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The SC-RSC-EL exam has 60 questions and runs 3 hours.
These 10 free SC-RSC-EL questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the South Carolina Residential Specialty Contractor Electrical Exam blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Lights supplied by a 120/240 V multiwire branch circuit brighten on one leg and dim on the other as appliances cycle. A qualified electrician records 86 V and 154 V from the respective ungrounded conductors to neutral, while voltage between the ungrounded conductors remains 240 V. The circuit is then de-energized. Which fault best explains the complete set of observations?
Correct answer: A - An open or high-resistance connection in the shared neutral
A bedroom-hall smoke alarm in a new dwelling must satisfy the 2018 IRC separation rules for a permanently installed cooking appliance and a bathroom containing a shower. All proposed locations would serve the required sleeping area, so no location exception is needed. Distances are horizontal. Which proposal complies with both separation rules?
Correct answer: A - Photoelectric: 8 ft from the cooking appliance and 4 ft from the bathroom door.
The schedule for a new 120 V, 20 A laundry-area receptacle circuit specifies a combination-type AFCI breaker and tamper-resistant grounding-type receptacles. The breaker has no GFCI function. During the 2017 NEC review, which revision supplies the missing protection without giving up protection already required?
Correct answer: B - Keep the AFCI breaker and add readily accessible GFCI protection.
A contractor is preparing the standard-method service-load calculation for a dwelling with 1,800 square feet of NEC-calculated floor area, two required small-appliance branch circuits, and one laundry branch circuit. What demand load belongs on the worksheet for the combined general-lighting, small-appliance, and laundry group, before separately calculated appliance and heating/cooling loads are added? Apply the 2017 NEC.
Correct answer: C - 5,415 VA
A listed residential air-conditioning condenser is marked "Minimum Circuit Ampacity: 24 A" and "Maximum Circuit Breaker: 40 A." Its dedicated circuit uses 10 AWG copper with a final allowable ampacity of 30 A and a listed 40 A breaker of the specified type. The installation follows the equipment instructions. A reviewer objects that the breaker exceeds the conductor ampacity. Which response correctly applies the 2017 NEC?
Correct answer: D - Accept the ratings; the conductors meet MCA and the breaker meets the marked limit.
For a new dwelling service, the calculated load is 176 A and the available fault current at the main breaker line terminals is 14,000 A. The service equipment is rated 200 A. No listed series-rated combination is being used. Of the following main-breaker specifications, which satisfies both the load and interrupting-rating requirements of the 2017 NEC without exceeding the service-equipment rating?
Correct answer: B - 200 A trip rating; 22,000 A interrupting rating
At a newly wired detached garage, a four-wire feeder supplies a panel with separate neutral and equipment-grounding bars. The feeder equipment grounding conductor and the garage grounding electrode conductor terminate on the grounding bar, which is bonded to the cabinet. A bonding screw also connects the neutral bar to the cabinet. To comply with the 2017 NEC, how should this panel be corrected?
Correct answer: B - Isolate the neutral bar from the cabinet and retain the grounding-bar connections.
Before pulling wire to a detached garage, an electrician checks a reel marked THHN only; no wet-location rating appears on the conductor or its documentation. The specified route is underground in solvent-welded PVC. Ampacity and burial cover are otherwise adequate. What determines whether these conductors are suitable under the 2017 NEC?
Correct answer: A - The raceway interior is a wet location, so wet-rated conductors must be selected.
Three 12/2-with-ground cables enter a device box containing one duplex receptacle on a single yoke and internal cable clamps. Hot and neutral pigtails remain entirely inside the box. All conductors and bonding jumpers are 12 AWG, and there are no other devices or fittings. Using the 2017 NEC box-fill rules and 2.25 cubic inches per 12 AWG allowance, which is the smallest adequate box among those listed?
Correct answer: C - 24.0 cubic inches
At an in-ground residential pool, the pump has proper equipment grounding and GFCI protection, but a metal handrail extending into the water is not connected to the equipotential bonding system. All other required pool bonding is complete. Which addition addresses this omission under the 2017 NEC?
Correct answer: D - Bond the handrail to the pool equipotential system with solid 8 AWG copper.
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