Any electricians on here? Helping #3 son do some house wiring. He's using 12/2 for kitchen circuits. I looked at the wire and it looked like 14 ga but clearly marked as 12/2 with 12 ga ground. Did they skinny out the wire? Similarly, wire marked 14 ga seems smaller than it was but not as small as 16.
Depending on what the wire is rated for, the insulation can be thicker (or thinner). The gauge measures the diameter of the wire, not the insulation.
No, they have not skinnied the wire. DJ is correct. BTW - I'm an EE and master electrician that investigates fires suspected of being electrical origin. If I were installing new branch circuits I'd use combination AFCI/GFCI breakers whether code required or not. They are costly compared to regular breakers and a GFI receptacle but are cheap compared to a fire from a poor connection that may have been stopped before it got started.
Ditto on the GFCI breakers (but not the degree / master electrician stuff). I much prefer to gfci outlets. BTW in the original post, I meant the copper conductor. I know modern insulation is vastly improved. Would think AWG is AWG, but the new stuff just looks thinner to me, especially the 12 ga. Gonna mike some 30 year old stuff and some new to see if it's my eyes or my sanity.
