Why is the coiled white wire on a GFCI circuit breaker smaller than the branch circuit neutral

circuit breakergfci

I just recently installed a 50A two pole GFCI circuit breaker that was part of a 240VAC spa panel. For 50A I was using 6 AWG wires. When connecting up this type breaker you connect the two poles of the breaker to the two hot load connections and then the neutral wire of the load also connects to the "white" marked terminal of the two pole breaker. From the breaker there is a short coiled white wire that gets connected to the neutral bus bar in the electrical box.

I noticed that the coiled wire is decidedly smaller gauge that the #6 AWG wires I was using for the circuit connections. From a guess without measuring the size I would say it was 10 AWG.

So here is my question. This coiled wire will be asked to carry the neutral current from the load back to the neutral bus bar. Why is it not a wire normally rated for 50A?

Best Answer

It is likely #8 wire. Why this is allowed is not clear. #8cu THHN IS rated for 50A, but #8 NM cable is not. It is most likely that this wire is rated 75 deg C so it is fine for 50A.

Also, the neutral is only carrying the 120V loads, and even then only the imbalance, which on a hot tub are definitely far less than the full load amperage draw since the heavy loads, such as the heaters, are 240v.