According to 2011 National Electrical Code article 300.3(B), No. For verbiage, see this answer. For one explanation why, see this answer. Another reason not to do it, is because you could end up overloading the grounded (neutral) conductor.
Can you mix neutrals from different circuits?
The grounding conductors all go together regardless of circuit, but the neutrals need to be separated.
What happens if you connect neutral wire to hot?
If the hot wire comes into contact with both the neutral and the ground, then it will flow through both wires back to the source but as the ground has less resistance more current will flow through it.
Can multiple switches use the same neutral wire?
If both switches are powered by the same breaker you can wire both to the same neutral.
Can you put 2 neutral wires together in panel?
Bottom Line. Many homes have neutral bars that have too many neutral wires in one hole or slot. Generally this does not create a problem for the homeowner, however, it is an easy fix and most home inspectors recommend correcting the issue.
Can neutrals be shared?
What is a multiwire branch circuit? A multiwire branch circuit is a branch circuit with a shared neutral. This means there are two or more ungrounded (hot) phase or system conductors with a voltage between them and a shared neutral.
What is a borrowed neutral?
A borrowed neutral is when you have two seperate circuits but you have taken the neutral from one circuit to supply the other with a neutral.
Is it OK to connect neutral to ground?
No, the neutral and ground should never be wired together. This is wrong, and potentially dangerous. When you plug in something in the outlet, the neutral will be live, as it closes the circuit. If the ground is wired to the neutral, the ground of the applicance will also be live.
What happens if you connect neutral to live?
There would be a shock hazard, and some devices might not work correctly. Depending on where exactly the wires are flipped, ground fault detecting circuit breakers may become ineffective. All around, this is a bad idea.
Can a hot and neutral wire touch?
A short circuit happens when a “hot” wire (black) touches another hot wire or touches a “neutral” wire (white) in one of your outlets. When these two wires touch, a large amount of current flows, creating more heat than the circuit can handle, so it shuts off.
Can you double tap neutrals?
Double tapped neutrals can expand and contract enough to the point where the connection becomes loose. The loose connection could overheat and cause a fire. Check out these double tapped neutrals I found during an inspection. These connections loosened up over time causing arcing and overheating.
Why do I have 2 neutral wires?
There are two black and two white wires in an outlet box because the outlet is in the middle of a series circuit, accepting power from another source and sending it on. Two cables are hot wires, bringing the power in and carrying it onward to the next. Two cables are neutral and do the same.
Can I add another neutral bar to a panel?
So the neutral bars have thermal considerations ground bars do not, as well as, you don’t want current to normally be present on the panel chassis, which is grounded. So you cannot add additional neutral bars, but they provided enough neutral slots for your needs, so you are all set.
Can a neutral wire be overloaded?
Overloading Of The Grounded (Neutral) Conductor.
Failure to properly terminate the ungrounded (hot) conductors to separate phases could cause the grounded (neutral) conductor to become overloaded from excessive neutral current, and the insulation could be damaged or destroyed.
Can a dedicated circuit have a shared neutral?
Moderator. A dedicated vs separate circuit is the argument– As I seeit a dedicated circuit should not share a neutral and a separate circuit may share it.
What is a dedicated neutral wire connection?
First and most importantly, the dedicated line ensures that no other loads share the same two power wires. Other loads, if connected, might draw currents that could cause voltage drops in the building wiring that supplies the critical load.
Does neutral wire have power?
To summarize: the hot wire carries electricity from the power supply and takes it to the load (lightbulb). Neutral wires take the used electricity from the load and bring it back to the power supply.
Can I add a neutral wire to my light switch?
Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: Because typically it means you're gonna have to open up walls or that you're gonna have to run new wiring through conduit.
Why does neutral wire have no voltage?
In electrical engineering, when we say the voltage at point X is V, we actually are measuring the voltage between point X and an implicit other point called “ground”. In the electric power grid, “neutral” is ground, by definition. So the voltage of the neutral wire is always zero… By definition.
Why am I getting 120 volts on my neutral?
If you have a neutral wire removed from the neutral bus bar in your panel it is possible to see 120VAC on that wire if the circuit breaker for that circuit is turned on and there is a load connected to the circuit and load device is also turned on.
Should a neutral wire have voltage?
The neutral wire is often said to have zero voltage on it. If you touch that wire on a live system, however, you will often find out very quickly that technically having zero voltage is very different from meaning there is no electricity present.
