The foreman's two-screw rule for panel changes finally made sense to me

I used to think my old foreman was just being lazy when he said to land every neutral on a separate screw in a new panel, even if it meant adding terminals. Last month I did a panel swap in a 1970s house outside Columbus and reused the original wiring to save time. I stacked two neutrals on one screw like I had done for years without issue. About a week later the homeowner called saying lights were flickering in the back bedroom. I went out there and found that screw had backed off just enough to arc. The copper had also cold-flowed from the pressure, so the connection was toast. Now I follow his rule every time and I carry extra terminal bars in my van. Has anyone else had a stacked neutral come loose like that or am I the only one who got lucky for too long?

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avery62920d ago

Did you read the Mike Holt thread about this same thing?