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My existing wiring has 2 black and 2 white and a ground. One pair is obviously source. The 2nd pair passes to the next outlet.

The current outlet has 4 screws: black on one side and white on the other.

Now I need an outlet with USB ports, so I selected the Leviton t5633-w because of its high USB amperage.

It only has 1 set of screws.

Can I add a short piece say 4-6 inches to the black and the white so I can connect it to the single set of screws?

Therefore there would be 3 black wires wire nutted together, and 3 white.

Physically, it's clear I can do this. However, what does the US National Electrical Code say?

Simson
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cybernard
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2 Answers2

24

Adding the short wire is called pigtails and it is code compliant so yes you can do this.

Pigtails are a superior way of making connections in my opinion. The pigtails do not add to the wire volume in the box.

Ed Beal
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22

The most important rule in NEC is 110.3(B), which requires you to follow labeling and instructions... which means read them.

In this case, that only makes things better, particularly the boldface in 4a and 4b. These explain how to use Leviton's "back-wire" feature, which allows placing 2 wires under each screw.

Pay heed to the word "FIRMLY". You really need to torque it like you mean it. You can tell if it's not tight enough, the wires won't pass a "pull test".

However, Code only requires you read and follow those instructions, it doesn't require you to use that splice technique. If you want to use a pigtail and can correctly execute it, that is fine.

Remember to give a very firm "pull test" on the wire nut splices (hold the nut and pull each wire in turn, hard - if it pulls out that's a technique problem: refine). And never, ever use tape on wire nuts to keep wires from falling out - that sets the stage for an arc fault creating a house fire.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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