Missing the neutral


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Old 07-06-14, 05:05 PM
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Missing the neutral

A short while back i posted a question after discovering this light socket had been buried in the ceiling and used to power a few wall plugs in the basement.
The light socket is powered with the red in a 14-3 run, which made no sense in what i thought was the wiring layout.

Someone posted it was a traveler that had been hot wired, which is exactly the case.

I found the other end of the line (not at all where I thought it would have been) and found the black tied to the red. But no neutral to be found. It appears to have been cut off flush with the box and just left while only the black in (14-2) and the red out (14-3) are capped in the box (this is theory until next weekend when I open the wall and remove the boxes).

Next weekend I would like to pull a chunk of this line for new wire.
If I can not get all the NMD-1 from the feeder panel to the splice box, to the light socket and on to two switches in a single session, is the addition of a single ground from the socket, (which will become just a splice box from now on) to the main panel until I finish the entire line?

Any other surprises I may face that come to mind?
 
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Old 07-06-14, 06:46 PM
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Is this a grounded circuit? If not, it should not be extended.
 
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Old 07-06-14, 07:12 PM
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Tolyn Ironhand
Is this a grounded circuit? If not, it should not be extended.
The entire house was ungrounded NMD-1 when I bought it a year ago.
In bits and pieces I have been changing the old wire for new wire as I do projects.

I pulled the original feeder panel which had the fuses removed and the 10-2 spliced to the 2 14-2 lines.
So it is new wire from the service panel to the feeder panel and grounded to that point.
Now I would like to pull about 50 percent of one line that feeds the front of the home and replace all the wire as I go.

But if it takes a few sessions to finish, can I run a single ground wire from the splice box to the service panel which would make the run:

New wire -> Old wire -> New Wire

With the single ground wire going from the third leg, which will be new wire to the panel.
 
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Old 07-06-14, 08:08 PM
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So it is new wire from the service panel to the feeder panel and grounded to that point.
Ok.... so you ran a new piece of 10-3 w/ground and installed a new service panel.... have I got that correct ?
Now you're going to put two 15A breakers in that new panel to feed your existing receptacle areas.

I'm trying to figure out the need for an extra ground wire if you're replacing old with new wiring.
 
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Old 07-06-14, 09:05 PM
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My daughters tell me I am the world record holder for worst explanations.
I think they are right, sorry.


PJmax

So it is new wire from the service panel to the feeder panel and grounded to that point.
Ok.... so you ran a new piece of 10-3 w/ground and installed a new service panel.... have I got that correct ?
Because more than likely I will only get the last leg of changing the old for new done this coming weekend and will have to revisit to finish the middle leg of the job.

The middle section will require cutting holes into the wall in about 4 spots to pull wire.
If I do not finish in the same weekend, it could be a month before I can get back to wrap it.
At least the third leg would be grounded to the panel until the line is completely overhauled.



PJmax
Now you're going to put two 15A breakers in that new panel to feed your existing receptacle areas.
The new breakers have been in place for a while, but old NMD-1 is the wire out of the feeder panel.
New NMD-90 is wire in.
That part was the first leg of the project.
 
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Old 07-07-14, 08:39 PM
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PJmax
I'm trying to figure out the need for an extra ground wire if you're replacing old with new wiring.
Tonight while prepping for the weekend project I found the "missing" lines which were causing most of my concern for the next leg of this.

They were in an old wall plug on the back side of the wall that had been pushed in to the wall and covered. Completely cutting that wall plug out of the line and all the splices in the box will make this a straight forward weekend project.
Until the next surprise I suppose.

I have so much respect for electricians who have to figure out all these hidden jewels on the fly all the time.
 
 

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