Code question for you sparkies - GFCI

[dwasifar]

Question for the code guys.

My kitchen backsplash has three receptacles; one GFCI and the other two chained off it. Let's say the boxes are numbered 1, 2, 3 left to right. The GFCI is in the middle, box 2. From box 2, wires go from the Load side of the GFCI to the receptacle in box 1, where they're looped around the receptacle screws with no break, and continue back through box 2 again to terminate at the receptacle in box 3. (They go through box 2 instead of around it because this is in conduit, not Romex.)

I know there's nothing wrong with this arrangement, but I'm curious why the back-and-forth. Would it have been against code to pigtail the Load side and run directly from box 2 to each of the other boxes?

 

[klassenl]

My guess

The more wires you have in a box the harder it is to work with. If you go from 1 to 2 to 3 then you only have 2 cables per box. One you have 3 cables in a box you have to have marrettes and then box fill becomes a challenge.

 

[Jim greengo]

Question for the code guys.

My kitchen backsplash has three receptacles; one GFCI and the other two chained off it. Let's say the boxes are numbered 1, 2, 3 left to right. The GFCI is in the middle, box 2. From box 2, wires go from the Load side of the GFCI to the receptacle in box 1, where they're looped around the receptacle screws with no break, and continue back through box 2 again to terminate at the receptacle in box 3. (They go through box 2 instead of around it because this is in conduit, not Romex.)

I know there's nothing wrong with this arrangement, but I'm curious why the back-and-forth. Would it have been against code to pigtail the Load side and run directly from box 2 to each of the other boxes?

Depends on if there's room in the box to do it.

 

[ycgoat]

My guess is the 3rd outlet was added later

 

[sparky 1971]

How big is the box? Some of the old gfi's were pretty big and might not have fit with all those wires along with the wire nuts. I think I would have probably pulled the home run wires long enough to reach box #1 and set the gfi there and then fed the other two from #1.

Since it's in conduit, you can always change the arrangement.

 

[dwasifar]

My guess is the 3rd outlet was added later

No, this is all original wiring. I'm the original owner of the home; it was built in 2006. And anyway, remember the wires go from 2 to 1 to 2 to 3 without a break; they're just stripped and looped around the screws at box 1. So it all had to be there from the get go.

How big is the box? Some of the old gfi's were pretty big and might not have fit with all those wires along with the wire nuts. I think I would have probably pulled the home run wires long enough to reach box #1 and set the gfi there and then fed the other two from #1.

Since it's in conduit, you can always change the arrangement.

I thought that as well - why didn't they put the GFCI in #1? Or #3? But they didn't. To answer your question, all the boxes are common 4"x4"x1.5" metal, with 1-gang mud rings. So there would have been room, but maybe it was easier for the installer not to have to worry about it.

Edited to add: You may be wondering, how do I know how big the boxes are? Well, I was here when the house was being built; plus which, when I went to tile the backsplash I noticed the boxes aren't level with each other (obvious with 1"x1" square mosaic), so I fudged it by fabricating a couple of offset 1-gang mud rings to level out the devices.

 

[American Locomotive]

It was wired like that because the electrician was a dummy and brough the main feed to the wrong box.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

Electrician did not know how to read the counter lay out and got caught on the electrical inspection because the counter was larger than 12” wide requiring a receptacle????

BTW! "IF" it works don’t fix it!

 

[LOW1]

Is there some obstruction which prevents the load from first going to box 1? Perhaps bringing the load to box 2 was not the original plan?

 

[alfredeneuman]

I've done it in multigang boxes before with multiple switches but that's it.
Because it's continuous it eliminates splicing.
It's a strange way of doing things for sure, but perfectly acceptable
(All the GFI receptacles I've seen have terminals suitable for 2 load wires)

 

[sparky 1971]

It was probably the best way to run the emt. Who knows what's going on inside the wall? They probably meant to pull enough extra length on the home run to reach one of the end boxes, but managed to forget about it or maybe the new apprentice was the one in the kitchen pulling the wire? Upon realizing what had happened, decided screw it, leave it like it is, but didn't want any splices.

 

[dwasifar]

So, consensus is that it's not a code requirement, just a kludge for some reason. Thanks guys.

 

[BreeStephany]

As others have suggested, more than likely the reasoning for this was to reduce box fill in the GFCI box by not having wire nuts in the box, and the GFCI is likely in box 2 because that is where your line / power enters the box.