Posted: 8/3/2008 12:39:30 PM EDT
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I am replacing all the 22 year old receptacles in my house with new ones. A couple of the receptacles have 3 cables coming in to the box, with all three connected to terminals. 2 wires in the back holes and 1 on the screw, on each side. There is no switch involved as far as I can tell. Is that acceptable? Should I wire nut all three white/blacks wires together then have a single short wires going to the receptacle? Or should the incoming live go to a terminal, then the 2 other wires be wire-nutted with a jumper going to the other terminal? Or does it not matter so long as they are all connected? |
This is what is known as pigtailing and yes that is the way it should be done, if you do it the other way, then if you have a receptacle go bad you lose the whole circuit. Essentially if the wires are stabbed into the recept, it can act like a switch if it goes bad, it will stop the circuit at that receptacle. Pigtail them |
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Are your 22 yr old receptacles "bad" ? No need to replace them if they're not. A couple of the receptacles have 3 cables coming in to the box, with all three connected to terminals. 2 wires in the back holes and 1 on the screw, on each side. There is no switch involved as far as I can tell. Is that acceptable? Should I wire nut all three white/blacks wires together then have a single short wires going to the receptacle? Or should the incoming live go to a terminal, then the 2 other wires be wire-nutted with a jumper going to the other terminal? Or does it not matter so long as they are all connected? Hopefully you own a voltage tester. The gold screw is for the "HOT" (probably black, red or blue), the silver screw is for the white, identified or "neutral" wire. TURN THE POWER OFF If you have room in the box, the best practice is to use "pigtails" to finally connect to the terminal screws on the receptacle. It is NOT adviseable to use one "hot" screw for one "hot" wire and the other "hot" screw to feed through to the other (continuing on) hot wires. Same for the white wires. It is also recommended to twist the wires together in a splice BEFORE applying a wire nut. If a joint comes apart, set your tester on "voltage" and test between the black wires and the grounded box, one wire at a time. 120 volts indicates the "hot". Now use the tester between the hot that you just identified and each white wire ... one at a time. If you get no voltage between the proven hot and a white then try another white till you identify the actual neutral by getting a 120v reading. Before you stuff everything back into the J-box, use a plug-in receptacle checker. You can get them at Home Depot for <$20. FWIW ... the "pigtail" info directly addresses your question. I hope the rest doesn't serve to simply confuse you.  Stay safe |
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I finally figured out where all the cables go with the help of the voltage tester. There was a switched receptacle in another room getting fed from this one, where the brass tab was supposed to be broken off, but the previous owner had replaced it and neglected to break the tab off. Leaving everything as-is and it all works. Checked it with a plug-in tester to make sure. Just wasn't sure if it was ok to have 3 cables hooked up directly to one receptacle. Have a new found respect of electricians trying to figure that mess out. |
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The push in terminals cause a lot of problems. I never use them. Higher quality receptacles will have back wired terminal with 4 holes and 2 pressure screws. These receptacles are more reliable, especially for ones used frequently. Cooper makes very good ones. They run around $5 each. For plugs rarely used the cheap receptacles are fine. |
Those are the ones I used. Cooper "heavy duty" from lowes. Was $16 for 10. |
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Im gona go ahead and jack this thread for a second. I am buying a foreclosure, and the home inspector, who suppsedly is real good, had some tester thing, and said all our outlets are high resistance and 90-110 volts, except for the basement which is 90 or less, but theres a problem there, dont know what it is yet. anyways, he said that throughout the rest of the house, the crappy voltage was caused by paint shoved into the outlets because theyve been painted over. This make any sense? Im going to replace them all anyways. |
It is pretty hard to get paint back into a receptacle on the contacts. |
| Go ahead and replace them and yes use the pigtail method of wiring the outlets. I make a habit of checking the wiring when I buy a house or a friend is looking for one. You would be surprised how many connections I have found that weren't twisted first, then capped and then taped. It was so bad in one house all the boxes buzzed from lose wires. |
There is no reason to put tape on a wire nut, and most nuts do not require pre-twisting of the bare wires. They DO require that the nut be tightened enough two twist the insulated wires. I still twist the bare wires though. Using back wired receptacles and NOT pigtailing is perfectly acceptable. A pressure plate and a screw are a more solid connection than a wire nut. |
Yeah.... what he says! |
Any chance you have aluminum wire branch circuits? |
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Im gona go ahead and jack this thread for a second. I am buying a foreclosure, and the home inspector, who suppsedly is real good, had some tester thing, and said all our outlets are high resistance and 90-110 volts, except for the basement which is 90 or less, but theres a problem there, dont know what it is yet. anyways, he said that throughout the rest of the house, the crappy voltage was caused by paint shoved into the outlets because theyve been painted over. This make any sense? Im going to replace them all anyways. Like said; it IS pretty hard to get paint way back inside a receptacle. I'm really skeptical of that being the problem in all of them. Unless you are an electrician ... call one. If it was my call, I'd check voltage and connections at the meter. And, I'd tighten the "neutral" and phase connections at your panel. AGAIN ... PLEASE don't do this if you are not an electrician.  Stay safe |
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There is no reason to put tape on a wire nut, and most nuts do not require pre-twisting of the bare wires. They DO require that the nut be tightened enough two twist the insulated wires. I still twist the bare wires though. Using back wired receptacles and NOT pigtailing is perfectly acceptable. A pressure plate and a screw are a more solid connection than a wire nut. Really, well you do as you please after all it's your house and or your job reputation. If you ever lose an outlet you will lose the entire circuit if you didn't pigtail because everything in the circuit will be in series. The tape is a safety measure to ensure the nut doesn't back off and to help prevent a short if moisture gets in the box, but hey do as you please. |
Even on the bag that wirenuts come in, it says you don't have to twist the wires. That's freaking nuts. Ever had to break hot joints, and wires weren't twisted, and as soon as you take the wire nut off, all the wires spring apart? Good for increased heart rate when working with 277...I'll tell you what. 
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If you properly tighten your wire nuts the wires twist up. The only time I ever use tape on a wirenut is when I am making connections in a peckerhead. |
Only the neutral in a multi wire is required to be pigtailed. A back wired receptacle is a much better connection than a wire nut. Taping wire nuts is a great way to trap any moisture that finds its way in. Just make sure the nuts are oriented to drain and condensation that might get in. If you have that wet a location you need weather tight boxes and covers anyway. |
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Some scary suggestions in here... I hope people read between the lines.... It would be really nice if people differentiated between what they know, what they think, and what they have heard! Seeing wrong info posted really sucks, especially with something as important as electricity.! |
Oh yeah, by the way, i know NOTHING about electricity. I.E. I have no clue what the fuck that is. |
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I rewired a house I previously owned. New service entrance, fishing wires through walls, the whole bit. It was a big job but well within the capabilities of a do-it-your-selfer. But the questions the OP asks make me think he's not ready for the task . . . yet. Please! Get a book on home wiring and study up. Also, get a copy of the electrical code and follow it. Knowledge is power my friend (no pun intended). |
Back in the 1960s someone came up with the (not) bright idea to use aluminum for wire instead of copper. It conducts electricity well enough, but the problem arises when it begins to corrode. Copper corrosion, from what I understand, actually conducts BETTER than pure clean copper. Aluminum oxide, OTOH, is resistant, which generates heat--more and more as time passes. Houses from a certain time period (not sure--google would probably be of assistance) have unending problems with aluminum wiring, such things as buzzing boxes and even fires, and need to be replaced. Aluminum is still used for service entrance wires, as the problem can be alleviated with the application of an anti-corrosion compound, and the fact service wires aren't switched on and off, which exacerbates the problem. |
Yepper! You can see signs of heat damage on the wall plates and receptacles and you may notice flickering lights and lights that seem to turn themselves on and off as the connections heat up and cool down. |