Red/black/white wire???

[ToolGal]

Hi there,

I'm still trying to decipher my little wiring issue, and have come this far: there are 3 cables all coming from the fuse bax. Two of them are white/black/ground... and the last one is white/black/red. Huh? This isn't a three-way switch. If I'm planning to put in a junction box and unite all three of these cables together, what do I do with the extra wire?

Thanks!

[Jimmer]

Toolgal,

Black or red are normally 'hot' wires. If you have a cable coming from your panel that has a bare copper, white, black and red wire it is carring two 'hots'. This is used for split electrical outlets normally. The outlet would have the black going to one screw on the hot side and the red going to the other screw on the hot side. The tab that connects the two screws on the hot side needs to be broken so you don't cause a short. If you are interupting this cable to connect another outlet or fixture then you can splice into either of the hot wires.

Hope this helps, Jim

'Just a handyman trying to help'

[nates]

... or it could be a double homerun, meaning that there is two seperate curcits coming from the panel sharing a neutral. for example in a room you could have the red doing outlets and the black doing lights and using the same neutral.
nate

[ToolGal]

Hi Nate,

I'm thinking that might be what happened -- I turned off one circuit, and the power was still in the wiring; only when I turned off TWO circuits did the power go out. Scared the heck out of me...

Anything I should do about this? Or is it okay as long as I mark it on the fuse box?

Thanks!

quote:Originally posted by nates

... or it could be a double homerun, meaning that there is two seperate curcits coming from the panel sharing a neutral. for example in a room you could have the red doing outlets and the black doing lights and using the same neutral.
nate

[nates]

if you were planning on doing anything with the wiring in your house it would be a good idea to mark it just so you know in the future and dont cut into a hot wire. as far as the safety of it goes, we do it all of the time and it is perfectly legal by our local and national code. i couldnt tell you about your local code but i am sure it is fine.

nate