Pigtail all devices proposal

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Cletis said:
All i've done is residential/commercial service work for 20+years. I've seen hundreds, if not 1000's of burnt up receptacles. Due to backstabbing (mostly (not the installers fault), screw not ever tightened (next most frequent, installers fault), and the devices just plain failing internally. What it comes down to is I'm against using residential 15 and 20 amp receptacle devices and pass-thru power. That is the crux of my beef. I have 3 yrs to propose this it seems if I can find the time.
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I get your beef, I really do. I did a service callthe other day, pulled a recep out of the wall and a backstabbed neutral came out of the back. It does happen.

But screws also become loose over time. And whether it's a spring loaded connection or a screw, loose is loose. Plug a space heater into a recep that has a loose connection, and the least of your worries will be whether the other receps stop working.

I've seen just as many burnt wires on screw terminals as I have backstabbed ones. And that's irrespective of how many wires are connected.

Google - "burnt electrical outlet" and click on the images tab. Many of them show screw terminals that have burned

Breaker screws loosen, netral bar screws loosen, and recep screws loosen.
 
Sometimes on re-mods there just isn't enough room in the box to pigtail. :rant:

Think about putting a GFCI protecting the counter top of an older home. One can barely get the new receptacle in let alone adding more wire and wire nuts.

I pigtail on every device that it's physically possible on. In some, it's just not possible.
 
readydave8 said:
1. Where does it say residential only?

2. Someone probably already said it, but I believe that a 15 amp duplex receptacle is rated for 20 amp pass thru?

3. Does this tap rule apply to any part of this situation? I'm not up on "the tap rule" but I don't think so?
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1. I'm sorry, "Dwelling Unit"

2. Not all are. (GCFIs yes)

3. Table 210.24
 
An important addition: I use MWBCs, mostly in commercial, but also sometimes in residential. It should be noted that the neutral conductor of a MWBC shall not be interrupted by removal of the device. Take that backstabbers! :lol:
 
K8MHZ said:
Sometimes on re-mods there just isn't enough room in the box to pigtail. :rant:

Think about putting a GFCI protecting the counter top of an older home. One can barely get the new receptacle in let alone adding more wire and wire nuts.

I pigtail on every device that it's physically possible on. In some, it's just not possible.
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A GFCI has clamp-down terminals that you tighten with a screw. Also spec-grade non-GFCIs do too (at least every one I've installed). I think the original point of this thread is that some of us are against the spring-loaded back terminals on cheap residential-grade receps because they (IMHO) do not securely terminate the wire. I've had so many pop out on me, which can be dangerous, although, of course, no one should EVER replace a receptacle while the power is live! ;)
 
DrSparks said:
An important addition: I use MWBCs, mostly in commercial, but also sometimes in residential. It should be noted that the neutral conductor of a MWBC shall not be interrupted by removal of the device. Take that backstabbers! :lol:
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How does pigtailing prevent the use of the backstab connection?
 
GoldDigger said:
At least it prevents relying on the backstab to carry pass through current.
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The problem is the installer.
There are times, I wish the professional electrician that wired my house, 50 years ago, had backstabbed rather than making sure he had conductor insulation trapped beneath each screw terminal.
 
So what do u do bout ur load fed receptacles from GFCI or AFCI receptacles? Now every receptacle is going to have to be AFCI or GFCI in a residence. You would be shot down so fast......probably wouldn't even look at it.
 
I thought Cletis died or at least the mountain people of NC got him when he tried to take over all of the electrical work in Brevard.:lol:
 
stephena said:
So what do u do bout ur load fed receptacles from GFCI or AFCI receptacles? Now every receptacle is going to have to be AFCI or GFCI in a residence. You would be shot down so fast......probably wouldn't even look at it.
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Why would AFCI or GFCI have any effect on backstabbed devices?



I think in this topic we talking about three different things. Back stabbing, pigtailing without back stabbing and pigtailing with backstabbing.

I am with pigtailing with conductors under the screw.
 
I think the problems with backstabbing can almost all be relegated to user abuse. How many times do people grab a cord, 6 feet from the end, and yank on it? How many times do people leave a cord plugged in, strung across the middle of a floor, then trip over it 20 times before they move it?

Why isn't anyone hollering about backstabbed switches? Maybe because nobody's yanking on a switch?
 
I really doubt that pulling on a cord puts strain on the backstabbed connections to the receptacle. Now if you backstabbed into the plug on the end of the cord and did not use strain relief I would worry.
 
GoldDigger said:
I really doubt that pulling on a cord puts strain on the backstabbed connections to the receptacle. Now if you backstabbed into the plug on the end of the cord and did not use strain relief I would worry.
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So why do all the backstabbing problems seem to be at receptacles, and not switches?
 
Simple. More heating at receptacles because of poor contact as well as bad wiring in cords damaged by tripping. :)
Also higher average currents in the damaged receptacles than in switches?
 
Notice how the spring loaded wire connection is attached to the cord blade connects. Yanking on a cord repeatedly can bend it all out of whack

54107d1342354659-receptacle-question-444.jpg
 
I will leave that assertion open for more examination. It appears to me that the blade wiper portion is so loosely connected to the rest of the structure and probably well enough supported that the mechanical distortion will be limited. But the thermal contact is very tight.
What is missing is just where the supporting plastic is located.
 
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This thread is great, but, remember this is just about bypassing devices for feed thru power.

How about I propose in 2020 You cannot use electrical devices (all 120V 15 and 20 amp receptacles and/or switches) for pass thru power whereas if the device fails you lose power to everything downstream. Or something to that effect ?

If I had to live with non mechanical pigtail methods with a wire nut, I would only trust these below for
 

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