How To Replace An Electrical Outlet With 4 Wires

The only difference is that depending on where the receptacle is located in the wiring scheme of your house it may have more wires attached to it than you find attached to a light switch.

How to replace an electrical outlet with 4 wires. A how to video on wiring an electrical outlet. Hold a noncontact electrical tester near the black wires inside the outlet box. Any receptacle that is cracked should be replaced. When replacing a three wire electrical outlet you disconnect the existing outlet then follow a simple color coded wiring scheme.

If the receptacle box is metal and the old outlet was grounded to the box with a single short length of copper wire or wire with green insulation simply reattach this grounding wire to the gfci outlet. Strip the wires if necessary strip away 1 2 to 3 4 inch of plastic insulation from the end of each insulated wire in the box using wire strippers. If an outlet commonly called a receptacle no longer holds a plug snugly it should be replaced the procedure for replacing a duplex two outlet wall receptacle is similar to that of replacing a switch. The video covers how to strip electrical wire create loops on the load neutral and ground wire and how to.

In that case install a 15 amp receptacle. Connect the short length of bare ground wire to the green screw on the gfci outlet. Outlets come in many styles and colors but all outlets operate with the same basic principles. Install a 20 amp receptacle only if the wires are 12 and the circuit breaker or fuse is 20 amps or greater.

1st option put both black wires into the gold screw of the new outlet and both white wires into the silver screw of the new outlet. If you re uncomfortable working with electricity hire an electrician. 2nd option wire nut the blacks together and pigtail a new wire to the gold screw on the new outlet and wire nut the whites together and pigtail a new wire to the silver screw on the new outlet. Replacing an electrical outlet is not a difficult task but requires safety precautions to be done safely and correctly.

Cap the twisted together wires with a wire nut.