What are those?
this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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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.
Dude, I think you made your sandals wrong... And now you can't unsee it. You are very welcome.
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.
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.
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 🤔
When it comes to videos showing electrical work, roofing, or other trades; I look for tattoos and such.
If the guy in the video is hard to understand, has a bunch of tats, is filming it poorly in his backyard with wind in his mic, has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth; you're probably getting good advice because he does this shit for a living.
The guy in a neatly ironed polo shirt with a corporate logo, slick video with animations, nice background: that guy has no fucking clue what he's talking about.
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 😆)
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.
Pigtails to each
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.
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
Wago connectors are life changing. They're not as compact for large bundles, but feel ten times more safe in use.
I don't trust them compared to wire nuts. In a full box it seems too easy to accidentally lift a lever and have a loose connection.
For the same reason, push in connections really don't do it for me. If the wires can move I do not like it. Hard twists with lineman's pliers then a wire nut so tight you need pliers to remove is the only way I'm doing business. Maybe unnecessary for 2 gang boxes, but if you've got 4 or 6... I'd rather do overkill.
Only exception, the waygos are nice in ceiling fan installs when you have plenty of space and no risk of loosening.
I get that. But I can count on my missing fingers the number of times I've come across a bad connection on twist connectors. I've had zero in ten years with wagos. Anecdotal, sure. But personally I swear by them. They're worth the cost.
I agree on the push connectors though. Those are dumb.
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.
now imagine having to be the one in 20 years that has to replace the first or second plug.
doing that myself recently. 😮💨
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.
buddy system
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 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.
The only outlet I witnessed fail due to heat was backstabbed.
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.
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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.
Definitely not a myth. They are notoriously failure prone. Repeated expansion and contraction and just age can cause the contacts to loosen, which increases resistance, which increases heat generated at the point of connection, which increases the amount of expansion and contraction, etc.
A lot of people don't even realize they have a problem until they plug in something high wattage like a space heater or hair dryer and the outlet gets nice and hot.
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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.
No one uses holes. They have a high fail rate, the Unless they are the high-end outlets where the screw also clamps the wire in the hole. And still, no one uses holes.
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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
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“back stab” where it is held by friction, common to consumer receptacles, have a poor reputation for failing. Don’t use them
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“back clamp” (don’t remember what they’re called), common to “pro” receptacles is clamped down by tightening the screw. Much more reliable
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