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Subject Author Date
Split Neutral Wiring Ben 04-13-2007
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Posted by Ben on April 13, 2007, 1:31 pm


I thought I was pretty good when it comes to wiring. I thought I knew
enough to be safe and have good quality work when I do it on my own.
Then I learned about shared neutral lines for different hot phases. I
am shocked I never heard of this. No book I ever read mentioned shared
neutrals for household wiring.
Given that a shared neutral is a possibility, I don't understand how
anybody can do electrical work without shutting off power to the
entire house. You can test for hot wires and verify at least one
circuit is off, but then somebody comes along and turns on a light and
suddenly the neutral is live. Not to mention the fact that if somebody
came along who didn't know about split neutrals who knows what they
may have mistakenly done in the past.

So what is the best way to proceed when trying to determine if a box
has any live wires or wires which could become charged if somebody
turns on a light upstream?
Are shared neutrals avoided where possible?
An electrician is about to rewire just about my entire house. Should I
request no shared neutrals or is this a silly request?
Thanks.


AppliancePartsPros.com, Inc.
Posted by diablo on April 13, 2007, 1:43 pm



>I thought I was pretty good when it comes to wiring. I thought I knew
> enough to be safe and have good quality work when I do it on my own.
> Then I learned about shared neutral lines for different hot phases. I
> am shocked I never heard of this. No book I ever read mentioned shared
> neutrals for household wiring.
> Given that a shared neutral is a possibility, I don't understand how
> anybody can do electrical work without shutting off power to the
> entire house. You can test for hot wires and verify at least one
> circuit is off, but then somebody comes along and turns on a light and
> suddenly the neutral is live. Not to mention the fact that if somebody
> came along who didn't know about split neutrals who knows what they
> may have mistakenly done in the past.
>
> So what is the best way to proceed when trying to determine if a box
> has any live wires or wires which could become charged if somebody
> turns on a light upstream?
> Are shared neutrals avoided where possible?
> An electrician is about to rewire just about my entire house. Should I
> request no shared neutrals or is this a silly request?
> Thanks.
>

If you share the neutrals within the circuit to a breaker, then when that
breaker is off no one is turning anything on, right? I wouldn't share
neutrals between different breakers.

Brian



Posted by Noozer on April 13, 2007, 1:46 pm



>I thought I was pretty good when it comes to wiring. I thought I knew
> enough to be safe and have good quality work when I do it on my own.
> Then I learned about shared neutral lines for different hot phases. I
> am shocked I never heard of this. No book I ever read mentioned shared
> neutrals for household wiring.
> Given that a shared neutral is a possibility, I don't understand how
> anybody can do electrical work without shutting off power to the
> entire house.

When done properly, the two breakers would be tied together, so either both
would be on or off.



Posted by Ben on April 13, 2007, 1:59 pm


> When done properly, the two breakers would be tied together, so either both
> would be on or off.

Good point. I did read something about a double pole breaker. That IS
what I should have in my box. So either I don't have one or the
neutrals that I was disconnecting actually weren't part of my intended
circuit at all. There were a lot of wires in that box, perhaps another
group was actually the neutral for my circuit. The wiring is 50 years
old and it's hard to tell what color these wires were supposed to be!


Posted by Art Todesco on April 13, 2007, 8:20 pm


Noozer wrote:
>> I thought I was pretty good when it comes to wiring. I thought I knew
>> enough to be safe and have good quality work when I do it on my own.
>> Then I learned about shared neutral lines for different hot phases. I
>> am shocked I never heard of this. No book I ever read mentioned shared
>> neutrals for household wiring.
>> Given that a shared neutral is a possibility, I don't understand how
>> anybody can do electrical work without shutting off power to the
>> entire house.
>
> When done properly, the two breakers would be tied together, so either both
> would be on or off.
I have shared neutrals in my box, done
by the original builder on separate
breakers. I know that doesn't make it
right. BTW, the house is 35 years
old. Also, in my local village hall
building, they have 3 phase shared neutrals
(208 Y connected) and all are separate
breakers. So I don't think there is
a requirement for common trip.

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