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It's in the Building and Electrical Codes
You may have noticed that you can walk into a room that you've never been in before, and reach for a light switch, your hand has a really good chance of finding it. It's almost like magic, and it's so universal that people take it for granted.
Actually, it's no accident. It's required by both the electrical and the ...
answered Apr 5 at 2:11
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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There is no need for tape inside a device box except perhaps as a wire colour marker (phase taping, etc). Outlets, switches, device boxes, cable, clamps, breakers - all of these devices have clear and specific installation methods that ensure they perform to the safety standards against which they are tested. Hacks like this do not count themselves among ...
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If you are going to do it you go 3-4 times around the outlet so it covers the metal and doesn't slip off. Also do not use the cheapo stuff that comes in at $2 for 5 rolls.
This shouldn't be a common thing. I do it only when using smaller metal boxes and the side screws are very close to the edge or touching to prevent arcing. If you are leaving too ...
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Additional reason: More than 20 years ago I had a socket in the garden, switched from the inside. That was to deny any unauthorized person a connection for power tools. While still doing that, is is no longer effective as everything is battry operated now.
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Cost, mostly
Whether your grounding conductors are bare, insulated, or not even a wire to begin with depends on what wiring method you are working with. NM, because it's made in large quantities, uses a bare grounding wire to save cost (likewise with UF and most SE cables, as those pennies add up at industrial scales). On the other hand, if your house is ...
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Your analysis of the current situation is correct and quite normal. The fact that this type of switch allows two wires to be attached under the switch makes it that much easier to do, as opposed to hacks (MPO) such as one wire under the screw and one in the back-stab.
Yes, it is perfectly fine to have a pigtail to the switch and connect the three wires with ...
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A number of years ago it was required by building code to have a switched receptacle if there are no ceiling fixtures in a room. It still is I am certain. It is a safety issue for entering a room when it is dark. If you have a ceiling light, then I believe it can go, but to remove all the related wiring and switch will require drywall work and/or a blank ...
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If you look carefully at your old outlet, you’ll see that there is embossed on the outlet “line” near one pair and “load” near the other.
The line wires are the power feed and the load wires run onto more outlet and/or lights that are also protected by the GFCI.
If you want, you can connect the load wires to the load terminals of the new GFCI. However, then ...
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Get a bigger nut/connector (or more of them)
You're right to be concerned about cramming the existing wirenut over its capacity. The solution, though, is to either use a larger nut/connector (such as an 8-port push-in type connector) or two smaller nuts connected to each other by a piece of white wire of the appropriate gauge.
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A remote switch for an power outlet can also be a safety measure.
When I was a child, a TV appliance caught fire during the night and we lost part of our home. When my parents got to build their own house later, they put a master switch on each room that would control all power outlets in that room. Every night they would make the rounds cutting off power to ...
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No tape in permanent installations!
Tape glue. No matter how much reputable and expensive the tape brand is, there is always a possibility for the glue to become either liquid, or dust-like, or electrically conductive over time. Yes, I have seen all these things more than once, including all of them at once.
Cooling. Every conductor heats under load and it ...
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You're supposed to resolve that with technique
First, if you're working in a metal box, there shouldn't be any ground wires flying around in a switch box. Code requires that you take the cable grounds to the metal box itself FIRST -- either via separate ground screws for each, or pigtail them to one ground screw. Switches can pick up ground via their ...
answered Mar 17 at 17:57
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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3
Generally, 14 inch-pounds is safe, although you can go somewhat higher if you wish
UL 498 (i.e the standard for receptacles in the US) calls out a tightening torque of 12-14 inch-pounds for wire binding screws (depending on size) in Table 123.3 as part of the Terminal Strength Test, and repeats that 14 inch-pound figure for 12AWG wire in 113.13 for the ...
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From where I am, there is no code requiring switches to power outlets but I have installed one for my autistic son's TV. I require that all appliances not in use be unplugged to save on the electric bill. The outlet switch however makes it easier for my son to just leave the TV plugged in reducing the chances for him to be electrocuted.
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I will copy this as an answer as I believe it is most probable.
You may be detecting phantom voltage.
I have seen 2 circuits crossed in the field but never 4.
The chances of this are very remote. Read up on phantom voltage and you might find why you detect voltage. For them to be connected all 4 would have to be odd or even breakers.
if some are odd and some ...
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The old switch
Strictly speaking, you need to find out what those three wires are connected to. If I had to guess, though, I'd feel quite confident that the wires are as labeled here:
The bridging wire (called a "jumper" in my world) tells the tale. The power supply is the only wire that would be connected to both switches, and thus to two ...
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Electricians look at tape wrapped around switches, receptacles, and wire nuts as an amateur tell. I agree it's a bad idea around a wire nut, but I am in the minority that feel it's a good idea around device screws.
If someone ever wants to remove the device from an energized box - which there's very, very seldom a good reason to do - who ever takes it out ...
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You do not need a three way dimmer. The dimmer you have will work fine. Your existing switch is a single toggle switch. It's confusing because you have a black wire connected to a screw terminal and a black wire shoved into a backstab,(which is the same connection as the screw terminal). With the breaker "off" take the two black wires from your ...
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The wire going between the switches is the hot wire. Verify you still have a hot as if this is missing none of the switches will work.
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As a renter, your "work" can only consist of trying to track down what the actual relationship of circuits to locations is (see if there's another spot that "looks like" it could have had a washer/dryer, for instance) and trying the devices you want to run on the outlets you want to run them on to see if a breaker trips, or not - given ...
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I believe this is "phantom voltage", as suggested by @Ed Beal.
Duplicate question: https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/110093/43268
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