What kind of wire should I use to pigtail an outlet?How to wire GFCI outletWhy is the neutral tab broken with only one neutral wire?Backstab outlet with one wire screwed in?Power Outlet -3 Wire Conductor on Tandem Breaker WiringRunning New Electrical LineWhat size and type wire should I use to pigtail to my light switches?Can I connect to a separate neutral (white) wire for my switch/outlet combination?Removing switched outlet and 4 terminal outlet with 2 terminal outlet?Replacing outlet; found one white wire hot. How to connect?Can I strip a neutral wire and use it to pigtail ground wires?
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What kind of wire should I use to pigtail an outlet?
How to wire GFCI outletWhy is the neutral tab broken with only one neutral wire?Backstab outlet with one wire screwed in?Power Outlet -3 Wire Conductor on Tandem Breaker WiringRunning New Electrical LineWhat size and type wire should I use to pigtail to my light switches?Can I connect to a separate neutral (white) wire for my switch/outlet combination?Removing switched outlet and 4 terminal outlet with 2 terminal outlet?Replacing outlet; found one white wire hot. How to connect?Can I strip a neutral wire and use it to pigtail ground wires?
I want to turn my 2 hot and 2 neutral wires into a pigtail for my outlet. Since I don't have any extra wire or black wires, what kind should I purchase? The wires in my receptacle are copper.
electrical receptacle
edited Jun 21 at 17:37
isherwood
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
asked Jun 21 at 17:32
Joan Leitherland WatsonJoan Leitherland Watson
111 bronze badge
add a comment |
I want to turn my 2 hot and 2 neutral wires into a pigtail for my outlet. Since I don't have any extra wire or black wires, what kind should I purchase? The wires in my receptacle are copper.
electrical receptacle
edited Jun 21 at 17:37
isherwood
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
asked Jun 21 at 17:32
Joan Leitherland WatsonJoan Leitherland Watson
111 bronze badge
Same as the existing wire. It's probably #14 or #12 solid, but I can't tell from here.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:36
1
Any reason why? Outlets generally offer enough screw connectors for your needs.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:39
@isherwood it's true that some outlets (not GFCI, not tab-broken, not some others) have a feature that allows them to also be used as a splice, pigtailing paints a much clearer picture for novices, so I prefer it.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:51
2
But that's not why I pigtail; I pigtail from the ergonomic comfort of my workbench, rather than be up a ladder/in a stress position trying to fidget 5 wires onto a receptacle. Me, 3 wirenut twists and I'm outta there :) And since I use many colors (wire or tape) I pre-color the pigtails for what they'll be joining: in the stress position orange-orange, gray-gray, done.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:53
How many receptacles are you planning on pigtailing and why are you doing it?
– Jim Stewart
Jun 21 at 19:29
add a comment |
I want to turn my 2 hot and 2 neutral wires into a pigtail for my outlet. Since I don't have any extra wire or black wires, what kind should I purchase? The wires in my receptacle are copper.
electrical receptacle
edited Jun 21 at 17:37
isherwood
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
asked Jun 21 at 17:32
Joan Leitherland WatsonJoan Leitherland Watson
111 bronze badge
I want to turn my 2 hot and 2 neutral wires into a pigtail for my outlet. Since I don't have any extra wire or black wires, what kind should I purchase? The wires in my receptacle are copper.
electrical receptacle
electrical receptacle
edited Jun 21 at 17:37
isherwood
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
asked Jun 21 at 17:32
Joan Leitherland WatsonJoan Leitherland Watson
111 bronze badge
edited Jun 21 at 17:37
isherwood
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
asked Jun 21 at 17:32
Joan Leitherland WatsonJoan Leitherland Watson
111 bronze badge
edited Jun 21 at 17:37
isherwood
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
edited Jun 21 at 17:37
isherwood
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
edited Jun 21 at 17:37
isherwood
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
54.2k5 gold badges64 silver badges141 bronze badges
asked Jun 21 at 17:32
Joan Leitherland WatsonJoan Leitherland Watson
111 bronze badge
asked Jun 21 at 17:32
Joan Leitherland WatsonJoan Leitherland Watson
111 bronze badge
asked Jun 21 at 17:32
Joan Leitherland WatsonJoan Leitherland Watson
111 bronze badge
111 bronze badge
Same as the existing wire. It's probably #14 or #12 solid, but I can't tell from here.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:36
1
Any reason why? Outlets generally offer enough screw connectors for your needs.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:39
@isherwood it's true that some outlets (not GFCI, not tab-broken, not some others) have a feature that allows them to also be used as a splice, pigtailing paints a much clearer picture for novices, so I prefer it.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:51
2
But that's not why I pigtail; I pigtail from the ergonomic comfort of my workbench, rather than be up a ladder/in a stress position trying to fidget 5 wires onto a receptacle. Me, 3 wirenut twists and I'm outta there :) And since I use many colors (wire or tape) I pre-color the pigtails for what they'll be joining: in the stress position orange-orange, gray-gray, done.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:53
How many receptacles are you planning on pigtailing and why are you doing it?
– Jim Stewart
Jun 21 at 19:29
add a comment |
Same as the existing wire. It's probably #14 or #12 solid, but I can't tell from here.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:36
1
Any reason why? Outlets generally offer enough screw connectors for your needs.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:39
@isherwood it's true that some outlets (not GFCI, not tab-broken, not some others) have a feature that allows them to also be used as a splice, pigtailing paints a much clearer picture for novices, so I prefer it.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:51
2
But that's not why I pigtail; I pigtail from the ergonomic comfort of my workbench, rather than be up a ladder/in a stress position trying to fidget 5 wires onto a receptacle. Me, 3 wirenut twists and I'm outta there :) And since I use many colors (wire or tape) I pre-color the pigtails for what they'll be joining: in the stress position orange-orange, gray-gray, done.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:53
How many receptacles are you planning on pigtailing and why are you doing it?
– Jim Stewart
Jun 21 at 19:29
Same as the existing wire. It's probably #14 or #12 solid, but I can't tell from here.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:36
Same as the existing wire. It's probably #14 or #12 solid, but I can't tell from here.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:36
1
1
Any reason why? Outlets generally offer enough screw connectors for your needs.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:39
Any reason why? Outlets generally offer enough screw connectors for your needs.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:39
@isherwood it's true that some outlets (not GFCI, not tab-broken, not some others) have a feature that allows them to also be used as a splice, pigtailing paints a much clearer picture for novices, so I prefer it.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:51
@isherwood it's true that some outlets (not GFCI, not tab-broken, not some others) have a feature that allows them to also be used as a splice, pigtailing paints a much clearer picture for novices, so I prefer it.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:51
2
2
But that's not why I pigtail; I pigtail from the ergonomic comfort of my workbench, rather than be up a ladder/in a stress position trying to fidget 5 wires onto a receptacle. Me, 3 wirenut twists and I'm outta there :) And since I use many colors (wire or tape) I pre-color the pigtails for what they'll be joining: in the stress position orange-orange, gray-gray, done.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:53
But that's not why I pigtail; I pigtail from the ergonomic comfort of my workbench, rather than be up a ladder/in a stress position trying to fidget 5 wires onto a receptacle. Me, 3 wirenut twists and I'm outta there :) And since I use many colors (wire or tape) I pre-color the pigtails for what they'll be joining: in the stress position orange-orange, gray-gray, done.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:53
How many receptacles are you planning on pigtailing and why are you doing it?
– Jim Stewart
Jun 21 at 19:29
How many receptacles are you planning on pigtailing and why are you doing it?
– Jim Stewart
Jun 21 at 19:29
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
Depends.
If you're using "screw-to-clamp" type receptacles
Then your "go-to" is #12 stranded THWN-2. These are sold as individual wires. Also #12 solid bare or green ground wire. (ground wires need to be pigtailed regardless, so you may already have this.)
- The stranded wire is much easier to work with (push the pigtails into the back of the box and the receptacle will slide in like a dream), but its downside is it's difficult to attach to screw terminals without a lot of practice, and catastrophically dangerous to use on backstabs. I actually saw this fail once.
- Stranded wire wire-nuts just fine to solid wire. No pre-twisting, just line them up evenly and twist like the dickens.
- #12 is the "universal donor" that will work on both 15A and 20A circuits. It's a little stiffer -- oh wait, it's stranded!
If you're using screw terminal type receptacles
In that case, ditto ditto ditto solid wire. Which will be stiffer, but cake to put on screws.
However, if you want to buy all of them in one single SKU, buy "#12 Romex" aka NM-B type cable. Buy 2' lengths at a time and cut into three 8" long sections (or four 6" sections), then carefully exacto-knife off the sheath by cutting directly down the ground wire (so you don't nick the insulation on hot or neutral). Voilá, pigtails.
- The disadvantage of NM-B is it's not legal outdoors. For that, slicing up UF cable is challenging, so I'd go back to THWN-2 wires.
- The individual wires are not marked, so you cannot use them for conduit runs.
Don't ever buy #14 for pigtails, because at best you have an "orphan" you can only use on 15A circuits, and at worst you accidentally use one on a 20A circuit and have a problem.
If you're using backstabs
Stop. They are unreliable and cause most dead-circuit problems.
answered Jun 21 at 17:47
HarperHarper
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
I am not new at changing out outlets. I am at adding pigtails. I'm a 68 yr old widow on a fixed income who must do this on my own. So I did add one pigtail. Now the problem is finding out which outlet on the daisy chain from the breaker is giving me the ground/reverse problem. Since I have eight outlets and my arthritic fingers won't let me do more than 3 at one given period, will a multimeter tell me which outlet is the bad one/ Thank you all for your advice?
– Joan Leitherland Watson
Jun 22 at 18:10
1
What you are describing does not require you to pigtail anything. Just a flashlight and looking at the back of the outlets and switches. Shut the circuit off, and check them all. Black goes to HOT (or the smallest slot), White goes to NEUTRAL (or the larger slot), and ground/green/bare goes to the chassis (often a green screw).
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:48
Oh,one more comment on the color coding part of things, what I described is the general rule, if you have a outlet with two blacks or two whites (because someone made a switch loop for example), you can test with a meter from ground to neutral with the circuit off and get near 0 ohms but ideally the electrician used a piece of black or white electrical tape to indicate the purpose of the wire.
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:59
add a comment |
For outlets I would go with 12awg even if on a 15 amp circuit it is ok to use a larger wire size. But if you purchase 14 and it is on a 20 amp circuit that would be a code violation. These are the 2 sizes for standard 120v outlets or receptacles used in the U.S.
answered Jun 21 at 17:42
Ed BealEd Beal
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
add a comment |
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Depends.
If you're using "screw-to-clamp" type receptacles
Then your "go-to" is #12 stranded THWN-2. These are sold as individual wires. Also #12 solid bare or green ground wire. (ground wires need to be pigtailed regardless, so you may already have this.)
- The stranded wire is much easier to work with (push the pigtails into the back of the box and the receptacle will slide in like a dream), but its downside is it's difficult to attach to screw terminals without a lot of practice, and catastrophically dangerous to use on backstabs. I actually saw this fail once.
- Stranded wire wire-nuts just fine to solid wire. No pre-twisting, just line them up evenly and twist like the dickens.
- #12 is the "universal donor" that will work on both 15A and 20A circuits. It's a little stiffer -- oh wait, it's stranded!
If you're using screw terminal type receptacles
In that case, ditto ditto ditto solid wire. Which will be stiffer, but cake to put on screws.
However, if you want to buy all of them in one single SKU, buy "#12 Romex" aka NM-B type cable. Buy 2' lengths at a time and cut into three 8" long sections (or four 6" sections), then carefully exacto-knife off the sheath by cutting directly down the ground wire (so you don't nick the insulation on hot or neutral). Voilá, pigtails.
- The disadvantage of NM-B is it's not legal outdoors. For that, slicing up UF cable is challenging, so I'd go back to THWN-2 wires.
- The individual wires are not marked, so you cannot use them for conduit runs.
Don't ever buy #14 for pigtails, because at best you have an "orphan" you can only use on 15A circuits, and at worst you accidentally use one on a 20A circuit and have a problem.
If you're using backstabs
Stop. They are unreliable and cause most dead-circuit problems.
answered Jun 21 at 17:47
HarperHarper
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
I am not new at changing out outlets. I am at adding pigtails. I'm a 68 yr old widow on a fixed income who must do this on my own. So I did add one pigtail. Now the problem is finding out which outlet on the daisy chain from the breaker is giving me the ground/reverse problem. Since I have eight outlets and my arthritic fingers won't let me do more than 3 at one given period, will a multimeter tell me which outlet is the bad one/ Thank you all for your advice?
– Joan Leitherland Watson
Jun 22 at 18:10
1
What you are describing does not require you to pigtail anything. Just a flashlight and looking at the back of the outlets and switches. Shut the circuit off, and check them all. Black goes to HOT (or the smallest slot), White goes to NEUTRAL (or the larger slot), and ground/green/bare goes to the chassis (often a green screw).
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:48
Oh,one more comment on the color coding part of things, what I described is the general rule, if you have a outlet with two blacks or two whites (because someone made a switch loop for example), you can test with a meter from ground to neutral with the circuit off and get near 0 ohms but ideally the electrician used a piece of black or white electrical tape to indicate the purpose of the wire.
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:59
add a comment |
Depends.
If you're using "screw-to-clamp" type receptacles
Then your "go-to" is #12 stranded THWN-2. These are sold as individual wires. Also #12 solid bare or green ground wire. (ground wires need to be pigtailed regardless, so you may already have this.)
- The stranded wire is much easier to work with (push the pigtails into the back of the box and the receptacle will slide in like a dream), but its downside is it's difficult to attach to screw terminals without a lot of practice, and catastrophically dangerous to use on backstabs. I actually saw this fail once.
- Stranded wire wire-nuts just fine to solid wire. No pre-twisting, just line them up evenly and twist like the dickens.
- #12 is the "universal donor" that will work on both 15A and 20A circuits. It's a little stiffer -- oh wait, it's stranded!
If you're using screw terminal type receptacles
In that case, ditto ditto ditto solid wire. Which will be stiffer, but cake to put on screws.
However, if you want to buy all of them in one single SKU, buy "#12 Romex" aka NM-B type cable. Buy 2' lengths at a time and cut into three 8" long sections (or four 6" sections), then carefully exacto-knife off the sheath by cutting directly down the ground wire (so you don't nick the insulation on hot or neutral). Voilá, pigtails.
- The disadvantage of NM-B is it's not legal outdoors. For that, slicing up UF cable is challenging, so I'd go back to THWN-2 wires.
- The individual wires are not marked, so you cannot use them for conduit runs.
Don't ever buy #14 for pigtails, because at best you have an "orphan" you can only use on 15A circuits, and at worst you accidentally use one on a 20A circuit and have a problem.
If you're using backstabs
Stop. They are unreliable and cause most dead-circuit problems.
answered Jun 21 at 17:47
HarperHarper
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
I am not new at changing out outlets. I am at adding pigtails. I'm a 68 yr old widow on a fixed income who must do this on my own. So I did add one pigtail. Now the problem is finding out which outlet on the daisy chain from the breaker is giving me the ground/reverse problem. Since I have eight outlets and my arthritic fingers won't let me do more than 3 at one given period, will a multimeter tell me which outlet is the bad one/ Thank you all for your advice?
– Joan Leitherland Watson
Jun 22 at 18:10
1
What you are describing does not require you to pigtail anything. Just a flashlight and looking at the back of the outlets and switches. Shut the circuit off, and check them all. Black goes to HOT (or the smallest slot), White goes to NEUTRAL (or the larger slot), and ground/green/bare goes to the chassis (often a green screw).
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:48
Oh,one more comment on the color coding part of things, what I described is the general rule, if you have a outlet with two blacks or two whites (because someone made a switch loop for example), you can test with a meter from ground to neutral with the circuit off and get near 0 ohms but ideally the electrician used a piece of black or white electrical tape to indicate the purpose of the wire.
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:59
add a comment |
Depends.
If you're using "screw-to-clamp" type receptacles
Then your "go-to" is #12 stranded THWN-2. These are sold as individual wires. Also #12 solid bare or green ground wire. (ground wires need to be pigtailed regardless, so you may already have this.)
- The stranded wire is much easier to work with (push the pigtails into the back of the box and the receptacle will slide in like a dream), but its downside is it's difficult to attach to screw terminals without a lot of practice, and catastrophically dangerous to use on backstabs. I actually saw this fail once.
- Stranded wire wire-nuts just fine to solid wire. No pre-twisting, just line them up evenly and twist like the dickens.
- #12 is the "universal donor" that will work on both 15A and 20A circuits. It's a little stiffer -- oh wait, it's stranded!
If you're using screw terminal type receptacles
In that case, ditto ditto ditto solid wire. Which will be stiffer, but cake to put on screws.
However, if you want to buy all of them in one single SKU, buy "#12 Romex" aka NM-B type cable. Buy 2' lengths at a time and cut into three 8" long sections (or four 6" sections), then carefully exacto-knife off the sheath by cutting directly down the ground wire (so you don't nick the insulation on hot or neutral). Voilá, pigtails.
- The disadvantage of NM-B is it's not legal outdoors. For that, slicing up UF cable is challenging, so I'd go back to THWN-2 wires.
- The individual wires are not marked, so you cannot use them for conduit runs.
Don't ever buy #14 for pigtails, because at best you have an "orphan" you can only use on 15A circuits, and at worst you accidentally use one on a 20A circuit and have a problem.
If you're using backstabs
Stop. They are unreliable and cause most dead-circuit problems.
answered Jun 21 at 17:47
HarperHarper
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
Depends.
If you're using "screw-to-clamp" type receptacles
Then your "go-to" is #12 stranded THWN-2. These are sold as individual wires. Also #12 solid bare or green ground wire. (ground wires need to be pigtailed regardless, so you may already have this.)
- The stranded wire is much easier to work with (push the pigtails into the back of the box and the receptacle will slide in like a dream), but its downside is it's difficult to attach to screw terminals without a lot of practice, and catastrophically dangerous to use on backstabs. I actually saw this fail once.
- Stranded wire wire-nuts just fine to solid wire. No pre-twisting, just line them up evenly and twist like the dickens.
- #12 is the "universal donor" that will work on both 15A and 20A circuits. It's a little stiffer -- oh wait, it's stranded!
If you're using screw terminal type receptacles
In that case, ditto ditto ditto solid wire. Which will be stiffer, but cake to put on screws.
However, if you want to buy all of them in one single SKU, buy "#12 Romex" aka NM-B type cable. Buy 2' lengths at a time and cut into three 8" long sections (or four 6" sections), then carefully exacto-knife off the sheath by cutting directly down the ground wire (so you don't nick the insulation on hot or neutral). Voilá, pigtails.
- The disadvantage of NM-B is it's not legal outdoors. For that, slicing up UF cable is challenging, so I'd go back to THWN-2 wires.
- The individual wires are not marked, so you cannot use them for conduit runs.
Don't ever buy #14 for pigtails, because at best you have an "orphan" you can only use on 15A circuits, and at worst you accidentally use one on a 20A circuit and have a problem.
If you're using backstabs
Stop. They are unreliable and cause most dead-circuit problems.
answered Jun 21 at 17:47
HarperHarper
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
edited Jun 21 at 17:58
answered Jun 21 at 17:47
HarperHarper
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
answered Jun 21 at 17:47
HarperHarper
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
answered Jun 21 at 17:47
HarperHarper
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
84.7k5 gold badges61 silver badges174 bronze badges
I am not new at changing out outlets. I am at adding pigtails. I'm a 68 yr old widow on a fixed income who must do this on my own. So I did add one pigtail. Now the problem is finding out which outlet on the daisy chain from the breaker is giving me the ground/reverse problem. Since I have eight outlets and my arthritic fingers won't let me do more than 3 at one given period, will a multimeter tell me which outlet is the bad one/ Thank you all for your advice?
– Joan Leitherland Watson
Jun 22 at 18:10
1
What you are describing does not require you to pigtail anything. Just a flashlight and looking at the back of the outlets and switches. Shut the circuit off, and check them all. Black goes to HOT (or the smallest slot), White goes to NEUTRAL (or the larger slot), and ground/green/bare goes to the chassis (often a green screw).
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:48
Oh,one more comment on the color coding part of things, what I described is the general rule, if you have a outlet with two blacks or two whites (because someone made a switch loop for example), you can test with a meter from ground to neutral with the circuit off and get near 0 ohms but ideally the electrician used a piece of black or white electrical tape to indicate the purpose of the wire.
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:59
add a comment |
I am not new at changing out outlets. I am at adding pigtails. I'm a 68 yr old widow on a fixed income who must do this on my own. So I did add one pigtail. Now the problem is finding out which outlet on the daisy chain from the breaker is giving me the ground/reverse problem. Since I have eight outlets and my arthritic fingers won't let me do more than 3 at one given period, will a multimeter tell me which outlet is the bad one/ Thank you all for your advice?
– Joan Leitherland Watson
Jun 22 at 18:10
1
What you are describing does not require you to pigtail anything. Just a flashlight and looking at the back of the outlets and switches. Shut the circuit off, and check them all. Black goes to HOT (or the smallest slot), White goes to NEUTRAL (or the larger slot), and ground/green/bare goes to the chassis (often a green screw).
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:48
Oh,one more comment on the color coding part of things, what I described is the general rule, if you have a outlet with two blacks or two whites (because someone made a switch loop for example), you can test with a meter from ground to neutral with the circuit off and get near 0 ohms but ideally the electrician used a piece of black or white electrical tape to indicate the purpose of the wire.
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:59
I am not new at changing out outlets. I am at adding pigtails. I'm a 68 yr old widow on a fixed income who must do this on my own. So I did add one pigtail. Now the problem is finding out which outlet on the daisy chain from the breaker is giving me the ground/reverse problem. Since I have eight outlets and my arthritic fingers won't let me do more than 3 at one given period, will a multimeter tell me which outlet is the bad one/ Thank you all for your advice?
– Joan Leitherland Watson
Jun 22 at 18:10
I am not new at changing out outlets. I am at adding pigtails. I'm a 68 yr old widow on a fixed income who must do this on my own. So I did add one pigtail. Now the problem is finding out which outlet on the daisy chain from the breaker is giving me the ground/reverse problem. Since I have eight outlets and my arthritic fingers won't let me do more than 3 at one given period, will a multimeter tell me which outlet is the bad one/ Thank you all for your advice?
– Joan Leitherland Watson
Jun 22 at 18:10
1
1
What you are describing does not require you to pigtail anything. Just a flashlight and looking at the back of the outlets and switches. Shut the circuit off, and check them all. Black goes to HOT (or the smallest slot), White goes to NEUTRAL (or the larger slot), and ground/green/bare goes to the chassis (often a green screw).
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:48
What you are describing does not require you to pigtail anything. Just a flashlight and looking at the back of the outlets and switches. Shut the circuit off, and check them all. Black goes to HOT (or the smallest slot), White goes to NEUTRAL (or the larger slot), and ground/green/bare goes to the chassis (often a green screw).
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:48
Oh,one more comment on the color coding part of things, what I described is the general rule, if you have a outlet with two blacks or two whites (because someone made a switch loop for example), you can test with a meter from ground to neutral with the circuit off and get near 0 ohms but ideally the electrician used a piece of black or white electrical tape to indicate the purpose of the wire.
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:59
Oh,one more comment on the color coding part of things, what I described is the general rule, if you have a outlet with two blacks or two whites (because someone made a switch loop for example), you can test with a meter from ground to neutral with the circuit off and get near 0 ohms but ideally the electrician used a piece of black or white electrical tape to indicate the purpose of the wire.
– noybman
Jun 22 at 18:59
add a comment |
For outlets I would go with 12awg even if on a 15 amp circuit it is ok to use a larger wire size. But if you purchase 14 and it is on a 20 amp circuit that would be a code violation. These are the 2 sizes for standard 120v outlets or receptacles used in the U.S.
answered Jun 21 at 17:42
Ed BealEd Beal
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
add a comment |
For outlets I would go with 12awg even if on a 15 amp circuit it is ok to use a larger wire size. But if you purchase 14 and it is on a 20 amp circuit that would be a code violation. These are the 2 sizes for standard 120v outlets or receptacles used in the U.S.
answered Jun 21 at 17:42
Ed BealEd Beal
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
add a comment |
For outlets I would go with 12awg even if on a 15 amp circuit it is ok to use a larger wire size. But if you purchase 14 and it is on a 20 amp circuit that would be a code violation. These are the 2 sizes for standard 120v outlets or receptacles used in the U.S.
answered Jun 21 at 17:42
Ed BealEd Beal
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
For outlets I would go with 12awg even if on a 15 amp circuit it is ok to use a larger wire size. But if you purchase 14 and it is on a 20 amp circuit that would be a code violation. These are the 2 sizes for standard 120v outlets or receptacles used in the U.S.
answered Jun 21 at 17:42
Ed BealEd Beal
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
answered Jun 21 at 17:42
Ed BealEd Beal
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
answered Jun 21 at 17:42
Ed BealEd Beal
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
answered Jun 21 at 17:42
Ed BealEd Beal
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
36.4k1 gold badge24 silver badges53 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
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Same as the existing wire. It's probably #14 or #12 solid, but I can't tell from here.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:36
1
Any reason why? Outlets generally offer enough screw connectors for your needs.
– isherwood
Jun 21 at 17:39
@isherwood it's true that some outlets (not GFCI, not tab-broken, not some others) have a feature that allows them to also be used as a splice, pigtailing paints a much clearer picture for novices, so I prefer it.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:51
2
But that's not why I pigtail; I pigtail from the ergonomic comfort of my workbench, rather than be up a ladder/in a stress position trying to fidget 5 wires onto a receptacle. Me, 3 wirenut twists and I'm outta there :) And since I use many colors (wire or tape) I pre-color the pigtails for what they'll be joining: in the stress position orange-orange, gray-gray, done.
– Harper
Jun 21 at 17:53
How many receptacles are you planning on pigtailing and why are you doing it?
– Jim Stewart
Jun 21 at 19:29