I am looking for clarification on sharing neutrals and grounds. When using 12/3 wire for home runs to panel , I believe it is OK to use the black for 1 circuit and the red for another circuit ( say black for plugs in a room and red for lights ). But is there a danger of overloading the neutral and or ground wire? I've seen some comments about splicing the neutrals at every outlet ,etc ( using wirenuts instead of screws) Also I've seen posts about separating the breakers on opposite legs in the panel for each breaker that shares a neutral so you don't have two breakers sharing on the same leg (balances the load on neutral?) any clarity to my questions is appreciated

Sorry, it does not sound like you have a grasp of the situation. You have two wires, hot and neutral. NEVER confuse ground with anything other than that. Otherwise you are running the risk of personal injury or fire.

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Originally Posted by bledpurple

I am looking for clarification on sharing neutrals and grounds. When using 12/3 wire for home runs to panel , I believe it is ok to use the black for 1 circuit and the red for another circuit ( say black for plugs in a room and red for lights ). But is there a danger of overloading the neutral and or ground wire? I've seen some comments about splicing the neutrals at every outlet ,etc ( using wirenuts instead of screws) Also I've seen posts about separating the breakers on opposite legs in the panel for each breaker that shares a neutral so you don't have two breakers sharing on the same leg (balances the load on neutral?) any clarity to my questions is appreciated

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Yes, a neutral white wire, common to two circuits as you described, can be shared.

Correct, the wires where the neutrals split into two circuits must be spliced, and not rely on screw terminals, which can loosen, and cause an open neutral condition.

Also correct, the two circuits must not be on the same hot leg.

With two circuits on opposite legs, and a shared neutral, if each circuit were to draw the max amount of current , say 20 amp breakers for example, the neutral will carry zero amps. If one circuit drew 20 and the other drew 18, the neutral will carry 2 amps.

If both circuits sharing a neutral were on the same leg, and both circuits drew 20 amps each, the neutral would carry 40 amps. This of course, would overheat the #12 neutral wire of a 3 wire cable.

The bare ground wire not a current carrying wire, this is a safety equipment ground, that must connect to every receptacle, switch, light, and connect to each metal junction box. "Sharing" this is not done and is irrelevant, the proper term would be "common" to every device.


Note to Don, my opinion is that Bledpurple seems to have a grasp , since he/she is asking a valid question for the purpose of learning and clarifying what may or may not be known.

Also, it is my opinion that you may be the one not having a grasp, since your answer is condensending and you never did attempt to answer the question.

Please stick to just answering the question if you have an accurate answer.