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I've read in various places that 15A receptacles are safe on 20A circuits because the "yoke" (the part that connects the two receptacles to the line) is actually rated for 20 amps.

However, I can't find any documentation for this being true. The Leviton model available at Home Depot only shows 15A on it's spec sheet.

Does anyone have links to any hard evidence of 15A duplex outlets being rated for 20A passthrough? Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.

References:

Why is it safe to use 15 A receptacles on a 20 A circuit?

https://www.leviton.com/en/products/BR15-W

EDIT: More references

Is using 15 amp components on a 20 amp breaker against code?

https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/114946/172216

Shane
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1 Answers1

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UL effectively requires them to be rated for such

The answer you are after isn't in the manufacturer spec sheets because it'd be redundant there, due to UL test requirements in UL 498. Specifically, either:

  1. 113.2 and 113.4 require a 15A duplex with feed-through capability to have no greater than 30°C of rise at 20A of current when feeding through one set of terminals and out the other, or
  2. you have a 15A duplex that's based on a 20A design, (the common case), and thus is covered by the 20A version's temperature testing (this is effectively an exception to 113.4 in UL 498).
ThreePhaseEel
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