Can one 12/3 wire be split into three (or more) 12/2 wires using pigtails?

nyDIYelectric1 · Feb 11, 2021

Working on an electrical drawing and wondering if I can split a single 12/3 wire (blue&red together) into three 12/2 wires (2 blue & 1 red separated) using pigtails at an outlet so that the wires can travel in three separate directions as in fig 1? The wires attach in pigtails as represented in fig 2. As an asside, If I can make this connection what size wire caps should I use to cover pigtails?

Figure 1

[ElectriciansForums.net] Can one 12/3 wire be split into three (or more) 12/2 wires using pigtails?

Figure 2

Megawatt · Feb 12, 2021

nyDIYelectric1 said:
Working on an electrical drawing and wondering if I can split a single 12/3 wire (blue&red together) into three 12/2 wires (2 blue & 1 red separated) using pigtails at an outlet so that the wires can travel in three separate directions as in fig 1? The wires attach in pigtails as represented in fig 2. As an asside, If I can make this connection what size wire caps should I use to cover pigtails?

Figure 1

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Figure 2
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Yes you can split them but a little confused on your drawing. What are you saying, it sounds like you want to make the red hot in the panel with 1 breaker and the black hot on another breaker. If that’s the case no you can’t do that because you would be sharing a neutral which is a violation of the NEC. If you are talking about wire nuts with # 12 use yellow or red

nyDIYelectric1 · Feb 23, 2021

Megawatt said:
Yes you can split them but a little confused on your drawing. What are you saying, it sounds like you want to make the red hot in the panel with 1 breaker and the black hot on another breaker. If that’s the case no you can’t do that because you would be sharing a neutral which is a violation of the NEC. If you are talking about wire nuts with # 12 use yellow or red

I'm not sure I follow.

Every 12/3 romex carries 2 live, 1 neutral, 1 ground. Every connection is made in parallel with their own neutral. Except @ the point where the initial branch takes place (through pigtails) as this would require the neutral line to be shared.