GFCI sub-panel install

[mike-n-bon]

Does anyone know if it makes any difference what color hot wire goes on what terminal?  I have two "line" terminals on my sub-panel --- does it matter which hot goes where?  Of course, I wouldn't put a hot on the neutral or ground ---  .

[J._McD]

Coming from the house power source, You are dealing with 4 wires, as long as you can differentiate ground and neutural and attach them to the common buss bar, that leaves 2 hot wires each carrying 110 volts.  It does not matter which is on the left or right, they are both hot wires and combined produce 220 volts.

If you feel uncomfortable with any of this information, call an electrician.

If you have a meter double check your work.  If you don't have a meter, call an electrician.

It should be pretty simple and clear cut.  If you have any questions, call an electrician.

Curly white wire part of breaker goes to the common buss bar.  White neutural going to the spa goes on the Neutural Load Screw on the breaker and the 2 hot wires also go on the load screws on the breaker, If anything mentioned he raises any question with you, call an electrician.

[Brewman]

Summarized NEC

Hot leads can be any color other than Grey, white, or green.  Both hot leads can be the same color as long as they are not grey, green, or white.  Or they can be different colors.  Both mine are black.

Neutral must be white or grey.  

Ground must be green, and must be insulated in most cases.

Your spa panel should have the neutral and ground bars unbonded in most cases.  In your main feed panel, your ground and neutral are probably bonded, in your sub panel, in most cases the ground and neutral are not bonded.

If in doubt, check with a quailified electrician.  Spa and pool wiring has a lot if gotchas, and is not a good place to learn wiring.  

Brewman

[Chas]

No, doesn't matter.

[johnvb]

 I must say to any homeowner who wants to work on their own electrical is get a couple of how-to books to get the basics down and purchase an electrical meter to be able to check EVERY wire you work around. Radio Shack sells some decent ones. (Too much $$$? How much is your life worth! )

No disrespect intended, I was in the HVAC service field for 20 +years, and even the most experienced person can get "bite" if he doesn't follow all safety procedures.

[windsurfdog]

Summarized NEC

Hot leads can be any color other than Grey, white, or green.  Both hot leads can be the same color as long as they are not grey, green, or white.  Or they can be different colors.  Both mine are black.

Neutral must be white or grey.  

Ground must be green, and must be insulated in most cases.

Your spa panel should have the neutral and ground bars unbonded in most cases.  In your main feed panel, your ground and neutral are probably bonded, in your sub panel, in most cases the ground and neutral are not bonded.

If in doubt, check with a quailified electrician.  Spa and pool wiring has a lot if gotchas, and is not a good place to learn wiring.  

Brewman

A minor correction for Brewman's excellent advice:  The insulation of the wires do not have to be colored correctly as long as there is a permanent color marking (such as "phase tape") located at the termination ends.  I would suggest not using green, gray, or white insulated wire for this.....normally black conductors that are used for neutrals are marked with white phase tape and black conductors used for grounding conductors are marked with green phase tape.

[Brewman]

Thanks for the clarification.  
I don't have my current resources at hand, but are there situations where coding wires isn't allowed?
Maybe it doesn't apply to spa wiring, but I also did a lot of other bigger electrical work at the same time I wired the spa, so I may be confusing some of the rules.
Brewman

[windsurfdog]

Thanks for the clarification.  
 I don't have my current resources at hand, but are there situations where coding wires isn't allowed?

I don't think so but with individual inspectors using the "local authority having jurisdiction" clause in NEC, there may be some restrictions locally.  I don't think the NEC has a problem with it anywhere as long as the markings meet their requirements.  Certainly it is awfully tough if not impossible to find larger wire colored anything but black but that is not the case for #6 though black is much easier to find.  When wiring my spa, I used 4 black conductors and phased the neutral and ground (added phase tape to them) at each junction and pull box.  Also, I went to the extra effort of phasing one of the hots red so that I could tell the difference at each jbox/pullbox between the hot conductors.  The inspector was WELL pleased.