Receptacle Device Splice, Permissible, Good Practice?

[TheColonel26]

Receptacle Device Splicing: using the second terminal on a receptacle to continue the circuit to another receptacle instead of using a pigtail.

Is device splicing permissible under the NEC? If so is it considered a good practice? I ask because I was always taught to pigtail, and that device splicing was poor workmanship. however, I have never heard reference to anything in the code that actually prohibits it.


See attached image for example of what I mean.

 

[infinity]

Nothing wrong with it from an NEC perspective.

 

[JFletcher]

Receptacle Device Splicing: using the second terminal on a receptacle to continue the circuit to another receptacle instead of using a pigtail.

Is device splicing permissible under the NEC? If so is it considered a good practice? I ask because I was always taught to pigtail, and that device splicing was poor workmanship. however, I have never heard reference to anything in the code that actually prohibits it.


See attached image for example of what I mean.

99% of residential wiring uses the device as a splice. Perfectly legal so long as it isnt a MWBC. The grounding conductor has to be pigtailed in either case.

Is it good practice? It's standard. Good enough, tho imo pigtailing to the receptacle is better (and more time consuming thus more $$$).

 

[petersonra]

I see no problem.

However, I don't think you could splice the EGC that way since removal of the device would open up the EGC to downstream devices.

 

[drcampbell]

You can't splice the EGC that way because there's only one grounding terminal on a device.

 

[JFletcher]

I see no problem.

However, I don't think you could splice the EGC that way since removal of the device would open up the EGC to downstream devices.

You are correct, however there are oddballs like this:

http://www.batteryjunction.com/sillites-self-rcbt.html

that if daisy chained do use the device to maintain EGC continuity. I guess they are listed differently than receptacles..

 

[TheColonel26]

99% of residential wiring uses the device as a splice. Perfectly legal so long as it isnt a MWBC. The grounding conductor has to be pigtailed in either case.

Is it good practice? It's standard. Good enough, tho imo pigtailing to the receptacle is better (and more time consuming thus more $$$).

huh, interesting. I went to school for Electrical Technology in Omaha,NE. All of our instructors where journeymen with 20+ years experience. They portrayed pig-tailing as defacto standard and device splicing as an oddball thing to do (and frowned upon).



Thank you for clarifying.

 

[petersonra]

huh, interesting. I went to school for Electrical Technology in Omaha,NE. All of our instructors where journeymen with 20+ years experience. They portrayed pig-tailing as defacto standard and device splicing as an oddball thing to do (and frowned upon).



Thank you for clarifying.

Lots of practices out there that have nothing to do with code. Just the way people do things, and they are unwilling to change.

 

[GoldDigger]

It is also poor practice to route the grounded conductor of a circuit through a device, especially the neutral of an MWBC.

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[JFletcher]

It is also poor practice to route the grounded conductor of a circuit through a device, especially the neutral of an MWBC.

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Using the device to splice the neutral of a MWBC is against code.

huh, interesting. I went to school for Electrical Technology in Omaha,NE. All of our instructors where journeymen with 20+ years experience. They portrayed pig-tailing as defacto standard and device splicing as an oddball thing to do (and frowned upon).

Those trained in mostly commercial, where MWBC are much more common than residential, would be trained to pigtail. The ground always has to be pigtailed, and the neutral too if it's a MWBC. No point in using the device as the splice for the hot if you've already pigtailed the other two conductors.

 

[rlundsrud]

99% of residential wiring uses the device as a splice. Perfectly legal so long as it isnt a MWBC. The grounding conductor has to be pigtailed in either case.

Is it good practice? It's standard. Good enough, tho imo pigtailing to the receptacle is better (and more time consuming thus more $$$).

The neutral (grounded conductor) would only need to be pigtailed if this was a MWBC. This would be a perfectly legal installation as long as it wasn't a MWBC. I personally always pigtail the neutral no matter what as I believe it is simply a better wiring method.

 

[JFletcher]

The neutral (grounded conductor) would only need to be pigtailed if this was a MWBC. This would be a perfectly legal installation as long as it wasn't a MWBC. I personally always pigtail the neutral no matter what as I believe it is simply a better wiring method.

Is that not what I typed?:

"Perfectly legal so long as it isnt a MWBC."

:facepalm:

 

[luckylerado]

Using the device to splice the neutral of a MWBC is against code.

Reference please. EDIT: I found it. 300.13(B)

Also I agree this is code compliant and I also echo others that prefer not to do it this way but for the sake of argument, when using 15 amp receptacles on a 20 amp circuit as allowed, is that little tab actually rated for 20 amps?

 

[JFletcher]

Reference please. EDIT: I found it. 300.13(B)

Also I agree this is code compliant and I also echo others that prefer not to do it this way but for the sake of argument, when using 15 amp receptacles on a 20 amp circuit as allowed, is that little tab actually rated for 20 amps?

A 15A receptacle is rated for 20A pass thru, little tab and all.

A 15A car fuse is a tiny, narrow, thin piece of metal compared to that.

Pigtailing the hot and neutral requires 2 extra pieces of wire, 4 more strips, two twists, and two wirenuts over what pass-thru does. Even if it's a small amount, pigtailing requires more labor and materials than pass-thru.. x60-100 receptacles/house, house after house, I suppose it adds up.

With repair/old work, I pigtail because the boxes are often overfilled, the wires short, there's double wrapped screw terminals, old receptacles with backstabbed #12, or 3+ NM in the box, which all have to be fixed, and pass-thru isnt possible.

 

[rlundsrud]

Is that not what I typed?:

"Perfectly legal so long as it isnt a MWBC."

:facepalm:

Sorry, I must have inadvertently hit reply with quotes, I wasn't referring to your post.

 

[Coppersmith]

With repair/old work, I pigtail because the boxes are often overfilled, the wires short, there's double wrapped screw terminals, old receptacles with backstabbed #12, or 3+ NM in the box, which all have to be fixed, and pass-thru isnt possible.

In addition, some of those old boxes are very small. Pigtailing some stranded wire onto the solid conductors in there allows you push everything to the back of the box before easily inserting the device.

 

[Gary Carter]

Being a electrical contractor for over 40 years I was taught and have always pigtailed the hot and the neutral ,after several service calls where the neutral was lost and found in a faulty receptacle I see why (even though it takes more time ) it is good practice to do even if it is permissible in the NEC

 

[Little Bill]

3+ year old thread