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Hi I need to bundle my neutral wires as well as ground wires with the addition of short pigtail/jumper wires

The 4-gang all run on the same circuit A17B as shown in my photo.

Questions for the short pigtail/jumper

  • does this mean I have to use a 14 gauge THHN solid copper wire?
  • What colour should I use for the ground and for the neutral?

enter image description here

Raffi
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    So you originally had four neutrals all on the same circuit coming into the electrical panel? AFIK this is unusual. In my panel there is only one NM cable coming into the panel for each 120 V circuit. That cable has one black (hot) going to the breaker, one white (neutral) going to the neutral bar, and one bare metal conductor going to the ground connection bar. – Jim Stewart Nov 29 '23 at 22:16
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    FYI the “A” and “B” markings are for when you have a tandem breaker (two circuits in one space). Then one half would be “17A” and the other would be “17B”. Since you have a full-size breaker, it’s just “17”. – nobody Nov 30 '23 at 02:17

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In absence of any other pictures or information, in the USA, neutrals are typically white insulated, and grounds must be either bare or green. 14ga minimum for 15A, but could always be larger (i.e. smaller gauge number). Either solid or stranded is fine, but at 14ga wire, the solid is easy enough to work with that unless you're needing to pull through conduit where the flexibility of stranded is helpful, solid would be my recommendation for ease of use.

Milwrdfan
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  • So you originally had four neutrals all on the same circuit coming into the electrical panel? AFIK this is unusual. In my panel there is only one NM cable coming into the panel for each 120 V circuit. That cable has one black (hot) going to the breaker, one white (neutral) going to the neutral bar, and one bare metal conductor going to the ground connection bar. – Jim Stewart Nov 29 '23 at 22:15
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    The OP said there were 4 wires at the junction box, not the breaker box. – RMDman Nov 29 '23 at 22:24
  • @milwrdfan. Thanks I will use solid THHN 12 AWG. It’s just not that easy to find the wires in a few feet only – Raffi Nov 30 '23 at 01:01
  • @Raffi you don't say where you are, but Home Depot offers wire by the foot. Alternately, you can buy a short roll of wire (10 ft) and I believe you are allowed to paint or use electrical tape to "change" the color of the pigtails (I'm sure the sparkies will correct me if that's wrong). – Huesmann Nov 30 '23 at 14:57
  • @Huesmann, I am not a sparky by trade, but I don't think for this type of scenario that you're allowed to remark wires - especially grounds - for different purposes than the base insulation color indicates. – Milwrdfan Nov 30 '23 at 15:21
  • AFAIK, neutrals (white/grey) can be remarked for use as a hot in _certain_ circumstances. I don't think you can remark a wire for ground or neutral use. – FreeMan Nov 30 '23 at 15:44
  • Thanks every on. I am in Canada. I will drop by a physical store.. I didn’t find what I need on line by the foot. Thanks again. – Raffi Nov 30 '23 at 16:27