What is the official reason for the the little strand (most prob like 16 awg) of al that comes inside the bx with the other conductors?
I've heard people tell me its a supplimentry ground but it seems hard to believe because if the bx isnt a good egc do we really want to rely on a 16 awg for you egc??
The #16 bonding conductor shorts each of the spirals of the armor together, creating a low impedance bonding path. It serves no other function and can be cut off when the cable is stripped.
It holds the antishort bushing inplace. That is all it is for. I have seen them connected as equipment grounds on receptacles and terminated in panels but their purpose is to hold the antishort bushing in place.
LC
You meant to say "AC"? People are easily confused when we don't use the proper terminology. MC doesn't have the bonding strip. And yes, they are to be wrapped back or cut flush with the jacket, not to be terminated, because it is not a conductor. It is part of the jacket assembly which allows it to be rated as an equipment grounding conductor. Without it, it is just BX cable. The jacket of which is not rated as an equipment ground.
I saw one manufacturer stated that both cutting the bond wire and wrapping it were approved when terminating BX. They even said it could be wrapped under or over the red head. I think it was on here that someone posted that.
Is it still common in some locations to use the term BX? It hasn't been manufactured for years. AC has the bonding strip, MC has the full size ground and BX had neither. That's why it is extinct as the DoDo bird.
I've only dealt with MC, aluminum case with insulated ground conductor. Does AC have no ground conductor other than the case with bond wire? Is AC steel cased or aluminum? What are the different applications between them?
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