Double tap on main?

Then, it appears, the feeder would have no satisfactory OCPD from the double lug to the sub panel. :smile:

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Peter’s got it!

But that’s not a double tap.

Drew call it a tap. Because the conductors feeding the breaker are tapped not the breaker.

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The irony of this all is that it appears there are open breakers with no conductors connected on the right side. The installer/hack went through a good risk to do it wrong and have no breaker protection besides the 200 AMP main service disconnect…Makes you wonder!

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I disagree, the larger conductor is not tapped. The connection is made in the lug.

I’ll give you that. Now where does the tap obtain it’s power? Not through the breaker.

The conductor?

The lug is part of the breaker.

The lug is no different than a wire nut.

Oh boys…
Is that a piece of combustible material next to the neutral bus??? Looks like cardboard to me. :wink:

  1. The lugs would need to be listed for 2 conductors for it to be OK. They probably aren’t but if they were:
  2. If they feed a subpanel with a main disconnect or the 6 or fewer levers/hand movements rule applies and the conductor and disconnect amperages are not violations, then where’s the hazard?

Those conductors look awfully small to be feeding a subpanel.

Agreed. Defects aren’t always ‘hazards’.

Is this a sub-panel or a service? If it’s the latter regardless of what you call it it is not a tap. A tap as outlined by Article 240 of the NEC is a feeder tap, since these conductors are on the line side of the service disconnect they are service entrance conductors not tap conductors. They are not connected to a feeder.

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When I see this its often because someone wanted to quickly add power to another circuit without adding another breaker. Its wrong call it, send it to the electrician and let him prescribe the fix

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Rob

Don’t we have taps other than feeders? I believe that MH defines any wire smaller than the wire that it is connected to, a tap?

I’m sure that I have heard him say something like that in one of his videos. I don’t remember which one.

Yup, Mike Holt has some really great videos! Most are out of the realm of home inspectors, however.

Yes but watch the basic ones. Especially code changes and grounding/Bonding.

Tons of free stuff

That’s just it. Mike Holt’s focus is on NEC topics for electricians who are already qualified. I’ve used Mike Holt’s stuff for more than 25 years in my continuing education classes for electricians. His stuff is first rate.

Mike Holt, however, is not focused on training people for whom the electrical trade is secondary. Home inspectors who do not come from the electrical trades are not going to understand all the subtleties and nuances that they would need to understand to be able to properly apply code requirements to an installation. I’ve worked with many master electricians who still struggle with some of the concepts. They have thousands of hours experience in the trade. How is a home inspector, who is a generalist, going to understand enough about code theory to be able to apply codes to installations.

An ideal example is the topic of what most home inspectors call “Double taps”. The reality is that multiple conductors on a terminal that is not designed for multiple conductors can range from almost no hazard at all to being extremely hazardous. How many home inspectors, though, take the time to know and understand the differences?

As I’ve said many times, learning construction from memorizing codes is like trying to learn to drive by memorizing road signs. It doesn’t work that way. You need to know how to work the car first. Knowing what a stop sign is isn’t going to do you much good if you don’t know the difference between the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal.

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EXACTLY. My post was simply trying to show HI that NM could be 'under a moist but not nailed to just the moist. But the post turned into attack Mike instead of other experts jumping in to help newbies under what is ok and what is not.

It’s fine if you don’t like me. Just don’t try to destroy a valid point for that reason.

I have watched many of Mike Holt’s videos but I agree with George:

So there you have it… :smile:

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There are other taps such as fixture taps but I was referencing the two possibilities for this thread based on the photo. Those small conductors would be either feeder tap conductors or service entrance conductors.