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Question about grounding in a metal junction box.

I have a 4x4 steel junction box, with 4 cables coming into it. 1 cable comes in from the main panel, 3 separate cables go out to 3 separate receptacles, for a total of 4 cables in the box. All cable is 14/2 NM-B.

I've got a bunch or Ideal In-Sure 4-port connectors that I've been using for various connections. (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ideal-34-Yellow-In-Sure-4-Port-Connector-100-Pack-30-1034P/202894312) They'll work fine for the 4 white wires and 4 black wires, but since I need to ground the box, I've got a total of 5 grounding wires that I need to connect (the 4 grounding wires coming into the box, plus the wire attached to the box's grounding screw).

So my question is this: Can I ground one of the grounding wires to the box via a grounding clip (which I happen to have a few of), and then connect the other 4 wires via the In-Sure connector? Is that sufficient for maintaining continuity? Does it satisfy NEC requirements?

Grounding wire from receptacle -> grounding clip -> body of junction box -> box's grounding screw -> (short) grounding wire -> In-Sure connector -> back to panel

The junction box is not in a location where rust should be an issue. And of course the grounding wire that I'll attach to the grounding clip will not be the one that's coming from the box's grounding screw.

[I know there are other ways I can properly ground everything, but ... well, I guess I'm just curious if this would code-compliant. If not, then I'll probably just twist all 5 wires together into a wire nut. I just don't like the fact that I can't see the quality of the connection within the wire nut, and I get suspicious when there are any more than 3 wires.]

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There is nothing in Code that says that a metal box can't be part of the fault current path -- this is done all the time in systems that use AC, MCI-A, or metal conduit. (Personally, I'd use a self-grounding receptacle to save the ground clip and pigtail for neatness' sake, even though it doesn't get scored against box fill.)

If you are curious, btw, look up NEC section 250.148.

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Maybe you have room for something like this

enter image description here
(Wago 773-106 but I expect Ideal and others have an equivalent)

or this

enter image description here
(Wago 221 series, 240/450V 32A)

Assortments are good!

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  • Absolutely. I was just hoping to use what I already have on hand, and not make another trip to the hardware store. Of course, posting this question and thinking about options ends up taking longer than just going to the hardware store... :) But maybe that's part of the fun of it.
    – PhilPDX
    Commented Nov 20, 2016 at 19:29

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