# Is this code compliant?



## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

I saw something last week that I ended up becoming curious about, I've never seen it before.

I opened up a surface mounted box in order to get power from it. The box was a typical 4" square with mulberry cover and had 2 duplex receptacles in it. There was a single feed coming into the box, nothing else.

Both receptacles were linked to each other with a pigtail from neutral to neutral and another from hot to hot. Here is the odd thing, they landed the hot from the feed on one receptacle and the neutral from the feed on the other receptacle. 

Theoretically it works fine, but it just seems odd. Normally you would land botht he hot and neutral from the feed on the same receptacle. Code?


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

I'm not sure I understand....

They came in with one circuit, and daisy chained from device to device instead of pig tailing, and the hot and neutral were landed on separate devices?


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Been doing it for years Hax, i '_wrap_' H&N around one alternate recpt's (not the same one) unbroken, then to the other

Less spaghetti is good...:thumbsup:

~CS~


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## Voltron (Sep 14, 2012)

Switched said:


> I'm not sure I understand....
> 
> They came in with one circuit, and daisy chained from device to device instead of pig tailing, and the hot and neutral were landed on separate devices?


That's exactly what he's saying.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Switched said:


> I'm not sure I understand....
> 
> They came in with one circuit, and daisy chained from device to device instead of pig tailing, and the hot and neutral were landed on separate devices?


That's how i interpret Haxeese....:laughing:~CS~


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## Voltron (Sep 14, 2012)

Not a code issue, but does seem like an odd thing to do. My ocd wouldn't allow it.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

I've done it unbroken before, but I have always wrapped both neutral and hot around the same receptacle and then let the tails go to the second receptacle.

This particular installation wasn't unbroken, there were separate pigtails connecting both receptacles together. But the hot from the feed went to receptacle A while the neutral from the feed went to receptacle B.

Not sure why.


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## Selectric (Aug 18, 2009)

Probably had the helper make up all the double duplexes and mount them to the RS cover. When they went to hook it up to the circuit it was easier to wire hot to one and neutral to the other instead of removing one of the devices from the cover.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

HackWork said:


> Not sure why.


I do it to mess with the apprentices.....:whistling2:~CS~:no:


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## Kaffeene (Feb 11, 2014)

Something like this?


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

Kaffeene said:


> Something like this?


11 Posts and already brining the skills!:thumbsup:


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

See..... I can't even quote correctly!:laughing::laughing:


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## Kaffeene (Feb 11, 2014)

Switched said:


> 11 Posts and already brining the skills!:thumbsup:


lol.... I'm trying to contribute. And I was bored.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Kaffeene said:


> Something like this?


Exactly!


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

HackWork said:


> Exactly!


I think Kaffeene did it, he's from NJ and he even knew it was a 3M Tan/Red wire nut!:laughing:


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Thx Kaffeene, only change i would make is do not break any conductor, screw wrap and daisychain, even that EGC, that tan costs a whole $.01 and a mans time yanno....:jester:~CS~:laughing::whistling2:


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

HackWork said:


> I've done it unbroken before, but I have always wrapped both neutral and hot around the same receptacle and then let the tails go to the second receptacle.
> 
> This particular installation wasn't unbroken, there were separate pigtails connecting both receptacles together. But the hot from the feed went to receptacle A while the neutral from the feed went to receptacle B.
> 
> Not sure why.


I do the same. I dont see why you couldnt do it that way, but I dont really get the rationale. I cant believe it makes it any faster.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Going_Commando said:


> I do the same. I dont see why you couldnt do it that way, but I dont really get the rationale. I cant believe it makes it any faster.


The only way I could see it being faster is the way selectric said it above. You could pre-fab a bunch of double duplex mulberry covers up and attach the hot and neutral to the outside screws while they are attached to the cover. Good idea actually, no EGC required.


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## Kaffeene (Feb 11, 2014)

When I ever install a quad outlet I usually keep the wire unbroken and wrap around the screws. I also am in the habit of bringing the line to one receptacle and then jumpping to the second. Of course electrically it doesn't make a difference in this application and doesn't seem to constitute a problem. 

And if someone is working on anything where the continuity of the neutral is dependant upon another a device, then turn off the juice, or at least disconnect the hot first. In this case you can see all the devices (2 receptacles) that would be affected.


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

Kaffeene, what software program did you use for the graphic you made?


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

I have never heard the term mulberry cover before. Around here people call them taylor covers, or shoebox covers.


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## ponyboy (Nov 18, 2012)

Raised covers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Have you ever heard of cowboys?


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

B-Nabs said:


> I have never heard the term mulberry cover before. Around here people call them taylor covers, or shoebox covers.


Local terminology will drive you crazy. The term 1900 box was used in the northeast but not down here. It refers to an old stock number for the 4" sq. box


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

I purposely said 4" square instead of 1900 box because I didn't want you fruitcakes to get confused. Especially sbrn33.


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

I have indeed wondered what ppl meant by 1900 on here. Would that be a 1 1/2" or 2 1/8" deep box in that parlance?


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## Kaffeene (Feb 11, 2014)

Just MS Paint. Haha


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

B-Nabs said:


> I have indeed wondered what ppl meant by 1900 on here. Would that be a 1 1/2" or 2 1/8" deep box in that parlance?


Not sure. If I had the option of both (such as at the supply house or when telling a helper what to get me), I would say deep or shallow.


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

HackWork said:


> Have you ever heard of cowboys?


Mini's?

A little like battleships and madison bars.....


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

i think a frosty's a pvc fitting in the morning, and a cold one at night....:laughing:~CS~:jester:


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## FF301 (Jan 12, 2014)

HackWork said:


> I purposely said 4" square instead of 1900 box because I didn't want you fruitcakes to get confused. Especially sbrn33.


1900 is the stock # for steel city, yup east coast rules


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

Still haven't heard anyone confirm what a mulberry cover is!


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## Voltron (Sep 14, 2012)

A Little Short said:


> Still haven't heard anyone confirm what a mulberry cover is!


4sq Raised cover


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## Voltron (Sep 14, 2012)




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## Hired Hand (Nov 29, 2014)

Trade slang is so different everywhere, we call that an industrial cover


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

minerallac clips= bowlegged texans.... don't ask me why


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## Hawkrod (Mar 19, 2012)

Kaffeene said:


> Something like this?


That just made my OCD go hide in a corner! LOL I can't even run the leads to opposite halves of a single receptacle (had a horrible time chasing an issue once where the connecter had been removed from a new receptacle!). LOL


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

Hired Hand said:


> Trade slang is so different everywhere, we call that an industrial cover


That's what we call them here.

Where did Mulberry come from?


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

A Little Short said:


> That's what we call them here.
> 
> Where did Mulberry come from?


Mulberry is the manufacturers name. I assume the suppliers there stocked Mulberry parts

http://www.mulberrymetal.com/products/weatherproofBoxes.php


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

FF301 said:


> 1900 is the stock # for steel city, yup east coast rules


Steel city 4 squares are 52151 for 1 1/2 and 52171 for 2 1/8. Do you mean Raco?


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Going_Commando said:


> Steel city 4 squares are 52151 for 1 1/2 and 52171 for 2 1/8. Do you mean Raco?


Raco Nos. are 189 and 232. 1900 is a now-defunct company's catalog number.


"Many people believe a 1900 box got it’s name from the fact that it originally was 19 cubic inches. In trying to track that back, I couldn’t find any proof of that but the first reference I saw to 1900 was in the 1917 Central Electric Supply Catalog where they referred to these boxes as 1900 Combination Gas and Electric Boxes. The name seems to have come from the part number given by the Bossert Company. One means of early wiring was to use abandoned gas pipe as the wireway and the manufacturers offered products to accommodate this need. Since this was so common early on, they got the name Combination Gas and Electric Boxes. The gas connection was accomplished by using the 1/2" knock-out and closing the cap with a 3/8" flange on the box cover. The image below shows a section from the 1917 catalog describing these boxes. It shows part numbers for the generic LIST#, Sprauge Manufacturing, The Bossert Co and Chicago Fuse respectively." 

_Author unknown._



"This electrical box is usually called a 1900 box because that was the original part number from Bossert almost a hundred years ago. Called a 4" box because of its 4" width, it is the most common box used when a simple switchbox isn't big enough. The part number shown below is only one of many configurations and you need to ask for the size of the knockout (determined by the conduit size) and if the user wants a small (1-1/4"), a standard (1-1/2") or a deep (2 1/8") box. The user also has to specify how it will be mounted: stud ears, etc."

_From the now-gone TradeSlang website._


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## FF301 (Jan 12, 2014)

WOW- i think that settles that - LOL

yup, mulberry is a manufacturer.


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## FireInTheWire (Oct 30, 2011)

Switched said:


> I think Kaffeene did it, he's from NJ and he even knew it was a 3M Tan/Red wire nut!:laughing:


NOICE!:jester:


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