NanciL
Bakersville, NC, USA
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for any of you electricians or electrical engineers.
If I have a 20 amp circuit with 2/c # 12 feeding 20 amp receptacles: will I be in accordance with the NEC if I tap off one of the receptacles with 2/c # 14 and then run through a single pole 15 amp switch to a light fixture ?
I retired ten years ago and don't relish the idea of running out and buying a new code book
thanks in advance,
Jack L
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mking
Indianland,South Carolina
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As long as you don't tap off your kitchen recp circuit or bathroom recp circuit you will be fine.Lighting load can't be caught off your two kitchen circuits.If you have a 20 amp circuit feeding your bathroom you may catch the lights in that bathroom but you can't leave the bathroom and take it some place else.If its another circuit you are talking about then it might be code compliant.As per table 310.16 a #14 is good for 20 amps,and you can use 15 amp rated devices on 20 amp circuits.Hope this helps
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mikhen
oley, pa
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I don't have a code book handy, but that info is correct in some, but not all situations. In most residential circumstances, a 14 gauge wire should be protected at 15 amps, max. There are some situations that it can go on a 20amp, but off the top of my head, I don't remember what the footnotes are.
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donsm60
Florida
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Nothing baffles me more than electrical codes! I’d probably guess there have been 20,341 changes in the last ten years  
Good luck!
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Benntexas
Texas
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Just off the top of my head, sounds OK to me.. like others, no code book in front of me.. Shoot if anyone ever pulls a code check on this brick and mortar place of mine I am going to jail. :-)
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Matthew_B
The boonies near Dallas, Oregon
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Nope, it's in violation of code.
14 gauge wire must be protected by 15A breaker. It's also against code to reduce the wire size out on the circuit, so swapping the breaker with a 15A one won't work either.
Just get 12 gauge wire, and wire the circuit with that.
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LoudRam
New Jersey
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Matthew_B wrote:Nope, it's in violation of code.
14 gauge wire must be protected by 15A breaker. It's also against code to reduce the wire size out on the circuit, so swapping the breaker with a 15A one won't work either.
Just get 12 gauge wire, and wire the circuit with that.
Agreed, use a 12 gauge wire and be done with it. Putting 14 ga wire on a 20 amp breaker is a big no no.
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mking
Indianland,South Carolina
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It isn't a code violation.Lets say you have a A/C unit that pulls 10.7amps,and the max OCP is 20 amps.You can pull #14 for your branch circuit and fuse this @ the max of the A/C nameplate which is 20 amps.The NEC addresses this in table 310.16. Max on #14 is 20,#12 is 25,and #10 is 35.I know if you come from the old school this doesn't sound correct,but it is what it is.
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mikhen
oley, pa
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mking wrote:It isn't a code violation.Lets say you have a A/C unit that pulls 10.7amps,and the max OCP is 20 amps.You can pull #14 for your branch circuit and fuse this @ the max of the A/C nameplate which is 20 amps.The NEC addresses this in table 310.16. Max on #14 is 20,#12 is 25,and #10 is 35.I know if you come from the old school this doesn't sound correct,but it is what it is.
Like I said earlier, I knew there were footnotes to this, but for practical lighting purposes, 14 wire should be on 15 amps.
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wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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Thought I posted in this thread.
The simple rule is NEVER hook a 14 ga wire to a 12 ga wire
I am fond of using water systems to illistrate electrical systems.. This is one exception. You can hook a 1/2 inch pipe to a 3/4 inch pipe, but do not try this with wires. If the wire hooked to the breaker is 12 ga, ALL the wires should be 12ga
That said, Just use 12ga in your example instead of 14ga and you should be good
(or put in a Sub Panel with a 15 amp breaker in it, 12ga to the breaker and 14 ga out)
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