Chapter 6 Conductors 89 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 6.2 Code Requirements for Conductors In the Code, Article 310—Conductors for General Wiring addresses the general requirements for conductors, conductor designations, tempera- ture considerations, environmental conditions, size limitations, ampacity, installation meth- ods, material usage, insulation, and other fac- tors concerning conductors. Refer to Article 310 when planning any residential, commercial, or industrial wiring installation. 6.2.1 Bare Conductors A bare conductor is a conductor with no cover- r ing or electrical insulation. Per Section 230.41 of the Code, conductors for general wiring must be e insulated, except in the following situations: • The grounded neutral conductor may be bare when used as a service-entrance conductor to ground or on noncurrent- carrying service-entrance components, such as the service head, raceway, meter enclosure, or main service disconnect enclosure. See Section 230.41 of the Code. See Figure 6-6. • A bare conductor is permitted as the grounding electrode conductor for service- entrance equipment, Figure 6-6. See Section 230.41 of the Code. • A bare conductor is allowed for purposes of grounding the noncurrent-carrying parts of equipment, such as dryers, ovens, and stoves. See Section 250.114 of the Code. • A bare conductor may be used to bond the noncurrent-carrying components (boxes, enclosures, equipment frames, and motor skids) of the electrical system. See Section 250.28 of the Code. • A bare conductor is permitted as the grounding means for load-side equipment at a subfed panel. See Section 250.28 of the Code. 6.2.2 Stranded and Solid Conductors Conductors 8 AWG and larger that will be pulled through raceways must be stranded. The con- ductors need fl exibility when being pulled fl around offsets and bends. Solid conductors are too rigid in larger sizes to afford much fl exibility. fl 6.2.3 Paralleled Conductors It is often more feasible and economical to run conductors in parallel because of large feeder CODE ALERT Bare Conductor According to Article 100, a bare conductor is a conductor having no covering or electrical insu- lation whatsoever. CODE ALERT Stranded Conductors in Raceways According to Section 310.106(C), where installed in raceways, conductors of size 8 AWG and larger shall be stranded. Exception: As permit- ted or required elsewhere in this Code. Grounded conductor (neutral) Service head May be bare or insulated Meter Grounding electrode conductor may be bare or insulated Neutral/grounded busbar Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Figure 6-6. The grounded neutral service conductor and the grounding electrode conductor may be bare or insulated.