wireing methods

[liquidtite]

when im making splices in a double gang box and i have two switches i like to make two pig tails for my steady hots. the guy that i work under whants me to leave the line conductor long and strip back a peiece of the insulation and just wrap it around both scew terminals with out making a splice. was woundering what method is more suitable, also when im looping plugs together i also like to make pig tails for my hot and nuetral legs he just wants me to pig tail the nuetral and have the two hot legs just hit the screw terminals witch is wireing them in series i didnt argue just want to know what anyone thinks of this

 

[jumper]

I am not fond of the looping method, but as long as it is not a MWBC, I believe it is legal.

 

[Gac66610]

it depends, on multi-gang boxes, i have done it both ways, for me it depends on how many feeds or present just one no pigtails, more than one pigtail
on receptacles generally just pigtail the ground (bare) tie both whites and blacks to receptacle
on MWBC always pigtail whites (grounded conductors) at the "split point"
thats my version others may vary

 

[hurk27]

I am not fond of the looping method, but as long as it is not a MWBC, I believe it is legal.

Looping is legal with MWBC also, as long as removing the device doesnt interupt the neutral continuity.

I have always left long pig tail for looping but I do it for both hots and neutrals at receptacles, sometimes in large gang box's trying to get tails for every switch into the make up can be a pain, lets say you have a 4 gaing box and 4 single pole switch and home run in with 2 other feeds out, that would be hard to put 7 wires under one wirenut, while just using one long tail will reduce it to just 4.

 

[John120/240]

Looping is legal with MWBC also, as long as removing the device doesnt interupt the neutral continuity.

I have always left long pig tail for looping but I do it for both hots and neutrals at receptacles, sometimes in large gang box's trying to get tails for every switch into the make up can be a pain, lets say you have a 4 gaing box and 4 single pole switch and home run in with 2 other feeds out, that would be hard to put 7 wires under one wirenut, while just using one long tail will reduce it to just 4.

Yes looping one hot to several devices is legal as hurk27 states, it can make me cuss the previous

electrican when changing from toggle to decora switches. This is a perfect situation for WAGO

push nuts. They come with up to 8 holes at least. For recptacles; just land three wires on each

device; ground, neutral, hot. Pigtail everything IMHO.

 

[cmreschke]

I always pigtail everything in my boxes. Even if there is seven wires in a four gang, you can make two splices using a jumper wire between the two. With one looped wire left in box you take a pretty good chance that Juan will get a little crazy with the router and zip right through it.
I have my proclivities about the use of wagos for another thread. I do not use them.

 

[augie47]

Very few electricians in this area "loop". I was skeptical when I first saw it done, but as the E/C noted, the loop method leaves you with an uninterrupted conductor where as the WAGO or wire-nut method leaves you with numerous joints.
I never became proficient in looping a SG device box, but I do loop in a mult-igang box as you describe.

 

[liquidtite]

also what i dont like about just hitting the two hot legs on the screw terminals instead of making tails is that know the plugs are in series so if one plug goes bad the rest of the plugs in the line will follow .but if you tail your hots you can pin point the bad recepical

 

[acrwc10]

I always pigtail everything in my boxes. Even if there is seven wires in a four gang, you can make two splices using a jumper wire between the two. With one looped wire left in box you take a pretty good chance that Juan will get a little crazy with the router and zip right through it.
I have my proclivities about the use of wagos for another thread. I do not use them.

Personally I dislike the "looping method". I pigtail all neutrals on MWBC with a wirenut and make sure they are solidly connected. But Wago's are great, I have been using them for 12 years now (tens of thousands of them) I have had exactly 2 fail, and there failure was a simple fix. One was just bad from the factory on the other the wire was worked out during finish and just needed to be plugged back in. I have found the best way to use them is, on a receptacle box rough in we do not pig tail them, we just use a Wago that has enough holes to add the pigtail at finish. Then we put the pigtails on the recepatacle before hand, on the bench. That way at trim we just pull the wires out of the box, plug the prewired receptacle in and finish the install. Less time on the floor, less wire in the box for the sheetrockers to damage. Also if a box is covered and we don't notice it before the circuit is energized, no live wires floating around in the box.

 

[mark32]

Personally I dislike the "looping method". I pigtail all neutrals on MWBC with a wirenut and make sure they are solidly connected. But Wago's are great, I have been using them for 12 years now (tens of thousands of them) I have had exactly 2 fail, and there failure was a simple fix. One was just bad from the factory on the other the wire was worked out during finish and just needed to be plugged back in. I have found the best way to use them is, on a receptacle box rough in we do not pig tail them, we just use a Wago that has enough holes to add the pigtail at finish. Then we put the pigtails on the recepatacle before hand, on the bench. That way at trim we just pull the wires out of the box, plug the prewired receptacle in and finish the install. Less time on the floor, less wire in the box for the sheetrockers to damage. Also if a box is covered and we don't notice it before the circuit is energized, no live wires floating around in the box.

Interesting method acrwc, sounds like it saves time for sure, may have to give that a shot. I had the chance to use wagos last week on a rec but I chickened out, I've only used them (Wago type connector) in Halo high hats.

 

[guschash]

I don't mind using wago when we have alot of can lights to dasiy chain, works great for that.

 

[templdl]

when im making splices in a double gang box and i have two switches i like to make two pig tails for my steady hots. the guy that i work under whants me to leave the line conductor long and strip back a peiece of the insulation and just wrap it around both scew terminals with out making a splice. was woundering what method is more suitable, also when im looping plugs together i also like to make pig tails for my hot and nuetral legs he just wants me to pig tail the nuetral and have the two hot legs just hit the screw terminals witch is wireing them in series i didnt argue just want to know what anyone thinks of this

I like it because the least amount of connection the better. It's almost like a feed through which would result in better continuity as long as you don't knick the wires when you dress them. If you think about it you're probably cutting down on the electrical connection by half whicn reduced possible failures. And you maintain a continuous conductor.

 

[Strathead]

The receptacles are not wired in series. Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine. Semantics. Draw is out and you will see that the receptacles are still wired in parrallel. If you had too many wires to fit under one wire nut in a junction box and you wired them in two clumps with a jumper between them, would the wiring then be in series? NO! A correct term for this method of wiring is tandem, one after the other. If electricians would become more familiar with this term then it would reduce confusion, especially for fire alarm wiring.

 

[kwired]

also what i dont like about just hitting the two hot legs on the screw terminals instead of making tails is that know the plugs are in series so if one plug goes bad the rest of the plugs in the line will follow .but if you tail your hots you can pin point the bad recepical

The receptacles are not wired in series. Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine. Semantics. Draw is out and you will see that the receptacles are still wired in parrallel. If you had too many wires to fit under one wire nut in a junction box and you wired them in two clumps with a jumper between them, would the wiring then be in series? NO! A correct term for this method of wiring is tandem, one after the other. If electricians would become more familiar with this term then it would reduce confusion, especially for fire alarm wiring.

Beat me to it. The only thing in series is the tab between the terminal screws. It is unlikely this tab will burn off if there is only 15 or 20 amp overcurrent protection. You can have receptacle contacts that are really burned and the connection between the terminal screws remains unchanged. If a screw becomes loose you have a problem, but you also have a similar problem if a wire nut or wago develops a loose connection.

 

[Strathead]

Beat me to it. The only thing in series is the tab between the terminal screws. It is unlikely this tab will burn off if there is only 15 or 20 amp overcurrent protection.

Right, and calling that a series connection is like saying all the breakers in a panel are wired in series because they are connected by the bus. They are not series. Again pet peeve.