Technical Close call in the shop last night

fires suck. believe me

 

Color coding of Type NM-B wire (what I incorrectly often call Romex) did not occur until 2001 so if your shop wiring is older, those colors may not apply.

 

My brother had this happen in his kitchen, his electrician buddy said do not use a phillips screw driver on those connections, that screw is made for a flat screwdriver to get them tight enough.

 

It won't hurt to do a total inventory on all the outlets. I'm changing all the receptacles and converting to pigtails. I'll also incorporate all the info I pick up from this thread. No one wants to come home to a pile of smoldering hot rods.

 

With the latest electrical code updates, what I find locally now is mostly the combined ground fault / arc fault circuit breakers in the common 15 and 20 amp. Should be used for "common access" outlets, ie. ones you can reach while standing on the ground and used for a variety of uses. I also use them in lighting circuits for the arc fault feature. Special use machine outlets, like lathe, welder, etc., do not require them. However local codes vary so much, check locally if you are concerned about compliance issues.

 

IMO, 15A recpts are fine on a 20A circuit. They are all rated at 20A pass thru but only 20A are rated to draw 20 at a single yoke. I've opened up both and have seen no difference except for the slots. Nothing wrong with 20A, just not needed unless you need to draw full rated circuit load from a single yoke.

Pigtails are the way to go though. I only have a few 20A in my shop and those are only because my MIG has a 20A plug so I needed a few places to hook it up.

My choice for recpts are the back wired that use screws to apply pressure on the wire, not the little spring-loaded back stabs. They don't loosen with load cycling like those with wire looped around the side screws and are much easier to tighten correctly too.

 

First, I am thankful that your close call was just that - a close call, rather than a fire. Thank you for sharing this story: The responses from truly knowledgeable technicians are helping prevent others from similar or worse experiences. Sharing your story and the helpful responses may very well save lives & property. Again, thank you to all for this thread. A house fire doubles in size every 2 minutes. Let’s all take the information presented here to heart and be safe.

 

what gauge wire do you have?

 

12

 

12 gauge should be enough to run 20 amps, i would personally run one gfci at the beginning of the run, and then from there upgrade to 20 amp outlets.

 

perfect. i didn't realize this wasn't already pig-tailed, that will help current flow should you ever lose an outlet.

 

Thanks for sharing, Root.
I'm paying attention.

Cuz the rat bastard who built this addition and the garage here at Judy's house did it just as cheap as possible, and it shows.

I would bet that the outlets in this garage are daisy-chained as you guys say. I sometimes trip the breaker for no apparent reason. I better look at it.

Thanks guys, for explaining the difference between resistance tripping the circuit breaker and heat produced by a loose connection that doesn't trip the breaker. Always wondered about that.

The question was asked a while back. "Could you build a hot rod without the help of the HAMB?"
Well... maybe.
But I think I might live longer with the help of the HAMB.

 

I think the hamb has the best of everything. Experts in all fields.

 

electricity and wiring is fun for me! dc and ac cant really be compared though, both are completely different styles of wiring. dc you just ground it wherever you want, ac must have a shared ground, etc. Electricity is my trade of choice.

 

Lots of interesting and very useful info in this thread. I am absolutely guilty of wiring off the other two screws on a receptable, honestly thought that's what they were for Will definitely be changing those to pigtails.

Regarding the arc fault receptacles ... any reason a person couldn't add one to an existing receptacle circuit?

 

That's why the screws are on the duplex, nothing wrong with using them, it just depends on what's going on downstream as it's pulling amperage through the unused outlet. I use the screws, always have, and all of my stuff passes inspection with flying colors. Just a basic understanding of electrical theory goes a long way. Somebody already said it, but tightening the connections is important. Very important.

 

I make a really mean meatloaf

 

Well, my skill is eating.

 

That was no doubt a local code. The NEC is surprisingly minimal on residential requirements. When I first started in the trade, all that was required was 3 watts per square foot for 'convenience' outlets and that included lighting. #14 wire was acceptable for any of this. Then they started adding additional things; you should never be more than six feet from an outlet on a wall, dedicated circuits for kitchen/laundry appliances with minimum current ratings, etc, etc. But that minimum core requirement of only 3 watts per square foot is still there AFAIK. Most AHJ (authority having jurisdiction) would adopt the NEC then modify it to suit local conditions or experience. You could have a state code, along with counties and cities adopting their own versions. It can get confusing! Get a dipstick local inspector with personal 'novel' interpretations it can be a nightmare....

Those look like residential grade to me. You will find four types of wiring methods on these; stab-in only, stab and side wire, side wire only, and side and back wire. I personally avoid the stab types even if they have side wire. Don't confuse the back wire with stabs, those retain the wire with a screw/clamp arrangement. And if installing these in a shop environment, I'd recommend using outlets/trim plates made of nylon as its much less prone to breaking. And while many of these can share the same basic internal yoke design, the higher grades can have extra springs for better clamping to the cord cap blade.

And I'll be a bit of an outlier on GFI and arc fault protection. While both of these have their place, they can generate nuisance tripping in a shop setting. Arc faults don't like brushed motor loads (unless they've improved them) as they can 'see' normal brush arcing as a fault. Excessive resetting of either type can cause them to fail.

 

nope, its a bit pricey but easy to install.

 

I don't KNOW, but I'd logically have to question this. It would seem that one factor of tightening would be the amount of surface to which you would be able to apply the force of tightening. I picture twice as much loading surface available with a Phillips as a flat blade. Even considering that the bottom of each Phillips surface is tapered vs the flat bottom of the single groove, I can't imagine it's less.

 

Yeah, that's BS. You shouldn't be tightening them gorilla-tight in any case, those are only 10/32 screws. I've installed hundreds if not thousands with a phillips...

 

If you look at it, it's not a phillips screw.

 

could be an older outlet, I've seen many that aren't Phillips.

personally, i prefer to use my wide blade flathead screwdriver until its tight, with about 6-10 inches of extra, then you accordion it back into the box., pigtails on the wires unless its for a GFCI, then only for ground.

 

Yes, the screws on a lot of electrical stuff have combo heads. And yes, if you want to go there, they make screwdrivers just for them. Two common sizes are #1 and #2. Look up Kiein Tools 7324-#1 and 7324-#2.

 

The WR designation is for Weather Resistant. No need to purchase those. WR would be for an outdoor application. 15 amp outlets are fine if they are part of a circuit. 20 amp outlets are overkill. It's all about the wiring and splicing.

 

For those currently in the electrical trade, the use of torque type screwdrivers and wrenches are coming. The days of tightening screw and lugs till they don't turn anymore is over. Of course, the idea that you may need to purchase three new torque type devices has nothing to do with the new code!

 

Tamper Resistant is expected whenever an old receptacle is replaced and certainly for all residential electrical work. New or old. Commercial installations may or may not use Tamper Resistant.

 

We use them at work. Every 26 weeks we do terminal checks on all 480 connections. In between we use the Fluke thermal imager.
We just got the screw drivers about a year ago, makes life easier.

 

Not in ky. The code follows the date on the original inspection. They can't change the code on something that was built, inspected, and passed 30 years ago to meet the new standards. But all new construction requires TR here.