I bought a Panasonic bath fan that has a fan, a light, and a nightlight. I would like to have each on its own switch. I tried running one 14/3 and one 14/2 but the junction box that comes mounted on the fan is so small I can’t stuff all the wires in it. I figured if they made 14/4 romex, that would be a little easier to fit in there, since there wont be an extra neutral and ground wire to deal with. I had heard once they made such a wire, but I’m not sure and I’ve never seen it at home depot.
CRaig
Replies
Actually they make two different flavors of it.
3-1, which is what you want.
And 2-2, which is two hots and two neutrals.
But you are right I have never seen it at a home horror store.
You will need to find an electrical supply house.
And from comments that I have hear it is not very common so they might not stock it or only sell it in 500 ft rolls.
Check an electric supply house, like Graybar, or http://www.graybar.com
I just did one, and had the same problem. I connected a small plastic box to the fan box and pulled the wires into the plastic box; there was enough length on the wires to make the connections.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Check the hardware stores where you are. Some here sell it by the foot.
I suppose you could run, as you suggest, a piece of 14-3 and a piece of 14-2 to a JB or pull box, and from there some strands of THHN through a stub of conduit to the fixture. That would solve your stuffing problem. Cheap, easy, and legal too I believe. However, you'd have to make sure the whole thing was somehow accessible.
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Edited 10/20/2006 12:49 am by Scott
Why not run two 14-2's? You just need 4 wires total. Then there is just one extra bare ground wire, which you can cut off! Just be sure and color the white at both ends of one of the 14-2 runs. I find a "Sharpie" in red really does a nice job of changing the white to a red that is not confused with the factory red wire (like when running 14-3 or 12-3 for three way switches as switch legs w/o a neutral).
Frank DuVal
You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
I've been told that it's technically not legal to have unbalanced current in a single romex.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
You are right.But I had to move a box about 2 foot. It had 1 4-way and two switches. And if I recall correctly the the power feed(s) and the lines to the loads. Had to install a junction box. And unless I screwed up the numbers the box was big enough but it was PACKED FULL.Anyway I had a similar problem and made my own 14/4. Don't tell anyone, but I just taped 2 14/2 together and treated them as one cable.
"I've been told that it's technically not legal to have unbalanced current in a single romex."Who said that? I didn't say that (to paraphrase Robert D. Raiford).
Electricians have been running only "hot" wires in Romex (and BX, K&T, etc) when wiring switch legs. This is where the "hot" and neutral are in the ceiling box and a single run of NM cable (generic term for Romex) goes to a switch (or switches for 3 way). No neutrals are in this cable.But...NEC 300.3(B) does state that all conductors of the same circuit shall be contained in the same raceway, gutter, ....cable or cord.. This is for single conductors. NEC 300.5(I) does allow single conductors of the same circuit to be in close proximity in the same trench. And exception #2 here allows isolated phase conductors with Non Metallic raceways and cables.Isolated current carrying conductors running through metal raceway will cause induction heating. The conduit acts like a shorted transformer winding for induced currents.So, if you run the two 14-2 NMs side by side you should not cause inductive heating more than if a 14-4 was used. My opinion, not NEC.Frank DuVal You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
"Electricians have been running only "hot" wires in Romex (and BX, K&T, etc) when wiring switch legs. This is where the "hot" and neutral are in the ceiling box and a single run of NM cable (generic term for Romex) goes to a switch (or switches for 3 way). No neutrals are in this cable."What does that have to with this.You don't need a neutral to have balanced currents.
Bill & Dan,You're right!Frank DuVal You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
> Electricians have been running only "hot" wires in Romex (and BX, K&T, etc) when wiring switch legsA switch leg is balanced.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
If the distance is not too great, you could use Smurf tube and THHN box to fan, no?
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