I argued with a homeowner in Phoenix who insisted his DIY 14/2 run to a detached garage was 'just fine' because it was only 50 feet.

He told me, 'The voltage drop is a myth the code book made up to sell more wire,' and I had to walk him through the math on his own porch, which made me wonder how often you guys run into folks who think the physics part of our job is optional.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_fiona2mo ago

See it all the time and it's exhausting. People treat basic electrical rules like they're just suggestions. That voltage drop math isn't there to make your life hard, it's there to keep their garage from burning down. Trying to argue with physics just shows they have no business doing the work in the first place.

brown.gavin1mo ago

People have been wiring stuff up for a hundred years without all this math. If it was that big a deal, we'd see way more fires. A lot of the code is just there to make things perfect, not just work. Sometimes a light dimming a little is fine if it saves a couple hundred bucks on thicker wire.

theajackson2mo ago

Ugh, that's the worst. I just show them the lights. Tell them to run that 14/2 out there and plug in a work light and a cheap space heater. When the light dims down to a sad orange glow as soon as the heater kicks on, they get it real fast. It's not about code at that point, it's about their stuff not working right. Sometimes you gotta let the circuit do the talking for you.