1mo ago

Check out this wiring, now I'm gonna stick it in the box

78 comments

One suggestion. Some of the terminals are wrapped counter clockwise to the screw.
You want them to be looped in such a way that when the screw is tightened the loop is pulled into the screw instead of being pushed away from it.
You can see the way it’s wired here. Each one relative to the screw.
https://youtu.be/QuR6_i27WcI?t=20m20s
- Thanks :)
- I remember when my gramps showed me that when I was about 12 and was helping him wire in his house.
  wish he was still around, old timers had alot of wisdom and tricks I don't see anymore. (they also did some really FUBAR things too 😆)
- This was a fun watch!
  I'm not knocking anything, but the half-finished tribal tattoo absolutely sold the video
  
  A video of electrical advice from someone who clearly makes poor decisions 🤔

Don't forget to wrap electrical tape around the edges of the units to cover up the screws. It prevents any accidental short if you happen to touch anything in the wrong way. Makes it especially safe when installing and uninstalling in the future.
I used to just put things in after wiring without a thought for the longest time. Then an old electrician taught me to do this as another added bit of safety.
.. and beautiful job ... love when things like this come together. Hope everything else works out in your project.
- Oddly enough no electrical tape on twist connectors.
  They should be tight enough to hold the wires together and adding electrical tape just makes it harder to see if they’re loose or coming loose.
  Personally I love WAGOs for that and they’re cheap enough now.
  
  I've never used wagos but I want to

I am not an electrician but I do try to follow code as closely as possible when I do this and all guidance I've ever read says to pigtail each receptacle or switch individually. It takes up a lot of room in the box, but if you use waygos or ideal push in connectors, it opens up a lot of room.
- I do love waygos, so convenient

I've never asked a pro but somewhere in my decades of DIY I got the idea that the right way to connect outlets in one box is to branch them all off the incoming wire so they're in parallel. In the photo each little metal strip between the screw terminals on each outlet is carrying all the current from all 6 sockets, which I don't think is proper.
- I don't think it's the current in the tabs that's an issue, each socket should be rated for the full circuit's rating, but the ground shouldn't be in series, always parallel.
- Pigtails to each

I'm in love with using wago lever nuts for this stuff now. Makes later maintenance so much easier, and totally avoids wire nuts. Manages to be less wire stuffing in the box too.

Dude, I think you made your sandals wrong... And now you can't unsee it. You are very welcome.

No pun intended, but why not stick the wires into the appropriate holes? Why did you choose to wrap them around the screws?
- I don't like the holes. I don't trust em. With the screws I can definitely see what's going on.
  
  I've never used the holes. But on more than one occasion I've had to pull a socket from the wall because it was intermittent, and someone used the holes, and it was the problem. I wrapped it around the terminal properly and it was fine.
- I've got a bit of rewiring to do in my home soon and have been doing some research. Apparently this is called backstabbing and is generally considered lower quality work. The connection simply isn't as secure as the screw tightened half loops on the side - but if you spend all day everyday wiring receptacles it's much faster to backstab. Backstabbing is to code, but if you're wiring a few receptacles, best to take the few extra minutes to do it the more secure way.
  
  The contact area of the terminals on the wires is much higher if you use the screws rather than the dinky little spring prongs in the stabby-holes. A small contact area means more heat is produced at the junction, which leads to premature failure, which leads to annoyance, which leads to the dark side.
  
  Backstabbing is to code but really shouldn’t be. They can cause fires as the connection gets looser over time as the device is used and isn’t nearly as secure.
  
  I hate backstabbing because trying to get it off when you need to work on the receptacle is usually a big pain in the ass. I actually broke part of an outlet once. I was replacing it anyway, but damn.
- Never use the backstabbing holes on electrical receptacles.
  They come loose over time, faster if they’re not fastened properly or if the house is prone to settling.
  
  I'm convinced this is a myth or only happens when people don't actually push it in far enough. For me, it's always been a pain in the ass to remove them. Which is why I hate it.
- Is THAT what the holes are for?!?
  I honestly never knew.
  
  You press the wire directly into the round hole. To remove, you need to stick a small screwdriver into the rectangular hole next to it.
- Probably 99% of electricians will tell you to never use the back stab holes.
  They don't hold well, at all, are easy to pull out when pulling an outlet/switch out, and can break the casing when trying to push the fixture in.
  I don't understand how they ever got approved, they're flat out dangerous.
- Can’t tell which those are but
  “back stab” where it is held by friction, common to consumer receptacles, have a poor reputation for failing. Don’t use them
  “back clamp” (don’t remember what they’re called), common to “pro” receptacles is clamped down by tightening the screw. Much more reliable
- I'm not a professional electrician by any stretch of the imagination, but I have done plenty of home remodeling and I've literally never seen the backstabbing holes used. Though most of the houses I've worked on were built before ~2006

I didn't know you could daisy switches like that
- They're outlets
- You can, but the switches downstream won't work if the switches upstream are off. These are power outlets, so it's fine.
- Electrically sure, and I believe legally. However it’s not the best choice because you’re introducing more points of possible failure.
  I wasn’t going to say anything because this is art.

now imagine having to be the one in 20 years that has to replace the first or second plug.
doing that myself recently. 😮‍💨

I've never considered doing any pre-wiring before shoving stuff in the box.
I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what's going on here, but I assume you've done your homework OP.
From what it looks like, the switch on the right will have the hot and neutral connections from the panel, and the switch on the left will get connected to the appliance, and the appliance will only turn on if all 3 switches are turned on.
- It's just 3 outlets in parallel.
  
  Ah, that'll do it.
- They're outlets
  
  That explains it.
- Presumably these are American style outlets, which don't have switches - they're always on.

What are those?
- You're looking at the back of 3 outlet fixtures. He's sticking them into a 6 plug box, and has wired them sequentially. Could also be up to three fixture switches, or any combination of the two.
  ~~Guessing here, but generally speaking the copper is the live wire, the black is the negative, and the white is the ground.~~
  Apparently bare copper is the ground, per a comment below, so no clue.
  
  Promise me you won't do your own electrical work without doing a ton of homework first - bare hot wire is a good way to burn your house down

buddy system

Is this up to code in the US? I know Europe is way different in a lot of ways, but this would not fly in Europe.
- What's the problem?
  
  Pigtailing is so ubiquitous where I am that this just looks weird.
  I don't actually know if it's strictly code in my area, or just common practice.
  
  Exposed copper is a big no-no in the regulations where I live, because it's a corrosion risk and a shock risk when exposed. Everything needs to be either covered in plastic or be coated in something corrosion resistant (for grounding wires for example, even tho those are usually covered in plastic as well depending on the situation).
  Loose wires under screws can be applied in very specific situations, but they usually need to be clamped down. And the screw needs to be fully recessed so it's not something that can get into contact with anything else. Daisy chaining is also usually not done, but depending on the situation it can be allowed even though it isn't recommended.
  Keep in mind European rules and regulations are way different and even different per country. And what the rules say and the shit people actually pull isn't the same either. The most interesting difference to me is the amount of metal used in American systems, where Europeans systems are usually as much plastic as possible. Even if metal is required for some reason, it's usually fully covered with plastic. At the same time in Europe having ground fault interrupters (or comparable, it isn't exactly the same) are not only standard but usually required.

You should wrap those in electrical tape so they don't short off the box..
- Bare copper is ground genius
  Edit: looks like some folks wrap the whole bitch in tape, like elsewhere in this thread. Whatever floats your boat, seems like overkill.

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