Pretty Coloured Wires

[gbeichho]

I've noticed that they sell Red coloured 14/2 in the stores. I was told that it was for AFCI protected ciruits. Are there any code based rules around this?

If I'm putting an AFCI breaker, I will be making a run from the breaker to the first box using a new wire.

Should I make it a red wire?

The rest of the runs within that circuit will remain what they are today.

Thanks,

George

[Homer]

I've noticed that they sell Red coloured 14/2 in the stores. I was told that it was for AFCI protected ciruits. Are there any code based rules around this?

If I'm putting an AFCI breaker, I will be making a run from the breaker to the first box using a new wire.

Should I make it a red wire?

The rest of the runs within that circuit will remain what they are today.

Thanks,

George
Do not use that "red" color coded cable for anything other than 240V applications.

That red jacketed 14/2 cable contains a red conductor, a black conductor and a bare ground. It does not contain a white conductor for the neutral.

You cannot remark a red or black conductor of that guage as a neutral, you can only mark a white conductor as HOT. Using this cable for a 120V circuit would be grounds for failure on inspection.

Whoever told you that it was for AFCI circuits is definitely misinformed. It's mainly used for baseboard heaters and central air conditioners.

Homer

[mdshunk]

Curious? Is this a product sold mainly in Canada? I havn't seen red NM cable in the US (maybe I havn't asked). The only red cable I've used is the low voltage stuff used for fire alarm wiring. Neat product, this red NM cable...

[Homer]

Curious? Is this a product sold mainly in Canada? I havn't seen red NM cable in the US (maybe I havn't asked). The only red cable I've used is the low voltage stuff used for fire alarm wiring. Neat product, this red NM cable...
I don't know if there's anything similar in the US but here's a link to the product.

Red Jacketed 2-Conductor Cable (http://www.nexansenergy.com/egy/equip/bw/nonmetal.html#nonmet3)

http://www.nexansenergy.com/egy/images/NMD90HEATEX.jpg

Homer

[gbeichho]

I made a mistake, it's actually blue sheathed 14/2 @ Home Depot in Canada.

I also priced out the AFCI breaker. Sure makes me want to limit the number of those I install. $75.00 CAD for one. (Federal Pioneer stab-lok)

[mdshunk]

Sure makes me want to limit the number of those I install. $75.00 CAD for one. (Federal Pioneer stab-lok)

You may also want to upgrade the whole panel while you're at it. Do an internet search on the history of these Federal Pioneer/Federal Pacific stab-lok panels. Not the spiffiest reputation.

[gbeichho]

I did that research a while ago and there are a couple of points:

1) The problems I saw originated from breakers manufactured in the US. Canadian Federal Pioneer did not come from the same manufacturer and is currently manufactured by Schneider electric in Canada. There was no evidence in the articles on the web implicating the devices made in Canada.

2) I have never heard of any problems with the Federal Pioneer boards/breakers in Canada and they appear in at least 1/2 of the installations I've seen. I also asked my electrician about them and he did not know of any problems.

3) Upgrading the panel would be extremely expensive as I would need to involve HydroOne and an electrician to switch the Main feed for me. I would have to see hard data implicating the Canadian version of the breakers before I replaced the panel.

4) Replacing all of my breakers would also be very expensive although more and more of these breakers are fairly new as I am replacing the runs, I replace the breakers as well.

If anyone has any information regarding the safety of the Canadian made breakers I would be very interested. The only information I have found is a recall notice for breakers made between August 1, 1996 and June 11, 1997.

George

[Homer]

I made a mistake, it's actually blue sheathed 14/2 @ Home Depot in Canada.
As long as the sheath label says NMD90 and there is a black and a white conductor then you can use this new blue sheathed cable. The color of the sheath doesn't matter, it's what's inside that counts.

There are no code references to the color of the sheath. Recently, manufacturers started using the scheme of white=#14, yellow=#12, orange=#10 to help inspectors verify cabling sizes. It's more colorful than everything being white.

Homer

[gbeichho]

OK, I was wondering if the sheathing colour had any code rules around it. Maybe I will use that blue stuff to run an AFCI circuit. I wasn't going to re-wire an AFCI circuit to the bedrooms given the cost of the stupid breakers, but I've changed my mind.

My cottage would go up like cinder box (only drywall is in the kitchen, the rest is wood panel) if there was ever a problem... and whoever wired it originally, did a **** poor job. (splices in attic, uncovered J-boxes etc). Also, the recepticles were of poor quality as some have completely disintegrated when I removed them. All this makes me think that an AFCI breaker in the bedrooms might not be a bad idea, even at $75.00 a pop. I should be able to cover all the rooms with 2.

I'm still waiting for a response from Schneider electric on their Fed Pioneer Stab-lok breakers...

[southof 7]

Thats right there is no definate code controlling the color of a cable sheath. However its common practice in some parts of Ontario to use the colored sheathed nm 14/2 for identification in new installations. Blue for arc fault yellow for gfci and red for heating. The part about the identified nuetral conductor was almost code verbatim. IF you want to check on it, its in the Ontario electrical safety code 4-032 to 4-036. There has been however a massive recall in the works of fp and square d arc fault breakers in 2004 check the following link to read the recall bullitin . http://www.esasafe.com/pdf/Safety_Alerts/04-03-AL.pdf