As Don has stated, outside locations are considered wet locations. Read the last sentence of the definition of Location, Wet in Article 100. For argument sake, there was 2 feet of snow on the ground here this winter, covering the raceways to most condensors and when it melts that is water - some were even completely encased in ice from the 'ice damming'.
What about 300.7?
I do not understand why it is so hard to use the proper conductor in the proper location whether we like the code rule or not. It is not even a cost issue.
Again this comes down to differences of opinion and if one disagrees with one part of a code and another disagrees with another part of a code, what is the sense of any code?
Most new conductors are dual rated as THHN/THWN, but there are still some that are single rated.
Pierre
[This message has been edited by PCBelarge (edited 02-22-2004).]
