DC plugs and outlets [RE-wrenches]

[Allan Sindelar]

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Kurt,
What you are proposing has a history in the Santa Fe off-grid milieu from
long before my time. 12V one leg, 24V the other, ground is common negative.
It's not code-compliant, of course, beginning with the use of the white
conductor for B+, and the bare conductor as a current-carrying grounded,
rather than grounding, conductor. But it was an accepted solution before
code-compliance was even a concept. With proper overcurrent protection, safe
enough at those voltages.

Allan at PosE

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kurt Nelson" <sunwise at cheqnet.net>

I do primarily off-grid systems that are rarely inspected.  Many of my
systems have some DC stuff, perhaps a light or two for if the inverter
is down, maybe a stereo and perhaps a ceiling fan.

The cigarette lighter socket is a very poor design and is (un)suitable
for 12 volt DC only.  I usually use 240V 15 A outlets and plugs.  I have
also done a number of houses that have both 24 and 12 VDC in the home.

QUESTION -- Is the ground of such outlets capable of carrying rated
current??  It seems like it should be.  I'd like to start using the 240,
15 A, outlet for both 12 and 24 volt outlets, using the ground as the
negative and one of the horizontal plugs for 24 volt and the other for
12.  I'd maybe even pull 10/3 Romex to these outlets and wire them for
both voltages at the get-go (most homes I do only have two or three DC
outlets).

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