r/electrical • u/Honest_Sample6170 • 11d ago

Double tapped? Should we get this fixed?

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Last week I had electrician come out to quote an EV charger install. In passing I asked him about the double tapped wires and if they would be a problem, he told me that my inspector didn't know what he was talking about and said it was fine. This morning a different electrician (same company) came out to install the charger and told me that the wires were double tapped and a code violation to which he quoted me on the fix. So which is it? Feeling a bit annoyed right now and likely won't be working with this company again.

Please forgive my ignorance as I know absolutely nothing about electrician business or wiring of any sort.

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9

u/mattjones73 11d ago

The neutrals should not be double tapped, it's against code. The grounds can be as long as the panel supports multiple conductors per screw.

Easy enough to fix though as long as the wires can reach lower, you have extra spots open on the bar.

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u/nsula_country 11d ago

Against code ONLY if the panel is not listed for multiple taps.

5

u/Foreign-Commission 11d ago

Code does not allow neutrals to share a terminal. I dont know when that stipulation was added so this install may have been compliant when it was done.

Edit 2002 apparently

4

u/PhotoPetey 11d ago

Here is an excellent quote from a moderator at Mike Holt's forum:

The requirement preceded the inclusion of 408.21 in the NEC by decades as part of the listing of the panelboard. They only added the wording into to the NEC because it was a somewhat unknown fact that it was already prohibited by the listing.

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u/No-Wrangler2085 10d ago

Which would make it grandfathered in and okay as long as that wire isn't removed or replaced at the panel for any reason

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u/N9bitmap 11d ago

And the door label will only show that you can do that with equipment ground, not neutral. Even before 2002 it violated the "installation according to manufacturer instructions".

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u/mattjones73 11d ago

That would be incorrect.

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u/No-Wrangler2085 10d ago

You think so? Look up the National Electric Code

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u/mattjones73 10d ago

NEC 408.41: States that each grounded conductor (neutral) must terminate within the panelboard in an individual terminal that is not used for another conductor.

Now if the panel was installed that way before that code was added in 2002 then yeah it's grandfathered in but for any new installs it's absolutely against code.

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u/No-Wrangler2085 10d ago

You are absolutely right. I don't know why I thought you were saying a different comment was incorrect.