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Friday, June 14, 2019
Question:
I recently changed out a furnace/ AC system I discovered the previous HVAC tech, hard word the condensate Pump to the single pole, single box with these he 120 V. Switch, Having cut the end of the 120 v. Condensate Pump and hard wired to the 120 v. Switch for the On / off for the furnace Is this code acceptable? Or does the condensate Pump need to be replaced and a 4”. Square box with switch and receptacle need to be installed? Thank you, Joe
A
Answer:
Hey Joe thanks for your question. Direct wiring ("hard wired") the pump seems to be using flexible cord as a substitute for the fixed wiring of a structure as stated in 400.12(1). If the flexible cord connected pump is used based on 400.10(A)(3), (A)(6) or (A)(8) an attachment plug must be used as stated in 400.10(B). A pump that is designed for connection to a wiring method in Chapter 3 could be also used, likely at a greater cost. If the pump is listed and was provided with the flexible cord and attachment plug, modifying it would seem to be using it differently than the manufacturer intended which could be a violation of 110.3(B). Check with the manufacturer to see if they offer replacement power supply cords and if they don't it seems reasonable that a "replacement" attachment plug could be connected to the end of the flexible cord, similar to what would be done if the original attachment plug was damaged. And check with the AHJ to make sure they agree.