an electrician to use standard romex (example: 12/2 w/ground) to run my 240V lines. He told me to mark the white on the two ends so the next person would know it was hot (as well as the black). I used a red felt tip pen and colored the white wire on each end. I assumed he knew the code so I didn't check deeper. No problem on the inspection.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Lomman
I ran the 240V line in the attic, stapled as required, along with several 120V lines of romex of the same size. I marked the 240V line by writing on the wire casing so that "if" I ever needed to know which was the 240V line I wouldn't have to go through an identification process (if I did, I'd turn off the 120V circuits and use a sensor to see which wire still had power to it). It's much easier and quicker to write on the wire when you're doing the install and not have to do that later.
I didn't do this on my last install but in the past, I've written on the wire where the 120V circuit goes (such as outlets, living room).
What's your objection to doing it this way?
Mike
Ah, I guess it is a cultural difference again. In Australia there is no such thing as " the electrician told me to..." If you do electrical work here you risk severe penalties and expensive fixes if you want to sell. It means that we have uniform national code and you can buy property with confidence. We have 2 voltages - 240 single phase and 415 three phase. It does everything. Cheers
Here in the United States we have an inspection process for work done. Doesn't matter who does the work but the work has to be "done to code". The inspector comes by and examines the work. If it's not up to code s/he will "red tag" it and you'll have to fix it and get another inspection.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Lomman
Regarding "the electrician told me": it's the same as education. The electrician had to learn how to do things "to code" and is passing that knowledge to the homeowner, either free or for a fee.
And just one more comment: Code is the minimum that you can do to pass the inspection. For example, let's say that a circuit requires 14 gauge wire. You can put in 12 gauge wire with no problem. There's no requirement to mark on the wire what the wire serves (outlets, living room, or 240V) but those things can make your job, or the job of the next person who has to deal with it, easier.
The purpose of the inspection process in the United States is the same as you mention - so that people can purchase property with the knowledge that things were done to the standard specified in the code.
I would ask you why it matters who does the work in your country? If the work is done the same way that a licensed electrician would do it, why would you "risk severe penalties and expensive fixes if you want to sell"? Seems that an independent inspection process is superior to depending on a workman to do things correctly, with no oversight.
Mike
[Where I live here in the US, a seller has to disclose whether any work was done which was not permitted (meaning pulling a permit). The seller could lie about small things, and get away with it, but anything big is certainly going to show up. A home here recently came up for sale and the owner had added a room without a permit. He had to go through a process to get the work permitted before the sale and it was expensive. One thing I knew of was that the drywall had to be removed so that the electrical could be inspected. I'm sure there was more. The foundation probably had to be checked by some company to certify that it met the code. I'm in earthquake country so that's critical. And there was probably more. It would have been a lot less expensive and easier to have done it under permit originally.]
[Everywhere I've lived in the US, a homeowner can do work on his/her house without being licensed. If you hire someone to do the work, they must be licensed. A homeowner can hire someone as "casual labor" to help him/her do the work, but it must be the homeowner who is doing the work - you can't use that exception to hire an unlicensed person to do the work.]
In straya there is a license for every little thing you can think of. Fork lift, man basket, personnel hoist, rigging, signaling, and they are all seperate. I have a whole book full of stuff from working over there and the Government gets a little fee for all of them. I'm not sure you could grow a garden on your tiny plot without some kind of license and threat of a fine.
Ah well, I'm sure we could get into a ' my place is better than your place' conversation pretty easily. If your system works, good. Our system requires standards and that's the way we work. It's equivalent to a national quality assurance system. As for gardening, no problems! Cheers
Code, standards: same thing basically. The law.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Lomman
i just run everything 240v with 10-2 romex and everything 120 with 12-2. that way I KNOW whats 240 and whats not. plus if your using 240v stuff why not have the bigger wire then you can run bigger equipment on it if you need to.
Mike, the laws in the US vary from state to state, and locale to locale. In most places (not all), it is legal for a homeowner to perform electrical work in their own residence, but that is it. Electrical work performed in any other type of building pretty much needs to be performed by a licensed electrical contractor. This includes all dwellings that the person owns, but does not live in as his primary residence (rental property). Of course these are small nits to pick, and very difficult to enforce, but Minnesota even requires a homeowner to live in his residence a minimum of 2 years after performing the wiring. This law was added because there were people building houses, and performing all aspects of the construction, fully intending to sell the house when finished, never intending to live in it. All installations require inspection, but inspectors can't possibly catch all violations and/or deficiencies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Henderson