1 00:00:05,759 --> 00:00:34,320 Ask Paul. Paul, Ask Paul? What Up? What Up? Everybody? 2 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:39,079 Welcome to another episode of Let's Ask Paul, the podcast where I, 3 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:45,240 Paul Abernathy, answer all of your pressing electrical code related questions using an online 4 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,920 portal that is one hundred percent free. That's right, you heard me. 5 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:55,039 It's one hundred percent free. Anybody can use it very discreet. All you 6 00:00:55,119 --> 00:01:03,399 go is to Paul Abernathy dot com. That's Paul aber nat Hy dot com 7 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,280 and it's sponsored by WIS. You go there, You put in your information, 8 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,719 you put in your question, you click that submit button and it will 9 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,319 come to me and I will answer your question either in an email response or 10 00:01:14,439 --> 00:01:19,560 an upcoming podcast. And starting on June twenty eighth of twenty twenty three, 11 00:01:19,359 --> 00:01:25,480 fast Tracks Live will launch. It's available on all of our social media platforms 12 00:01:25,519 --> 00:01:30,000 as well as fast tracks Tube and Rumble Do. You can actually watch the 13 00:01:30,079 --> 00:01:36,359 episodes and I will answer your questions live on the air and hopefully you tune 14 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:41,719 in and get the answer you need. But that's something that's starting on June 15 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,599 twenty eighth of twenty twenty three. In case you're listening to this podcast at 16 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,840 a later date, be sure to go check those social media channels and search 17 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,519 for it. I'm sure you'll find the recording of the episode and you can 18 00:01:52,599 --> 00:01:56,040 go back and watch it. Yeah, awesome learning experience because we're going to 19 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,200 do code questions, we're going to be looking at the fast tracks, going 20 00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:05,079 to be answering questions, many lessons. Guest of individuals may come on the 21 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,239 show from time to time, so it's going to be a really neat, 22 00:02:07,359 --> 00:02:09,599 fresh platform, whole new look. If you've been to any of our stuff 23 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:14,560 before, it's a whole new look and we're really excited about it. And 24 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:19,120 it allows me to interact with everybody on multiple platforms at one time, and 25 00:02:19,199 --> 00:02:23,280 so that's what's beautiful thing about it. So hopefully you'll check it out now. 26 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:30,759 This episode here is sponsored by Electrical Code Academy and we are the supplier 27 00:02:30,879 --> 00:02:35,400 of electrical training, whether it's continuing education. We have report for that. 28 00:02:35,479 --> 00:02:38,319 If you need to get your CEU credits, just go check out our website. 29 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:44,280 But we also have a lot of post licensing courses as well. If 30 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,479 you want to enhance your knowledge of grounding and bonding. We have an awesome 31 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:52,840 course that I helped author that was be the grounding and bonding. That's the 32 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:57,319 fast Tracks Purple. If you really want to deep dive into residential maybe that's 33 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:00,439 what your goal is, to be the best residential electrician and you can be, 34 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:05,360 and you want to just learn all the nuances about residential code. When 35 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,479 it comes to the electrical, then you want to go to the fast Tracks 36 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,800 red. If you want to do that for commercial and you're a commercial guy, 37 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,879 or you're transitioning between residential to commercial work and you want to reduce that 38 00:03:15,039 --> 00:03:20,919 learning curve, then check out the fast Tracks Green because that's really immerses you 39 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,919 in commercial. So if you want to learn electrical theory, we have the 40 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:30,159 fast Track Yellow and we even have some more advanced courses like Magenta. And 41 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,840 if you're an HVAC technician or electrician, it does work on HVAC and you 42 00:03:32,879 --> 00:03:37,759 want to learn the troubleshooting and scenarios that might come up and how to fix 43 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:42,280 certain things and really deep dive into electrical when it comes to working on HVA 44 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,159 systems. HVAC, then you want to check out our aqua course. We 45 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,560 have an aqua course, believe it or not, and it's going to talk 46 00:03:49,599 --> 00:03:53,039 about all those things. So it's great for those companies who do work on 47 00:03:53,199 --> 00:03:57,360 HVA systems. It's a great little course to help you with that. Of 48 00:03:57,439 --> 00:04:00,599 course, we also have a budget course in case you know you want to 49 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,080 do the fast Tracks Black but you don't have the funds we get you, 50 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:09,879 So we have on our website what's called a budget version. Now you don't 51 00:04:09,919 --> 00:04:13,759 get all the bells and whistles that you normally wouldn't get. You don't get 52 00:04:13,759 --> 00:04:15,560 the eight hundred exam prep type questions. You get a hundred of them, 53 00:04:15,959 --> 00:04:20,319 but you don't get the same support as the fast Tracks Black would give you. 54 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,120 But if you're on a budget, maybe you've only got a month to 55 00:04:24,199 --> 00:04:27,360 study, and you think you're pretty good and you just want to polish it 56 00:04:27,439 --> 00:04:30,680 off a little bit, then you know the budget program might be the one 57 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,199 for you, So check goes out. They're all available on our website at 58 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:38,160 fast tracks system dot com, and of course there'll be links down in the 59 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,720 description to take you to that website if you're interested. All right, today's 60 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:48,079 episode is talking mainly about ungrounded conductors and grounded conductors and color coordinating and all 61 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,879 that kind of stuff. And I recently did a podcast and I think it 62 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:58,199 is episode one thirty four of the Let's Ask Paul that I talked about phasing 63 00:04:58,959 --> 00:05:01,399 and whether or not you take a black, red, blue and reidentify it 64 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,720 as a brown, orange, yellow, or whatever. And I talked about 65 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,240 that in that episode, so make sure you go back and listen to that. 66 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,319 This one's a little different. This one is kind of talking about the 67 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,720 grounded conductor and maybe and the neutral maybe, and they're not the same, 68 00:05:17,879 --> 00:05:23,120 right, So every neutral is a grounded conductor, but not every grounded conductor 69 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,000 is a neutral. If that complexes you, then you definitely want to make 70 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,920 sure you get into our Purple program on the fast tracks, because that's when 71 00:05:30,959 --> 00:05:36,360 we go into the difference between grounded conductors and ungrounded conductors and equipment ground of 72 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:41,199 conductors, and we talk about what a neutral is, and it's important to 73 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:46,800 understand that not all systems will be neutrals, but they will have a grounded 74 00:05:46,879 --> 00:05:50,759 conductor for a grounded system, and that conductor may or may not be a 75 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:55,839 neutral, depending on its orientation to the other phase conductors in the setup. 76 00:05:55,959 --> 00:05:59,800 So, again a little beyond the scope of this podcast, because I'd rather 77 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:03,680 show you visuals for that, And of course that's where our fast Tracks Purple 78 00:06:03,759 --> 00:06:09,360 comes into play if you're interested in that. But we probably will have a 79 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:16,800 visual lesson on fast Tracks Live. So again, check out the episodes and 80 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,160 maybe you'll Starting June twenty eighth, maybe you'll get something you like on those 81 00:06:20,199 --> 00:06:26,199 episodes. Also, remember that you can submit questions up to twenty four hours 82 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,279 in advance to our shows on Wednesday night. If you have a question that 83 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,959 you want addressed during the Wednesday night show, just go to Paul Abernathy dot 84 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,160 com and submit it that way, or you could send it in by using 85 00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:44,439 support Suppo RT at fast tracks system dot com and we will try to get 86 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,759 your question answered on the upcoming episode or a following episode of fast Tracks Live. 87 00:06:49,199 --> 00:06:55,079 Okay, all right, so let me read today's question. All right, 88 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,480 So let's get into the day's question. It says, hey, Paul 89 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,120 love the podcast. I have a question about a recent job that I just 90 00:07:01,319 --> 00:07:06,680 did. The specifications call for two seventy seven four eighty volt systems to have 91 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:14,360 a color coding of brown orange yellow, and it calls for a white grounded 92 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:19,360 neutral conductor. I've always assumed that the white is for a one twenty two 93 00:07:19,439 --> 00:07:24,319 forty one twenty two eight volt system, and that gray had to be used 94 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,639 as the neutral for a two seventy seven four eighty volt system? Does the 95 00:07:28,759 --> 00:07:32,199 code permit a white neutral to be used for two seventy seven four eighty volt 96 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,120 system? Thanks in advance again, love the podcast and look forward to hearing 97 00:07:36,279 --> 00:07:42,560 your answers. Okay, great, Thank you for sending this question to me, 98 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:47,439 because it's a question that people ask all the time. And again the 99 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:54,600 confusion seems to be color coding. That does the ANC mandates certain color codes, 100 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,879 whether it's un grounded conductors, grounded conductors and neutrals and equipment grounds. 101 00:08:00,319 --> 00:08:05,639 So the code does give us some identification rules. For example, in two 102 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:11,600 hundred dots six, it gives us our neutral identification rules for the grounded neutral 103 00:08:11,639 --> 00:08:16,360 conductor. And then of course in equipment grounds it gives us our requirements and 104 00:08:16,879 --> 00:08:22,000 two fifty one nineteen, so you can go check that out. It gives 105 00:08:22,079 --> 00:08:26,240 us our bare green green with the yellow stripes. It gives us all those 106 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:31,440 rules for color. And then we got this thing about the ungrounded conductors the 107 00:08:31,559 --> 00:08:41,240 hot conductors. And basically the code does not mandate whether or not what color 108 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,799 scheme you want to use. Now, engineers do So if you have an 109 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:50,519 engineering specification, and on that engineering specification the engineer calls for brown, orange, 110 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,720 yellow, then that's what they expect. If they call for black, 111 00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:58,360 red, blue, that's what they expect when it comes to the neutral. 112 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:03,039 If they identified as white, then that's perfectly fine. If they identified in 113 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:09,039 a two seventy seven four evolt system as gray, that's perfect acceptable because under 114 00:09:09,039 --> 00:09:13,399 two hundred dot six, white and gray are also acceptable to be utilized that 115 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:20,399 way. So to answer your question IM in a short if you look under 116 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:26,919 two hundred dot six, it requires certain colors for the grounded neutral conductor. 117 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:33,440 It's either gray or white are permitted, right, So either one would be 118 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:37,320 okay. So it doesn't matter if I'm using one twenty two a weight volt 119 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:39,720 system and I'm using black, gray, blue, and I want to use 120 00:09:39,759 --> 00:09:43,919 gray, that's fine. If I'm having a two seventy seven four evolt system 121 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,600 and i have two different voltage classes in the building. So that's why we 122 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:54,279 often always remember to ten dot five C one when it comes to identification of 123 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,720 gum grounded conductors and all this kind of stuff. If I'm going to identify 124 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,919 the conductors another voltage class in the same building. Then I would identify those 125 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,960 colors differently. So if I'm using gray for the neutral, let's say for 126 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:13,720 the one twenty two forty or one twenty two O eight, then I would 127 00:10:13,759 --> 00:10:16,559 use them. If I'm using white for that, then I would use gray 128 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,960 for the two seventy seven for eighty right, and vice versa. Those type 129 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,159 of things. To identify the systems is what you're going to do. But 130 00:10:24,279 --> 00:10:30,799 the code allows you to use white or gray, and again it will also 131 00:10:30,879 --> 00:10:33,799 let you use any other color other than green or three white or gray stripes. 132 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:41,080 So again it's very flexible in the National Electrical Code. Now, when 133 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:43,440 we're talking about orange, and people bring up all the time, that's a 134 00:10:43,519 --> 00:10:50,720 high leg rule. So if you're going to use colors to identify ungrounded conductors 135 00:10:50,799 --> 00:10:56,440 and it happens to be a high leg delta, high leg system will either 136 00:10:56,519 --> 00:10:58,399 be phase is going to be two o eight. Then if you're going to 137 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:03,600 use colors to identify things, then it has to be orange. But it 138 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:07,519 doesn't. You don't have to use colors, right, I can use other 139 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:11,120 things like marking tape. And if you're using marking tape and it's a color, 140 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,639 then it's going to be orange. I can use numbering system, tagging 141 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:20,039 system, whatever the HJA. It proves I'm able to do that. But 142 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,120 if you're going to use color, then it would be orange. That's going 143 00:11:22,159 --> 00:11:28,120 to be the signifier for that system. But since the question is really just 144 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,799 kind of talking about the grounded neutral, it can be white or gray, 145 00:11:33,399 --> 00:11:35,879 whatever you want it to be. Just remember, if you have two different 146 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:41,759 distinct systems in a building, then one system is use one color because you're 147 00:11:41,799 --> 00:11:46,080 going to have to do identification of the two systems. So the one color 148 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,559 uses white and then the other system, voltage uses gray, and you're going 149 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,919 to be okay. But doesn't matter which one you use. You can put 150 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:56,159 one twenty two eight one, you could use white, the two seventy seven 151 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:00,799 four eighty. In a building, you could use gray or use gray on 152 00:12:00,879 --> 00:12:03,240 the one twenty two eight if you want, and then use white on the 153 00:12:03,279 --> 00:12:05,960 two seventy seven four eighty. That's totally up to you. And it's also 154 00:12:07,159 --> 00:12:09,840 if the engineer called it out, then you're just going to follow what the 155 00:12:09,919 --> 00:12:13,519 engineer says and that's what they want. Now, if you want to deviate 156 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,840 from that, then you just have to reach out to your engineer accordingly and 157 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,000 discuss it. And again maybe they're going to be some kind of modification that 158 00:12:20,039 --> 00:12:24,519 can take place to the engineering specification. But hopefully that answers your question on 159 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:30,720 that one. So let's see if we have another question. Let's see here 160 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:31,879 it says, Hey, Paul, I know you work in the wire and 161 00:12:31,919 --> 00:12:35,279 cable industry, so I've got a question for you. Type MC cable can 162 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,120 be used in parallel sets for feeder applications. I believe that to be true 163 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:45,679 because I've seen it done on a daily basis. It says, in doing 164 00:12:45,759 --> 00:12:50,320 so, the equipment ground and conductor is sized based on the MC cable that 165 00:12:50,519 --> 00:12:56,120 is designed at the factory. So what do I gotta do when I'm running 166 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:01,279 MC cable in parallel and what does the code about sizing the equipment ground and 167 00:13:01,279 --> 00:13:07,480 conductor as a result of that parallel setup considering the factory does not take that 168 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:13,519 into consideration. Thanks in advance and look forward to your answer. Great question. 169 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:18,759 This gets done all the time people that do installations. And you're trying 170 00:13:18,759 --> 00:13:22,279 to get more current, then you're going to run a parallel application. Right 171 00:13:22,759 --> 00:13:26,639 If a conductor's good for two hundred amps, but your parallel three times. 172 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:30,840 Now you've got six hundred amps. So basically all three of those conductors are 173 00:13:30,879 --> 00:13:35,240 acting as one conductor because you're connecting them together at each end. It's basically 174 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:37,960 just like a stranded conductor if you will the different strands. Well, here 175 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:43,320 we have the different legs that you're connecting together at both ends parallels, and 176 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,679 you're taking the benefit of the more current that can be carried equally distributed across 177 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:52,240 those three conductors. Right, So that's done all the time. Now, 178 00:13:52,279 --> 00:14:01,120 the problem with the manufacturing process is when manufacturers of wire or cable produce an 179 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,759 MC cable metal clad cable UL fifteen sixty nine. By the way, for 180 00:14:03,799 --> 00:14:09,639 those that want to look up the UL standard for that product. It comes 181 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:15,480 with the size equipment ground in there that's designed for those ungrounded conductors and whatever 182 00:14:15,639 --> 00:14:18,360 overcurrent device they're going to terminate into. Right, So there's a table in 183 00:14:18,399 --> 00:14:22,120 two fifty one twenty two that says, whatever the size of the overcurrent device 184 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,000 is, this is what the size has to be of your equipment grounding conductor 185 00:14:26,519 --> 00:14:31,639 makes sense, right, Well, if you parallel conductors, then you're going 186 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:37,720 to have a larger overcurrent protected device and you're running them in parallel. So 187 00:14:37,879 --> 00:14:43,360 the standard equipment ground that is built into the metal clad cable is not large 188 00:14:43,519 --> 00:14:48,799 enough to handle a parallel application because instead of sizing the overcurrent for the single 189 00:14:48,919 --> 00:14:54,559 ungrounded conductors that are inside one cable, now you're sizing the overcurrent device for 190 00:14:54,679 --> 00:15:00,840 the parallel sets of let's say three MC cables, And a good example, 191 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,519 just to throw it out, if one of them was a two hundred amp 192 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:05,399 conductor in there and you ran it in parallel two hundred each, then you're 193 00:15:05,399 --> 00:15:09,120 getting six hundred amps. Then the overcurrent is six hundred amps. Then you 194 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,080 would go to two fifty dot one twenty two the table and you can see 195 00:15:13,159 --> 00:15:18,039 what size the equipment ground of conductor has to be. Now. At the 196 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,799 same time, you also want to make sure that since you're dealing in this 197 00:15:20,919 --> 00:15:26,240 case you're asking about an MC cable, it sounds like a feeder application. 198 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,919 You also want to look at two fifty dot one twenty two f two as 199 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,960 well, which gives you guidance on this, and it's going to tell you 200 00:15:33,039 --> 00:15:37,600 that that equipment ground of conductor in each one of those parallel MC cables is 201 00:15:37,639 --> 00:15:41,120 to be size and accordance with Table two. Fifty dot one twenty two, 202 00:15:41,799 --> 00:15:46,559 and it's going to be based on the overcurrent protected device protecting that cable, 203 00:15:46,919 --> 00:15:50,960 those cables that you're running in parallel. So you're going to go back and 204 00:15:52,039 --> 00:15:54,879 look at the overcurrent device. If it was one cable, say a two 205 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,519 hundred, you would size your equipment ground. But now you're running a mid 206 00:15:56,559 --> 00:16:00,000 parallel, so it's two fourc it's six hundred amp rated. So you have 207 00:16:00,039 --> 00:16:04,559 a six hundred amp rated over current device with parallel sets three of them, 208 00:16:04,639 --> 00:16:11,519 let's say. And so now that equipment grounding conductor inside of each one of 209 00:16:11,559 --> 00:16:18,799 those mcs has to be increased full sized in every one of those mcs. 210 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,200 Well, that's the problem, right because MC comes with a standard size. 211 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,600 Now you do get some relaxation if you're running them in a cable tray, 212 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,039 then you could run them in a cable tray and then one one single equipment 213 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,120 ground that's properly sized, and as long as they're all connected together, all 214 00:16:36,159 --> 00:16:40,759 equipment grounds are connected together at both ends, then you can use standard off 215 00:16:40,799 --> 00:16:45,000 the shelf MC and basically they're running all in parallel and connecting to that one 216 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:51,120 full sized equipment ground, and that's an allowance in the code, okay, 217 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:56,799 and that's under the two fifty one twenty two f to do that. But 218 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:03,840 a lot of times what people will do is they will purchase specially made MC 219 00:17:03,079 --> 00:17:11,000 with an oversized equipment ground to accommodate a parallel application. Right, so you 220 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,839 can parallel the hot conductors, you can parallel the neutral conductors. We all 221 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:21,000 get that in the paralleling rules. That's perfectly fine. But we can't parallel 222 00:17:21,799 --> 00:17:26,599 equipment ground and conductors and use the circular mills to our advantage. Right, 223 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:33,759 So a hot conductor, if you have a certain circular mill and each for 224 00:17:33,799 --> 00:17:37,680 each conductor delicious save a two fifty kc mill, then if you have three 225 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,480 sets of that, that's two fifty plus two fifty plus two fifty Okay, 226 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,960 then that works in your advantage because you're able to run them in parallel and 227 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,519 you're using the full value of each one of the Casey mills. Well, 228 00:17:49,079 --> 00:17:53,720 that doesn't work the same way for the equipment ground. The equipment ground has 229 00:17:53,799 --> 00:18:00,440 to be full size in each raceway because a fault could take place into visually 230 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:07,519 in each separate cable or raceway that has to clear the overcurrent device. You 231 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,440 with me so if you were to parallel that like you can do neutrals and 232 00:18:11,519 --> 00:18:15,880 hot conductors, then you have a smaller size equipment ground in each raceway that 233 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:21,680 if it's needed, if it's called upon in a ground fault to clear the 234 00:18:21,799 --> 00:18:26,680 overcurrent device, which is obviously based on the parallel sets, it may not 235 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,720 be adequate to clear the overcurrent device. And that's the whole point of that 236 00:18:30,799 --> 00:18:36,960 equipment ground. It's the main point. So that's why the code says it 237 00:18:37,079 --> 00:18:40,079 has to be full size in each raceway or cable. You know, like 238 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:42,640 the question said, when you buy an MC cable off the shelf, it 239 00:18:42,799 --> 00:18:47,920 wasn't designed to be run in parallel, although it can be, but that 240 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:52,759 wasn't what it was designed for. So your equipment ground is going to be 241 00:18:52,839 --> 00:18:59,240 undersized. So you would have to get specialty made MC cable for this parallel 242 00:18:59,319 --> 00:19:03,240 application or you're gonna have to use the allowances by putting it in a cable 243 00:19:03,279 --> 00:19:07,480 tray and following the rules. And two fifty one twenty two f when it 244 00:19:07,559 --> 00:19:11,319 talks about putting a single full size in there and making connection at each end, 245 00:19:12,079 --> 00:19:15,400 so it acts like one with the conductors that come, the standard size 246 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,839 that come in all the MC cables, so basically they're all connected together. 247 00:19:19,279 --> 00:19:22,400 There's an allowance for that. But if you're not going to do that and 248 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:27,480 you're just running an MC cable just on hangars, then again in parallel, 249 00:19:27,559 --> 00:19:30,680 the equipment ground would be undersized and you have to have specialty made. You 250 00:19:30,759 --> 00:19:36,000 couldn't just use off the shelf MC for that. Okay, So hopefully that 251 00:19:36,079 --> 00:19:38,839 answers your question. Again, if you put it in a cable tray, 252 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,920 you do get some allowances and two fifty one twenty two f but at the 253 00:19:42,039 --> 00:19:48,599 end of the day, the equipment ground that's inside an MC cable is made 254 00:19:48,759 --> 00:19:52,599 for those conductors that are inside that cable. Whatever the overcurrent device would be 255 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:57,359 to protect those conductors in that one size cable, that's what that equipment ground 256 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:02,519 is sized for. If you do it in parallel, then you're gonna have 257 00:20:02,559 --> 00:20:06,759 a larger overcurrent device. Then that's gonna mean your equipment ground inside of each 258 00:20:06,799 --> 00:20:10,599 one of those cables is too small. And no, they can't be connected 259 00:20:10,759 --> 00:20:15,119 and acted like the hot conductors or grounded conductors. You can't cumulatively add up 260 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,200 the circular middle of each one of those equipment grounds. It doesn't work that 261 00:20:18,279 --> 00:20:23,680 way. It has to be full sized equipment ground and conductor in each one 262 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,880 of those cable assemblies. You're not gonna get that off the shelf. You're 263 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,279 gonna have to have it custom made, right, all right, So hopefully 264 00:20:30,319 --> 00:20:33,599 I painted a picture that a little easier to understand. Again, you do 265 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,960 have some allowances if you're going to do this in a cable tray, you're 266 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:38,400 gonna put your MC in a cable trade, you do have some allowances, 267 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,559 some breaks that'll maybe help you out a little bit so that you can use 268 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:48,440 standard MC. But anywhere else when you're not in a tray, then you're 269 00:20:48,519 --> 00:20:52,119 running MC. Then you have to realize that when you do it in parallel, 270 00:20:52,279 --> 00:20:56,519 the equipment ground is going to be too small and you have to have 271 00:20:56,759 --> 00:21:02,200 custom made MC with an oversized equipment ground to be able to accommodate a parallel 272 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,359 application. All right, all right, folks. Hopefully that wasn't too difficult 273 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:10,359 for folks to grasp. So we'll catch you on the next episode. Make 274 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:14,319 sure you listen to us on all of your favorite podcast listening platforms Deezer Spreaker, 275 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,200 Our Heart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Geez on our mobile 276 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,440 app. Make sure you get our mobile app. It's free. Just go 277 00:21:21,559 --> 00:21:23,680 to our website and you'll see where it says mobile app downloaded. You can 278 00:21:23,759 --> 00:21:27,680 listen to everything from there, and hopefully you'll check us out on the live 279 00:21:27,759 --> 00:21:30,039 streams on the Wednesday nights. We'd love to see you there. We'd love 280 00:21:30,079 --> 00:21:33,839 to hear your questions and join in for the fun. All right, folks, 281 00:21:33,920 --> 00:22:04,079 Till next time, Stay safe, God bless its open open