Shared neutrals

[pdickerson]

A tandem breaker that fits into a single slot will have both of the tandem circuits on the same phase. A four breaker tandem (takes up two slots) will have the top two breakers on phase A and the bottom two on phase B. I often see these in use for multiwire circuits where the middle two breakers support one MW circuit and the outer two breakers supporting the other MW circuit.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Sorry Joe...I have been out doing inspections all day and just checked in boards. Did you get the answer you needed?

[Joe Farsetta]

Yes.

And there was a reason for asking it. I already knew the answer .

Shared neutrals can be a scary thing for those not knowing what they are looking at. In the example I asked about, with or without tying the handles together, the capacity of the neutral on this shared neutral circuit (some knucklehead installed on these piggybacks) could be overloaded. So, in this case, even with the tie in place, the circuit configuration would be unacceptable.

I always examine the cables and look for the shared neutral. It's used a lot around these parts.