Shicks
Jan 17, 2006, 12:59 AM
I had an electrician install some under cabinet puck lights. The puck lights were a last minute addition to the recessed lights he installed. After watching him install the recessed lights I thought it looked easy so I put some more in myself in another room. I got all kind of books and read forums to make sure I was doing the wiring right. I kind of have a general idea about wiring.. After learning about circuit breakers, I recognized a potential problem with the installation of the puck lights. The electrician installed the puck lights under the cabinet. The wires which were 18 awg are ran inside the cabinet and are secured with staples. The 18 gauge wire enters a junction box inside the cabinet. Inside this junction box is a 14/2 awg wire that is connected to a switch on the wall. It works fine but I think there may be a problem. The puck lights were came with a plug. The electrician hardwired the 18 awg to the 14/2. The 14/2 gets power from the switch junction box on the wall. The circuit is a 20 AMP circuit. After reading it seems like 12/2 should have been ran to the junction box in the cabinet. Also, I am questioning if a receptacle should have been install in the cabinet instead of hardwiring the pucks. Then the pucks could have been plugged into the outlet in the cabinet. Is there a problem with this situation or am I wrong? Thank you.