There should be no problem with code providing the box is big enough for the number of wires you are stuffing into it. There are limits to the number of wires you can use. Boxes come in different Cu In sizes and there are calculation tables for the number and size wires allowed. I would not feed from the outlet, you should pigtail off of the branch circuit itself. If you feed from the outlet and the outlet fails so does everything else down the line.
CR
Hello,
looking to add a couple of outlets for convenience (not planning on significantly upping the loading on the circuit) at the end of a run. the way everything is structured it would be much easier to just Tee the two off of the last outlet rather than run them serially. no other issues.
does this violate NEC? (can't imagine why it would but it doesn't hurt to ask.)
thanks in advance ml
not adding outlets to a lighting circuit as these are 20A outlets and all my lighting is on 15A.
By strictly serially I mean that any one outlet in the circuit feeds one and only one outlet, except for the last of course. What I want to do is have the outlet that is currently the end of the run feed 2 more outlets, each of which would then become an end of the run.
thanks ml
Hi, I don't think it matters as long as the circuit is not over loaded. You don't have to run total load in a single line formation. Tony
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
The only issue with this I know of that you might run into and is addressed by the NEC is box fill. That is, trying to jam too many wires into a box. I saw in your other post that this a 20a circuit so you'll need at least #12 wires. If you have a single 12/2 in, 2 12/2s out and a device you'll need a box for (3 cables * 2 current carrying conductors each) + 1 for grounds + 2 for the receptacle = 9 * 2.25 cu in/conductor =
20.25 cu in. If you happen to have a 4x4 box then you might be in good shape or there are some extra deep single gang plastic boxes that big. It's still going to be tight in any single gang box.If you have some place to which you can pull the original feed back you might consider putting a junction box there then branching off to your 3 locations from it.
Doug
The only potential code problem is the number of wires in the box. Each box is rated for a certain number of wires. Most outlets use a 14 cubic inch box that is rated for 6 #12 or 7 #14 wires. This is from an older book and I don't have a box handy to check. I usually rely on the info printed on the boxes. The cubic inches and wire capacity is printed on most plastic and composite boxes.
If your box is an 18 cubic inch box and your circuit is 15 amp 14 gauge wire you would be 100% legal with your 9 wires in the box.
All of that said, if it is a 15 amp circuit using #14 wire most likely you will be fine with 9 wires in a box rated for 7. I have seen many more wires than that on some older installations.
You will need to join all the wires inside the box and provide pigtails to feed the existing outlet because putting 2 wires under one screw is a big no no. The pigtails don't count as wires. Also makes it easier to change the device in the future.
Colbyt
Or he could branch one line off from this outlet box to a junction box, and branch two lines from the junction box to his new outlets.
Thanks. This is actually what I'm doing. I just used the language feeding from the outlet for clarity. ml
Leaving aside the question of the number of wires in a box; there was no difficulty understanding that term 'serially'. Serial etc. means "One after another". And that's exactly what the OP asked; could he run 'both' of the two new extra outlets from the 'last outlet' of the existing run; or, did he have to wire them 'one after another' (Or; to paraphrase, 'one from the other ................). Thought the use of the word serially was quite apt, in this case. OP was not suggesting to wire the outlets themselves 'in series' instead of parallel! Good replies; thank you.
Actually all outlets are wired parallel, i.e. across the hot wire and the ground. The outlets in any house I have been in are wired in a continuous fashion by room or use, i.e., the wire to the first outlet in a room goes to the first outlet and then the wire continues on to the next outlet, etc. Thus, each box (except for the last) has an incoming romex and an outgoing romex. Normally there is a different feed from the breaker box to each room or specific function. The idea is to keep the total wire length for a single feed to the minimum, but you also keep the number of wires to a minimum.
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