Hi,
I'm interested in when it is allowed (NEC) and advisable to make a connection in an electrical box of a wire to a screw terminal by looping the wire around and then using the free end for another connection. Here's what I think I know:
1) It is NOT allowed to do this with the hot or neutral conductors and the screw terminals on a device. Use pigtails.2) It is allowed to do this with the EGC and the grounding screw of a metal box or strap. This is a good idea, because it makes a neater, tighter installation.
So I think this only leaves the case of the EGC and the ground screw on a device. Is looping allowed here? Is it a good idea?
Thanks, Wayne
P.S. FWIW I'm just contemplating my three gang switch box and how to handle the 8 grounds (5 cables and 3 screw terminals). One option would be loop a ground around each of the 3 devices, and use a wire nut on the 5 ground wires. Another is to use 3 pigtails; joining the
8 ground wires would require splitting them into two groups and using two wire nuts with a jumper between them.