What up? Everybody. Welcome to another episode of Let's Ask Paul. My
name is Paul Labernathy, your host, and welcome to the podcast. If
you've never listened to me before, you're in for a treat. We're going
to talk about a specific area of the National Logical Code that it's caused quite
a bit of debate on social media, and I'm going to tell you you
all know my opinion of social media, so it is what it is.
I won't rehash all that, but again I always tell people, you know,
you got to think about the source of people that are giving you these
arguments on social media or you know how the disagreements go and how things can
turn south really quickly, and everybody wants to pound their chests. So you
know, this is why on TikTok, I don't do comments anymore, because
again, it doesn't matter even when somebody's wrong, they just will not let
it die. And it basically taints your entire educational process when you have people
mixing in bs and it just doesn't it just doesn't make well for education on
those type of platforms where people can just banter back and forth and then somebody
strolls into it and they have no clue what's going on, and they don't
know who to believe, and now they get even more confused than they were
at the beginning. So it's not to say that we don't have some good
educators out there on these platforms. I mean there's some great ones out there,
but again it's ripe for misinformation, so I just choose not to get
into it. There. People know that if they want questions answered from me,
that they can go to the Paul Abernathy dot com, or they can
go on our waysite, or they can get our mobile app and ask questions
through our mobile app. There's this other ways to do it. The most
preferred obviously is through Paul Abernathy dot com. That allows me to really have
you give me really good details of your question and then I can you know,
like the code section, or maybe you're asking me about a certain cycle
of the code, be very specific. And if you're working on the twenty
seventeen, let me know that. If you want an answer in the twenty
twenty, let me know that that type of thing. Okay, so today's
topic, we're going to be talking about this posting that people do over on
social media. There's a gentleman who's propagating really false information and he puts himself
out there as an expert, and he lives down in Florida. And know
it's not who you think I'm talking about. This person also lives down Florida,
happens to live thirty or forty miles from the better known gentleman that lives
in Florida. And this guy's on TikTok and social media and he's really starting
to spread things that are just not true. Obviously his opinion and they're not
accurate. But okay, again, I that's what's spawn me to put out
the video. Trust your source, and really give a lot of thought to
when people start spitting stuff out, What is their background, what have they
done in the system? Have they asked them to show you any public inputs
that they've submitted through the years, Really ask them for stuff rather than just
believing what they say. So there's an example here where somebody asks us,
can you reidentify a let's say, a blue wire or a blue conductor,
or a black conductor or a red conductor in a multiiconductor cable? Can you
reidentify it as a grounded conductor with white or gray out of finish, or
by adding you know, white or gray tape or something like that to identify
it as a grounded conductor, even though it was originally a blue, a
black, or a red. So it's quite interesting because I was actually in
the room. I'm on this code panel. This is code panel five,
and this is under two hundred more specifically two hundred dot six E, and
I remember the debates, the arguments and the discussions that were revolving around this,
and obviously working for a wire and cable manufacturer, we understood that,
look, the cable's already made. Nobody's going to pull new wires in,
nobody's going to be confused. The cable's already pre done. It's not like
a raceway where you can pull conductors in and out and things like that.
It's already pre done, pre done cable assembly. Okay, So that is
some assurance that it's whatever's there is going to stay there. So what you
have is subtle changes that took place to two hundred dot six e where there
was an exception in there that allowed you to reidentify a conductor and a multiiconductor
cable, and you re identify it by using distinctive whitter gray markings or other
equally effective means labeling or whatever you know, equally effective meaning it's very clear
what it's being used as. Okay, I think the easiest thing to do
is use whier gray tape. It's probably the easiest thing to do, but
it's not the only way you could do it. So anyway, I'm going
to read you two hundred dot six E. And there's a gentleman out there
who's propagating, for example, that this can't you can't do that, and
he's absolutely wrong because of the way this code. And I'm going to break
this down for you. And then now if he wants to change the code,
I'm going to tell you then the easiest thing you can do is submit
a public input. Right now, you're going to have to wait until probably
twenty twenty seven when we start taking public inputs for the twenty twenty nine edition
of the NEEC. Hopefully i'll be retired by then, but anyway, at
least from the code panels, I'm getting a little bit up on that.
So look at two hundred six E and let's read it and let's dissect this
thing. All right. It says E grounded conductors of multi conductor cables.
So we're talking about creating the grounded conductor or having a grounded conductor. So
here's what it says. It says, the insulated grounded conductor in a multiiconductor
cable shall be identified by a continuous white or gray outer finish, or by
three continuous white or gray stripes on other than green insulation along its entire length.
Okay, So that's the first sentence. So basically, the grounded conductor
inside of a multiconductor cable, the general rule here is that it needs to
be white, or it needs to be gray finish continuously in its entire length,
or you could have three continuous wider gray stripes when it's tinuous length.
And of course this can't be done on insulation that is green. Makes sense,
sure, So it could be black, blue, red, whatever,
and have three white or gray stripes on it and it would be okay to
use that as a grounded conductor. Be fine, Okay, So then the
next sentence goes for conductors that are four A, a G or larger in
cables, identification of the grounded conductors shall be permitted to comply with two hundred
dot six B. So that is the rule in two hundred do six B
that says, okay, well they're four and larger, then they could be
continuous white, they could be continuous gray, they could have the three continuous
whier gray stripes, just like what it previously said. But then it has
an item four. This is B four, and it says that at the
time of the installation can be identified by distinctive white or gray markings at its
termination, right, and these markings shall encircle the conductor's insulation. That's at
the time of installation. So that would allow me. And by the way,
just so you know, that is two hundred dot six B. That
is not specific to a cable that is race ways. That is basically that
is the generic application for the reidentification if you're going to choose that option for
the grounded conductor. Okay, that is not a multiiconductor cable assembly rule.
So this is why it sends it back to that saying, you know what,
if you four and larger, you can follow those rules. That's fine.
Now it goes on to say for multiductor flat cables with conductors that are
four and larger and external ridge shall be permitted to identify the grounded conductor.
Okay, So if you have a flat cable, let's say, like a
larger UF cable, then let's say you could actually put little ridges on it
and that would identify that is the grounded conductor. That's fine. So now
you get down to the question that people ask. They say, well,
what about six and smaller? All right, So then you get down to
exception number one. So exception number one is saying conductors within multiiconductor cables shall
be permitted to be re identified at their terminations at the time of installation by
a distinct white or gray marking or other equally effective means. Now, I
was in the room when during this discussion, and a lot of people are
going to say, well, Paul, this is contradictory here. Why say,
in the general code language we call the charging statement of two hundred dot
six E, it makes a mention to four and larger that you go to
two hundred dot six B in which gives a provision to reidentify. Well,
if everybody thinks that this exception number one only applies to four and larger,
then you would not have had any need for that statement. Inside of two
hundred dot six e right, you wouldn't have any need for that. The
fact of the matter is it's telling you, if it's four and larger,
follow the rules in two hundred dot six B. But if it's six and
smaller. This says conductors within multi conductor cable shop being permitted to be re
identified at their termination at the time of installation. So that's going to be
applicable to six and smaller. Now there's some people that would argue this and
say, no, no, no, that's not what it meant. But
that is what we discussed a code Panel five. When this happened. No,
people say, well, why don't you just get rid of the four
and larger and that way the exception applies to all of them. Well,
we could have done that. The problem is during the meeting we couldn't all
agree. Obviously, the wire and cable manufacturers. We felt, look,
it shouldn't matter. It's a cable assembly, it's set, the certain number
of conductors are in there already. What does it matter if we take a
blue conductor and reidentified as a white Why should it matter? And so in
some people said no, it can only apply it to four and larger.
Well, if that was the case, then you wouldn't need the exception.
Think about it, folks, It already makes a reference to four and larger
in the charging statement. What do you need the exception for unless it applies
to six and smaller? Think about it, Look at the question, Look
at the actual code language again. Now, let's say you take out the
portion about the four and larger, then exception number one will apply to all
sizes. Correct, We can agree to that. Now you put the statement
about four and larger, it only makes it's permitted to comply with two hundred
dot six B. It's a permissive language. It shall be permitted, so
to me the exception number one. And there's people that are going to disagree
with this, But being the industry that I'm in, and being that we
like in this case, the ambiguity of the way the code is written for
the age to make an interpretation, there would be no reason to have exception
number one. If you only intended four and larger to be reidentified in a
multiiconductor cable, why would you even need exception number one Because you're already getting
the permission to do that in the second sentence of two hundred dot six E.
You're already getting that permission, So what's the point of the exception then,
so the reason was under the exception, previously you could reidentify based on
maintenance and supervision. And then the argument was, and I believe Phil Simmons
is the one that submitted the public input, and we all debated it during
the meeting, and it's like it, you know, it doesn't make sense
because the cable assembly is already set the conductors. It doesn't matter whether they're
four larger or six gauge or fourteen gauge. It wouldn't matter in that cable
assembly. Why because we already do similar re identification practices in two hundred dot
seven C one and that typically is for three ways and full way switch loops
and reidentification, and those are smaller conductors fourteen twelve ten, And it doesn't
matter, it doesn't hurt anything. We didn't need any special permission, we
didn't need any maintenance of supervision. We already get permission to do that.
So it didn't make sense to have that in the exception. And then during
that debate during Code Panel five, it was discussed that you know what,
we'll leave the part in there about four and larger because we don't want to
get into creating code. We don't want to take it as a code panel
and start ripping it apart. It's still applicable that if it's four and larger,
you can follow the rules in two hundred dot six B, which is
be reidentification. But you also have the exception number one that says, okay,
any size of conductor that's in a multiiconductor cable, you're permitted to reidentify
it. And for the people that say no, the exception only applies to
four and larger. Why in the hell would you have the second sentence that's
referencing four and larger. Let that sink in. Now, if you think
that's an error from the code panel, then you have your opportunity to submit
a public input. Not until twenty seven now, by the way, because
we're already beyond the public inputs. In fact, we've already voted on the
public inputs for the twenty twenty six that's already been voted. We'll have an
episode where I go over some of the results from the voting. But so
at this point that exception must apply to all sizes. Otherwise there is no
point in having the second sentence in there. Okay, So again going to
be there's a gentleman that disagrees with that, and there is one statement that
he makes that he just goes way off and says that this rule was never
intended for grounded conductors, when the whole damn title of two hundred dot sixty
E is what grounded conductors of multiiconductor k That's the whole topic that we're having.
Okay. So when you look at the exception, it's very clear.
It says conductors within multiductor cables shot be permitted to be re identified at their
terminations at the time of installation by distinctive white or gray. What the hell
are they going to apply to it has no. You wouldn't apply this to
a white, it's already white. You wouldn't apply this to a gray,
it's already gray. So what are you applying it to. You're applying it
to maybe an extra blue one that you have, or a red one that
you have, or a black one that you have that you're not using.
Okay, in your normal circuit, you have this extra conductor, You're like,
dude, hey, I need a neutral, I need a ground to
conductor. Boom. If it's a multiiconductor cable. This allows you to be
able to reidentify. It makes sense. So this is why I tell you,
folks, unless you're sitting in on a code panel, unless you can
hear the discussions, and I encourage everybody to come to code panel meetings.
It's a great experience if you never had it, and listen to the conversation.
I was there. I was in this conversation. There was never an
intent for the exception number one to only apply it to four and larger because
it would make the second sentence pointless. Now people say, well, if
you wanted this to apply to all conductors, and what's the point of the
second sentence, Well, it was because we just couldn't get consensus to remove
it. But we did have consensus on the exception number one and how it
should be applied. Right. I was there, I heard it. We
had the discussion, and that's why we did not argue it and felt that
it was acceptable to move it forward. And I can tell you I don't
see any proposals for the twenty twenty six to change that or remove that.
So that's kind of where we ended it up. Okay, So hopefully that
clears the air on a multiiconductor cable. Of when it comes to being able
to reidentify the grounded conductor, Now, when would you do that? Just
you know, just for craps and giggles. If I had a twelve to
three and I had a black, red, blue, and a white,
and that was a multi wire brand circuit, distinctively three circuits that share a
neutral. Okay, because a multi wire brand circuit allows me to do that,
or obviously could be used in a three phase application. Now, but
what if I wanted to have a cable and I needed two separate okay,
two separate neutrals. Okay, if that was the case, right where I
have, for example, multiple circuits, and I'm going to try to meet
the rules of two hundred dot four B, which is for multiple circuits.
And so let's say that I want to have this separate this separate circuit,
so you know, like a black with the white and then maybe a red
with a white, but I don't have another white in there, so I
can take the blue and reidentify it in that multiconductor cable assembly. Now,
people ask me, what is a multi conductor. It's two or more so,
any cable that has two or more is a multiconductor cable. Don't overthink
that that type of scenario. But we want to remember that two hundred four
says neutral conductors shall not be used for more than one brand circuit, okay,
or it says for more than one multi wire brand circuit. Right,
Well, maybe you have a twelve to three that you want to convert to
two separate brand circuits and not have a multi wire brand circuit. Well,
this is how you would do it. You'd take the blue you reidentified in
a multiiconductor cable assembly like that. There is no hazard, there is no
harm, it's not gonna hurt anything. Conductors can't be pulled out. We
can't increase the size and cause a problem. It's already preset from the manufacturer.
So that was a whole argument that was made. Now that can't be
the same for raceways. That's why you have the sizing and break point from
six and smaller and four and larger in two hundred dot six for identification of
the ground of conductor. But again for and larger you do have that reidentification
allowance. But when you get to multiconductor cables, you're given the permission because
it is a cable assembly and a multiconductor that you can reidentify, and it's
not size specific for that exception. Okay again people that say, but yes,
it only applies to four and larger, that is not true. You
wouldn't need the second sentence if that was the case. Why would you have
an exception saying that conductors of a multi conductor cable can be re identified?
If the Code General requirement already says that you can do it four and larger,
why would you even need the exception. So again, at the end
of the day, folks, be careful in your trusted sources. Make sure
you do your due diligence. Don't just listen to what people say on social
media. Use a little common sense and you two can get to the answers.
Till next time, folks, Stay safe, God bless Boom, askballo,
asking, ask nohing I