does this make sense?

[diovol]

If i want to add more 110 receptacles in my garage ok. Im going to run a new wire from the panel( so it has it's own breaker) and from there I would hook the 6 receptacles up in parallel But how can i wire it like that if i go receptacle to receptacle with out using junction boxes? or would you just wire them in series?

 

[pattenp]

Why would you need junction boxes? The wire would run from one receptacle box to the next receptacle box. Maybe I'm not making sense of what you're saying.

 

[nmanitou]

Wire them in series.

 

[2LTim]

Your receps should be wired in parallel. Your connections can, and should, be made in the outlet boxes, eliminating the need for junction boxes. Be sure to size your breaker, wires and devises properly.

 

[diovol]

yeah so you would just wire them in series then but isnt this a poor way of doing it because you depend on the little tab connecting the top and bottom? is there a way to wire it in parallel?

 

[2LTim]

You wire them in PARALLEL! If you don't want to depend on the little tabs to carry the load, use wire nuts to connect a pigtail to the blacks and whites in each recep box and then connect the pigtails to the screws of the receptical.

 

[pattenp]

I didn't know the term "parallel" or "series" applies to the wiring of 120V receptacles. If it did I would think parallel would be more correct than series.

 

[2LTim]

A series circuit is your basic set of miniature christmas lights where if one goes out, they all go out. Recepticals wired like this would simply not work.
P.S. Be sure to install a GFCI in the first box in the string.

 

[pattenp]

yeah so you would just wire them in series then but isnt this a poor way of doing it because you depend on the little tab connecting the top and bottom? is there a way to wire it in parallel?

Those tabs are approved to carry the load that the outlet is approved for. Just use the terminals on the outlet for wiring the line in and line out.

 

[diovol]

so if you do it in parallel you would need 3 wires for each the common, hot and ground(using pigtails of course)

 

[diovol]

A series circuit is your basic set of miniature christmas lights where if one goes out, they all go out. Recepticals wired like this would simply not work.
P.S. Be sure to install a GFCI in the first box in the string.

if it is to be wired in paralled why does it matter where the gfci box goes and why do you need one at all?

 

[pattenp]

Pigtails are not required. The outlet has 4 terminals, two copper colored for black coming in and out and two silver colored for white coming in and going out. Wirenut your grounds with a pigtail which hooks to the green terminal.

 

[diovol]

Pigtails are not required. The outlet has 4 terminals, two copper colored for black coming in and out and two silver colored for white coming in and going out. Wirenut your grounds with a pigtail which hooks to the green terminal.

yes but this would be series right?

 

[pattenp]

Circuits in garage are required by code to be GFCI. GFCI needs to be on first outlet to protect all down stream outlets.

 

[diovol]

Circuits in garage are required by code to be GFCI. GFCI needs to be on first outlet to protect all down stream outlets.

well than that would not be wired in parallel then like you quoted above though would it?

 

[pattenp]

yes but this would be series right?

As I said before I believe this is a misuse of the term in the case of wiring outlets. Your christmas light example is correct for series but not for wiring outlets.

 

[diovol]

http://www.renovation-headquarters.com/images/multiple recet cr.jpg

so what would you "call" this? to me this is series.

 

[2LTim]

OK, her we go. Run your wire from the breaker to your first recep box. Install a GFCI with the feed from the panel on the "LINE" side. Connect another set of wires to the "LOAD" side and run this to your second recep box. Use pigtails or the screws, which ever your prefer, then continue on to your third, fourth and so on making the same connections. Of course in the last box just connect the wires directly to the receptical, no pigtails required, but you can put them in if you really want.
The GFCI has to go in as described to protect all subsiquent recepticals.

 

[pattenp]

well than that would not be wired in parallel then like you quoted above though would it?

I'm dying here... Can someone else explain this better? Techically the outlets are in parallel. The GFCI does not turn it into a series circuit.

 

[2LTim]

Yes, the GFCI IS in series to the rest of the circuit, but AC wiring is parallel circuits.

 

[diovol]

OK, her we go. Run your wire from the breaker to your first recep box. Install a GFCI with the feed from the panel on the "LINE" side. Connect another set of wires to the "LOAD" side and run this to your second recep box. Use pigtails or the screws, which ever your prefer, then continue on to your third, fourth and so on making the same connections. Of course in the last box just connect the wires directly to the receptical, no pigtails required, but you can put them in if you really want.
The GFCI has to go in as described to protect all subsiquent recepticals.

this is what I am asking. if you use pig tails it would be wired differntly (parallel) then if you used the screws on the receptacle(series).

if you use pig tails you require 3 wires per side (ex. hot coming in connecting to hot going to next receptacle and one in between to connect to the hot side of that recpetacle).

diagram of using pigtails would be appreciated if someone has one.

 

[2LTim]

Think of it this way; You have a pair of rail road tracks running along. The one on the north is your line, the one on the south is your neutral. In order for any 110V device to work, it has to tap each rail. This is a parallel circuit.
As I described earlier, the GFCI device goes in series so it CAN kill the circuit if a ground fault occurs.
Does this help?

 

[pattenp]

http://www.renovation-headquarters.com/images/multiple recet cr.jpg

so what would you "call" this? to me this is series.

Nope that is parallel. Series is going from hot to negative to hot to negative and so on. Think of hooking batteries together. Parallel hooked up battries produces the same end voltage where as series hooked up batteries steps up the voltage based on the number of batteries hooked together.

 

[diovol]

http://www.renovation-headquarters.com/images/multiple recet cr.jpg

so what would you "call" this? to me this is series.

so this would be what?

Im not being a smart *** just trying to understand it all.

ignore....

 

[2LTim]

Pigtails vs screws does not change series to parallel. Think of the GFCI as a switch that can turn off the receps if a problem arises. It also has a recep built in.

 

[diovol]

http://www.renovation-headquarters.com/images/multiple recet cr.jpg

so what would you "call" this? to me this is series.

Nope that is parallel. Series is going from hot to negative to hot to negative and so on. Think of hooking batteries together. Parallel hooked up battries produces the same end voltage where as series hooked up batteries steps up the voltage based on the number of batteries hooked together.

yes but if the middle receptacle got screwed up the end one would not work or is it only if the tab connecting the 2 gets screwed up it would not work, That tab acting basically as a piece of wire that if the amperage it to high will break(burn). so in that sense yes I understand how it is hooked up in parallel now

 

[pattenp]

If you look at the diagram you posted the two blacks are hooked to one side of the outlet. To use pigtails you take the two blacks and wirenut them together and add a pigtail. The pigtail then hooks to just one of the terminals. You do the same for the whites.

 

[2LTim]

Ok, I see where your confusion is coming from, the "Line" side of ht receps is a series circuit when veiwed individually. When it is said "AC is parallel circuits," you are looding at the device as a whole, not just the "Hot," or "Neutrall" side.

 

[2LTim]

Ok, I see where your confusion is coming from, the "Line" side of ht receps is a series circuit when veiwed individually. When it is said "AC is parallel circuits," you are looding at the device as a whole, not just the "Hot," or "Neutral" side.

 

[diovol]

Ok, I see where your confusion is coming from, the "Line" side of ht receps is a series circuit when veiwed individually. When it is said "AC is parallel circuits," you are looding at the device as a whole, not just the "Hot," or "Neutral" side.

yeah i understand now aswell. but for the ground would i just do this.
the line coming in to the first receptacle goes first around the grounding screw then to the receptacle . then the line going out would start on the other grounding screw in the box onto the next receptacle and so on?

 

[2LTim]

For the ground (bare) conductors, typicaly you strip 6 to 8 inches of the outer insulation off (I am assuming romex here) and in all of your boxes, including the GFCI box, twist the two bare wires together for an inch and a half or two at the back of the box. Cut one of them off and run the remaining one to the receptical / GFCI. Of course the bare wire in the last box just goes straight to the recep.
If you are using stranded wire, strip an inch and a half, securely twist them together, trim it back and wirenut it properly.

 

[diovol]

i understand... thanks.