Replacing outlets in the house

[biscuit141]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a new home and will be replacing all the outlets throughout. Current outlets are 45 years old (original), dirty, and light almond or beige and we are painting everything bright and white trim. Current wiring had the outlet as the connection in the rooms wiring, meaning feed comes in the box to one set of terminals and out of the box wired to the other set of terminals of the outlet. I spoke to an electrician friend and he suggested pigtailing in the new outlets to avoid killing a bunch of outlets if one ever failed or a wire came loose or something. Easier to pinpoint a future issue. I know outlets rarely fail but makes sense. Pretty sure the outlets are all 12-2 but didn’t get as far as checking gauge and circuit amps yet. Any suggestions or is this the best way? I was thinking making the connections on the outlet first then wire nut everything together after. Do you guys twist wires with pliers before putting on a wire nut? The original electrician left plenty of length of wire in the box, so I’m thinking it may be a struggle to get it plus a new pigtail back in. What is the proper length of wire I should leave as a lead in the box? These are the metal outlet boxes. Thanks in advance. This isn’t my first rodeo but I know there are multiple ways and opinions so just looking for input.

 

[b-boy]

I've had to do the same thing. All my outlets were cracked, and unfortunately back-stabbed. The original electrician left no spare wire, so pigtails were necessary. My house has older metal boxes. They are pretty small.

I twist the wires and add the wire nuts before attaching the outlet. I push the pigtail into the box and fold the wire so only the 3 wires needed fro the outlet are exposed. I generally have ~4 inches sticking out of the box.

 

[Jim greengo]

Are your existing outlets grounded or ungrounded?

 

[exranger06]

Personally I don't see much advantage in pigtailing and I just use both sets of terminals. But if you pigtail, I would do it the way b-boy described and wire nut the wires together first and push them to the back of the box.

 

[Norcal]

When replacing receptacles you trigger current requirements, GFCI, tamper resistant.......

 

[The Cobbler]

personally, I would pig tail and shorten the feed wires a bit if they are too long.

 

[u2slow]

Personally I don't see much advantage in pigtailing and I just use both sets of terminals. But if you pigtail, I would do it the way b-boy described and wire nut the wires together first and push them to the back of the box.

Always pigtail. Less chance of somebody opening the neutral down the road.

Also, why rely on the cheap chinese receptacle to be the current path for the rest of the circuit?

 

[tyme2par4]

Also, why rely on the cheap chinese receptacle to be the current path for the rest of the circuit?

Because they are designed and listed to do just that...

To each his own, but I prefer to just daisy chain.

 

[nh_yota]

I never bother with pigtailing (other than grounds) because it just adds more **** to stuff back into the box, which is even more of a pain with 12g wire. Get some half-decent outlets and wrap each wire around its screw terminal in a clockwise direction with needle-nose pliers.

 

[Bretny]

I daisy chain. Easier now and your trying to fix something thats not broke.

 

[KenC]

DIYer here. But I've done a lot of wiring/building etc. In those older, smallish, metal boxes pigtailing 12ga is not going to be fun.

In my last rewire I used a lot of oversized for the task boxes just so I could pigtail. Easy and neat only if you have plenty of box room to use.

I'd recommend a good quality back wired recept and daisy chain on your job. Not spring loaded stuff but screw clamped back wire. That seems to be the best all around method. Just be sure to get the clamp screws tight enough but not stripped.

 

[biscuit141]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. One guy asked if they are grounded and they are. For the other guy about code requirements, so far no GFCI outlets needed and since it’s my house I’m not worried about TR.

That was one thing thought, outlet quality. I’m obviously not a fan of backstabbing push in connections and always use the screws. Every electrician I ever asked about the $0.50 outlet versus the $1.50 outlet with the nicer backstab option with screw down clamp has told me to save my money and use the cheaper outlet but use the screw terminals.

I will have to give this a try and see if pigtailing is too much of a PITA given the small boxes.

 

[u2slow]

That was one thing thought, outlet quality. I’m obviously not a fan of backstabbing push in connections and always use the screws. Every electrician I ever asked about the $0.50 outlet versus the $1.50 outlet with the nicer backstab option with screw down clamp has told me to save my money and use the cheaper outlet but use the screw terminals.

Better receptacles have a continuous metal mounting strap from top to bottom. The whole thing will be visible on the back side. The cheap ones are two separate tabs molded into the plastic. I have no use for back-stabs.

 

[Terry D]

Pigtailing is the perferd way, you are not running the entire current of the circuit across the receptacle screws, just the load of that particular receptacle. I do agree, older homes have smaller boxes, and trying to get everything to fit can be a pain. In that case, I would pigtail it, but if you had more than 2 romexes in it, you would have to pigtail it anyway. I don't not ever back stab a receptacle, I always us the screws. I can tell you how many service calls that I have had for lost power, and it ended up being the wire was lose in the stab in. I have actually pulled receptacles out, and instead of someone pig tailing it, they used all the screws and all the back stabs. This is just my opinion and how I do it. Call me old school

 

[couch67]

DIYer here. But I've done a lot of wiring/building etc. In those older, smallish, metal boxes pigtailing 12ga is not going to be fun.

In my last rewire I used a lot of oversized for the task boxes just so I could pigtail. Easy and neat only if you have plenty of box room to use.

I'd recommend a good quality back wired recept and daisy chain on your job. Not spring loaded stuff but screw clamped back wire. That seems to be the best all around method. Just be sure to get the clamp screws tight enough but not stripped.

Yep box size would govern what I'd do. I'd pigtail if the box allows, just better current capacity for the circuit rather than relying on the plug. I've used back stabs in a previous reno and regretted it - bad connections eventually lead to wire damage that luckily I discovered before it turned into something much worse!

 

[Jim greengo]

personally, I would pig tail and shorten the feed wires a bit if they are too long.

What he said.

 

[Jim greengo]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. One guy asked if they are grounded and they are. For the other guy about code requirements, so far no GFCI outlets needed and since it’s my house I’m not worried about TR.

That was one thing thought, outlet quality. I’m obviously not a fan of backstabbing push in connections and always use the screws. Every electrician I ever asked about the $0.50 outlet versus the $1.50 outlet with the nicer backstab option with screw down clamp has told me to save my money and use the cheaper outlet but use the screw terminals.

I will have to give this a try and see if pigtailing is too much of a PITA given the small boxes.

I've never had a problem with the regular outlets wearing out any faster than spec grades in a residential setting.
People yanking cords out sideways will wear them out no matter how expensive they are.

 

[bad_idea]

I daisy chain. Easier now and your trying to fix something thats not broke.

What he said. The originals worked for 45 years. Do you plan on being there 45 years?

 

[checkthisout]

I'm only DIY but pigtailing is easier if you have adequate room in the box. You can stuff all that wire in and only have to worry about folding 3 wires into the box when stuffing the outlet back in.

I dont think that's a better connection though. You're relying on wire nuts and screws instead of just screws.

Like Norcal said, replacing outlets in most areas of the country means upgrading to tamper proof and AFCI.

If you plan to sell anytime in the near future it might be a good idea to "keep the work to code" so to speak.

 

[James-W]

Most of the cords in the house rarely, if ever, get removed and plugged back in. In the kitchen we do plug a few things in and out, but that too is pretty rare. What I mean is, the TV set, the lamps, the sound system, they stay plugged in all the time. Why would we unplug them?

In the kitchen we have certain things that stay plugged in, like the toaster, the coffee pot, the can opener. Obviously, the refrigerator, the dishwasher, the microwave, things of that nature aren't going to get unplugged. But occasionally we will use the electric griddle, or the blender, or the mixer, etc, and those items we only plug in as needed.

I suspect this is the way it is in most homes. If that is the case, how does the outlets get worn out? I could see maybe one or two outlets going bad because they are the ones that get things plugged in and out of all the time. But I can't see all the outlets going bad. How could that happen?

 

[checkthisout]

Most of the cords in the house rarely, if ever, get removed and plugged back in. In the kitchen we do plug a few things in and out, but that too is pretty rare. What I mean is, the TV set, the lamps, the sound system, they stay plugged in all the time. Why would we unplug them?

In the kitchen we have certain things that stay plugged in, like the toaster, the coffee pot, the can opener. Obviously, the refrigerator, the dishwasher, the microwave, things of that nature aren't going to get unplugged. But occasionally we will use the electric griddle, or the blender, or the mixer, etc, and those items we only plug in as needed.

I suspect this is the way it is in most homes. If that is the case, how does the outlets get worn out? I could see maybe one or two outlets going bad because they are the ones that get things plugged in and out of all the time. But I can't see all the outlets going bad. How could that happen?

I think he's upgrading to Decora for beautification purposes, not because of wear.

It's definitely a nice upgrade to an older house. Makes it look so much nicer.

 

[biscuit141]

I think he's upgrading to Decora for beautification purposes, not because of wear.

It's definitely a nice upgrade to an older house. Makes it look so much nicer.

I’m going to do decora switches because that is what people see and use all the time, but going with standard outlets because I don’t think anyone is going to notice those. Not sure if the post about replacing outlets was a question to me, the OP, or just commenting on new outlets probably not going to fail, but either way, some of the outlets getting replaced are noticeably loose when plugging something in, but mostly they are dusty/dirty and more importantly they stand out against a bright white or light blue wall with white trim.

 

[tyme2par4]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. One guy asked if they are grounded and they are. For the other guy about code requirements, so far no GFCI outlets needed and since it’s my house I’m not worried about TR.

That was one thing thought, outlet quality. I’m obviously not a fan of backstabbing push in connections and always use the screws. Every electrician I ever asked about the $0.50 outlet versus the $1.50 outlet with the nicer backstab option with screw down clamp has told me to save my money and use the cheaper outlet but use the screw terminals.

I will spend the extra money on the back-wire outlets if there are more than 2 wires in the box (feed and 2 outlets). The back-wire outlets can accommodate up to 4 wires.

 

[Stuart in MN]

The thing I've found with the cheap receptacles is not so much that the contacts wear out or get loose, but the plastic they're made of can chip and crack as a result of people not being careful when they unplug things. The more expensive ones are made of better material that's more durable.


One other thing to note - there's a difference in the back stabs on cheap receptacles compared to the more expensive ones. On the cheap receptacles they just use spring contacts that grab the wire, on the more expensive ones they have a screw you tighten down to hold the wire so they're just fine to use.

 

[99LeCouch]

I daisy chained the replacement outlets in my house. Used the screws on the side. No room in the boxes to pigtail. The originals were backstabbed, and some were showing signs of failure.

I did Decora style outlets and switches. Stocking one style of face plate made things easier.

 

[rburke65]

Well what ever you do, FOLD your wires back into the box rather than just stuffing the wires.