Calling all electricians!

[glaforce]

This morning i stop by Home Depot to see what was left in the Christmas stuff (basically nothing) so i went to the electrical isles to have a look around and i found something new. 12-2-2 W/G WTF is that for?? I worked as an appertains electrician back when i was in high school and have run run lots of conduit, romex, etc and never heard of 12-2-2 W/G. The guy there had no idea what you did with it either.

[n1ist]

It's so you can pull a single cable for two arc-fault circuts as there are no arc-fault devices yet. You can also use it for two GFCI circuits. It has two hots, two neutrals, and a ground.

/mike

[mschell]

Had to look up what an "arc-fault" circuit was... Wasn't familiar with the term at all.

But I know I had this kind of issue a few years back when a poor connection in the ceiling light/fan box started arcing. Luckily I heard it enough while doing some other work that I was able to catch it before it got too hot and started a fire.

[jstjohnz]

My first thought was "why don't they call it 12/4". I assume it's because the wires are somehow paired, with both neutrals obviously being white.

[ErnieHorning]

Apparently HD calls this stuff 12/2/2, with slashes instead of dashes. Link

My first search though was using the 12-2-2 W/G that was posted. OMG look at that price! Is this stuff real or did I find some "hole-in-the-wall" part of their site. Link

[budude]

My first search though was using the 12-2-2 W/G that was posted. OMG look at that price! Is this stuff real or did I find some "hole-in-the-wall" part of their site. Link

Yeah but that price includes shipping so you got that going for you...

[n1ist]

12/4 would be red/black/blue/white/bare while 12/2_2 is red/white_w_red_stripe/black/white/bare
For Arc faults and GFCIs, you need to keep the neutral paired with the hot
/mike

[critic2]

Apparently HD calls this stuff 12/2/2, with slashes instead of dashes. Link

My first search though was using the 12-2-2 W/G that was posted. OMG look at that price! Is this stuff real or did I find some "hole-in-the-wall" part of their site. Link

That pricing is for a half pallet of this product. But who can afford that?

The 12/2/2 NM cable can be used for two separate branch circuits, GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) or AFCI (arc-fault circuit interrupter) using two single pole circuit breakers. Sharing the neutral wire in a 12/3 NM cable created tripping issues with the breakers. Now with manufacturers supplying 2 pole circuit breakers in the AFCI version, electricians can use the cheaper 12/3 for multiwire branch circuits.

The 12/2/2 can be used for creative wiring in dwellings for dead end three ways with a constant hot and neutral in a single cable assembly. But it is just way too expensive to use.