Convert 240ac circuit to 120.

[Charlie Velasquez]

Have a 240volts circuit with a black, red, and bare copper. Need to change to a 120 volt circuit. Can I tape red wire with white tape at both receptacle and service panel?

Or is that a code violation..

[Matt Day]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's a violation. Put yourself in the guys shoes who owns the house next and let's say the tape fell off.

[Bill Bukovec]

How about using white shrink wrap over the red wire?

[John McClanahan]

Don't know if it's a violation, but I've seen it done more than once.

[John Terefenko]

You can do it. No problem. As long as it is a direct line from panel to outlet. No JB in between and the entire wire is taped white in the panel

[Jim Becker]

You can do it. No problem. As long as it is a direct line from panel to outlet. No JB in between and the entire wire is taped white in the panel
This......................

[Brian Henderson]

This is one of those "can you do it" questions. Yes, you can do it. Is it up to code? Probably not. Do you really care? Probably not. So long as it's done safely and securely, you can achieve the results you're after.

[Ken Combs]

I think rules are: No recoloring (tape, paint etc) allowed on conductors under 6awg except when the conductor is part of a cable assembly, ie: Romex type.

So, if you're in conduit, legally no, if Romex it's OK.

I'd use white shrink tubing over the entire exposed length of the wire at both ends.

[Wade Lippman]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's a violation. Put yourself in the guys shoes who owns the house next and let's say the tape fell off.

The guy might be confused, but I can't see how it would be dangerous to mistake a neutral for a hot. Being red, he should figure it out quickly enough.

[Von Bickley]

It is legal in my part of the country.... Retired Electrician.

[Charlie Velasquez]

Thanks for the responses. I went with white heat shrink, completely covering the red insulation in both panel and receptacle box.

[Brian Elfert]

I think rules are: No recoloring (tape, paint etc) allowed on conductors under 6awg except when the conductor is part of a cable assembly, ie: Romex type.


I knew that individual conductors have to be 6 AWG or larger to be remarked. I didn't realize NM (Romex) cable is an exception. I installed a circuit in 2014 and remarked an 8 AWG conductor not realizing rules had changed. I recently had to redo that circuit due to a new load center in my garage and the run was shorter this time so I fixed the issue by cutting a black conductor in half to replace the remarked conductor.