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I am wondering if I'm using a 10/3 teck cable to power two 20 amp GFCI receptacles for a temporary power situation, can I use two separate single pole 20 amp breakers at the panel for each receptacle. Meaning i took Black wire to one receptacle, Red to other receptacle and pigtailed neutral and shared it between receptacles.

Will it work? Why or why not?

Is it to code?

Tester101
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Joe
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  • So you have two single pole 20 amp breakers in a standard distribution panel, and want to run 10/3 from them to two receptacles with a shared neutral. Is that right? – wallyk Nov 06 '13 at 19:08
  • Does this related question ask the same question? – wallyk Nov 06 '13 at 19:09
  • Yes but I'm in Canada and 10/3 has a black, red, white and bare ground inside the teck cable. – Joe Nov 06 '13 at 19:48
  • The two power legs MUST be 180 deg out of phase, then it will work. In most distribution panels this occurs when two breakers are immediately adjacent to each other on the same side of the panel. In this situation, equal loads on each leg would result in 0 net neutral current. Done the wrong way in phase, the neutral current doubles. Not sure of code requirements though. – bcworkz Nov 07 '13 at 00:05

1 Answers1

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I'm not sure what the codes are like in Canada, but here in the US the only problem you'll have is that you're using two separate breakers. Thought the problem can be overcome by installing a handle tie, to link the breakers together.

As for wiring the GFCIs, a diagram can be found in this answer.

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