counter plug breaker question

[j j]

for some reason the electrician doing the wiring for our house renovation removed the external metal plate that kept the two poles of the breaker together and now the two are independent. this is for the kitchen counter circuit. (actually he did something even weirder, he used two separate breakers for the kitchen counter plugs, and put them next to eachother, and took the metal bar off the double pole breaker and used it as two single breakers for some other circuits)

I understand why it's a good idea to have both tied together, but is it required by code too? and is there anything I can buy to tie those two together? they're Siemens breakers and they have a hole going through the breaker "handle", I guess I could stick something through and tie them together.

[volts500]

What the electrician did is common practice, as long as the two circuits don't supply more than one device on the same yolk (such as a split-wired duplex receptacle.) The breaker ties are not required, or desired. Do you really want to lose power to all of your kitchen counter receptacles when only one circuit gets overloaded? Not only did the electrician spare you that inconvenience, but could have easily sold you two single pole breakers that you didn't need. See NEC (2002) Section 210.4(B).

[j j]

these are kitchen counter plugs. the top of one plug is a different circuit then the bottom of the plug..

[volts500]

split-wired

Then he did it very wrong. Now I have concerns that the neutrals were not pigtailed either. How was GFCI protection provided then?

[j j]

I'm in Canada (Quebec to be exact).

I believe that according to the current code the kitchen countertop plugs (only those above the counter that will serve stuff like toasters and other high-draw devices) are supposed to be split. as a result, there's no GFI protection on them (and I haven't seen GFI outlets in any kitchen here, I don't think the code requires it)

the electrician passed one 14/3 wire from the panel to one outlet, then to the other outlet. there are two outlets in a chain, but instead of each outlet being on a different circuit, the two plugs in an outlet are on different circuits, but the two outlets are in a chain sharing these circuits. I'm not sure if I'm making this clear...

Outlet A has holes A1 and A2, outlet B has B1 and B2 there are 2 "phases" coming from 2 breakers, A1 and B1 are on one phase and A2 and B2 on the other. I think the neutrals are connected together in the outlet (outlet has a bar connecting the two circuits between A1 and A2, one bar on the hot side is removed to make A1 and A2 independent, bar on neutral side is not)

[volts500]

Sorry, I'm not in the habit of checking headers. Seems you're in Canada. The info that I provided was for the US _only_. Your installation may be OK per CEC. Maybe someone who is familar with the CEC will respond.

[frank-in-toronto]

yes. my Electrical Code Simplified book (1984) says common neutral and the breakes MUST be tied together (rule 14-302). better get this fixed. serious safety issue. ...thehick

[j j]

ok, is there a way to tie the breakers together? they have a hole going through, is there anything I could buy?

[John Hines]

They sell them, so yes. About a 10 penny finishing nail will work also, bend to keep in place, not code, but many a person has done it.