How To Wire A Wall Receptacle

Plastic box sizes are stamped on the inside at the back.

How to wire a wall receptacle. To install an outlet to an existing wall the next step is prepping the area. This is a polarized device. Plug the wired connector head into the backside of the wall plate. 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.

Locate the base trim and with a pencil lightly mark the top edge of the base trim so that it leaves a mark on the drywall. A grounded contact at the bottom center is crescent shaped. The total voltage in a series circuit equals the sum of the voltage drops which means if you have something plugged into each of the receptacles the voltage of the series outlet at the end would be too low to do anything useful. If the circuit is 20 amp which means thicker 12 gauge wire or if the existing box is smaller than 18 cu.

It would be against code to wire receptacles in series and there s no good reason to do it anyway. Unscrew the screws on the top and bottom of the outlet to loosen it from the wall. Fit the hooked end of the ground wire around the ground screw on the new receptacle. Connect the ground wire to the receptacle.

Form a j shaped hook on the end of each wire or pigtail using needle nose pliers. In you can t wire a new wall outlet as we show here unless you replace the existing box with a larger one. The how to video uses a 15 amp outlet and 14 2. This is a standard 15 amp 120 volt wall receptacle outlet wiring diagram.

Then insert the connector into the wall plate on the side facing the interior of the wall. Clear everything away from the wall that you ll be working on. 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. Remove the outlet from the wall to access the box behind it.

If your keystone connector came with protective cover plates snap them into place on the top or bottom of the connector head. Don t use this receptacle when no ground wire is. Before starting the project face the wall that needs another outlet. Wiring a grounded duplex receptacle outlet.

Use a screwdriver to remove the cover plate on the outlet and set it aside. The wire should hook around the screw in a clockwise fashion. The video tutorial goes through the rough in installation and install process for a single electrical outlet.