Saying it is allowed where you are does not help. It IS wrong, PERIOD, and to suggest otherwise is irresponsible.Depending on where you are . It depends on the AHJ . It is often done on Romex / residential work , here .
I am not saying it is code legal . I am just saying that is the way it is traditionally done here . Wright or wrong .
It may or may not be , where you live .
God bless
Wyr
Saying it is allowed where you are does not help. It IS wrong, PERIOD, and to suggest otherwise is irresponsible.
If it is traditionally done where you are all that says is that you have hack electricians and even more hack inspectors.
Sorry, but I disagree.Think about what you have said .
The inspectors may or may not be hacks ? I have / have had no control over that .
That does not make the electricians hacks .
The code has always been / meant what the local AHJ said it meant . This means wiring methods / standards more stringent or less stringent than the current NEC . Or , in some case a mix of of both , on different topics .
That is the way it is , at least in my locality . As I previously said , your locality may / probably does vary .
As strong as you came on , one would think this issue would result in homes burning down , by the thousands , maybe the tens of thousands , in my locality . That is not happening .
I have seen a lot of good wiring and some bad wiring in my time . Using # 14 copper for switch legs is in no way close to the top of the list of " bad " wiring practices . If it is even on the list .
How many houses have you seen that have " back stabbed / back wired " devices . How many of those have you seen that went bad ? I gave seen my share . I did a service call around a month ago that a " back stabbed " plug has a neutral over heat & burn up the receptacle . It came out of the device .
This was not caused by the wire size . It was caused bu the back stabbed plug / wiring method . But it could have caused a fire .
Yet it was SOP at the time . And a BUNCH of them are still in use .
If I was going to loose any sleep over bad wiring practices , back stabbed recepticals would be one of the issues . Not # 14 copper wire on switch legs .
Back away from the situation ( a little ways ) and gain some perspective .
Best of luck to you . Have a fine weekend .
...
Wyr
Sorry, but I disagree.
Codes DO NOT mean what inspectors say they mean. Codes mean what they mean. Inspectors are there for enforcement and sometimes interpretation, and NO, they CANNOT allow less than code minimum at their whim or discretion. Same as they cannot require more than code allows.
I do agree with you, this is not something that is going to burn a house down, but in this case there is little left to interpretation. Code is code.
Put #14 lighting switch legs on a 20A circuit as a professional and yes, that makes you a hack.
OK?Have a nice day .
God bless
Wyr
Well, there's always the chance that the next owner will decide to extend the circuit for whatever reason, and not have a code book handy. But I see that as a remote possibility with a switch leg if the wires are coded (marked) black.
OK I am going to play devils advocate here and ask a question I know will be controversial. I do not have access to an NEC code book so I can't look at the code language, but I agree that a 20 amp circuit must be run in 12 Ga wire. My question is, when you get to the end of a circuit run how is it possible to overload a 14 Ga wire either to a receptacle or a light if: a) the receptacle is a 15 amp rated plugin type and there is no other downstream load? (A dead short will cause a trip no matter what size the wire.) b) the load on the light circuit is 15 amps or less, a 15 amp rated switch is used and there is no other downstream load? (No, I would not suggest this for more than a single fixture setup where multiple bulbs could be changed and cause an overload situation.) I was a fireman for over thirty years and as many screwed up wiring jobs and fires caused by faulty electrical wiring as I saw, I do not believe I ever saw one caused by this situation. Again I am not trying to cause a fight or pick who is right or wrong. It is just a question as food for thought.
I think the worst I ever saw was a #12 run into a panel and tied directly to the 400 amp main fuses. Surprise, we were there putting out a fire at -5 in January.
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