The white is part of a 2 conductor cable where it is allowed to be used as a hot conductor. It may pre-date the requirement to be marked as a hot. It is definitely not a neutral.
That is correct. I let that post stand hoping that I would be corrected. First, I don’t like editing my posts second, other post may be taken out of context should I edit mine.
Good catch.
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I only asked because when you say ALL conductors in a 240v circuit MUST be the same gauge then that seems to be absolute. Certainly one or more of the circuit conductors can be larger. With standard cables #8 and larger the EGC is smaller than the other conductors.
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Ok, I misstated one issue, and attempted to over simplify this issue by not referring/indicating that unknowns, such as conductor temp rating, load, materials, etc. can alter the requirements - see NFPA 70 2020 Chapter 3 Section 310 Tables starting at 310.15 if you want a place to start defining those.
My point was, the safest practice is that ALL conductors in a 240v circuit SHOULD be the same gauge - and I stand by that comment.
I get that the use of the word “MUST” in that context could be confusing if someone reading, knows about the variables, but in my mind at the moment, it seemed more Potatoes-potatoes.
And just to clarify, the mis-statement that Ryan, Mike, and Jim caught about a neutral could not be attached to the ungrounded side of the buss was absolutely correct. I started the thought of the black wire being the wrong color if it were a neutral - which is true - but I did not go back to retrace my thoughts when making that post (it was a bad day in general) so I simply tried to quickly close the post in haste and did not proofread what I had written in three different sittings because of distractions - my bad. Ryan caught it, and I saw it last night, but frankly just was not in the best frame of mind to address it right then.
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