Burned neutral conductor wire


Saw this burned neutral wire on the busbar today. It was the only wire damaged. Wire above it had some oxidation, couldn’t tell if the damaged wire was oxidized. Anyone have thoughts on what might cause this? No double tapping of the neutrals were observed. Thanks.

loose connections cause heat…heat causes what you have there…what it looks like from Ohio anyway…

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May be an improper multi-wire branch circuit

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Jim is on it.
Heat rises, probably why the wire above is damaged (energy transfer).

Most electrical fires are caused by a loose neutral wire.

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Could have been a loose connection, an improperly terminated MWBC or both. Since there are red conductors in the panel a miswired MWBC is a possibility.

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Other than saying your job can be done once you’ve observed and reported…
as others have said it’s likely a loose connection, one that was not tight enough to start and got looser over time, creating resistance, creating heat.

Reporting on what circuit that is could help also, though it can be hard to tangle that out later.