MAKING UP AN OUTLET BOX

2 A crimp tool may be used instead of a wire nut for the ground.

5 If there will be two receptacles In a box, make up two sets of pigtails.

Electricians call the last stage of rough wiring making up a box.

Here. you'll remove sheathing from cables inside the boxes,

group like wires, splice grounds, and-if the box is metal-attach

ground wires to a ground screw. At this point, many electricians

simply splice all wire groups because it will save time later.

First use a cab le ripper 0 to remove the cable sheathing .

Leave a minimum of '/4 in. of sheathing inside the box and a maxi­

mum of 1 in. Electricians favor utllity knives to remove sheathing,

but nonpros are less likely to nick wire insulation with a ripper.

Once you've removed the sheathing, separate the insulated wires

and bare ground wires.

There are several ways to splice grounds. You can use a twist­

on wire connector (Wire-Nut is one brand) and run a pigtail to the

ground screw. Or you can twist the bare wires and crimp them O.

198 1 MAKING UP AN OUTLET BOX

If you go the latter route, leave only one ground wire sticking out

of the crimp, which you'll wrap around the ground screw O. Next, use a wire stripper to remove 1/2 in. of insulation from the

wire ends. Use wire connectors to splice all neutral wires together

and all hot wires together O. As we recommended earlier, splice a

short pigtail to each wire group as well. Attaching neutral and hot

pigtails to the receptacle screw terminals ensures continuity power

even if a receptacle fails. If the box will contain two receptacles,

create two groups of pigtails O. Accordion-fold the wire groups into the box and you're ready for

inspection. If necessary, install a mud ring to bring the box open­

ing flush to finish surfaces. The mud ring shou ld be installed before

you've repaired the plaster or drywall O.

INSTALLING AC CABLE

To install AC cable, start by

marking the box heights onto

the studs and installing the metal

boxes flush to finish surfaces or

flush to the stud edges. Remove

the box knockouts you'll need. Then

drill the studs and run the AC cable

through each hole. Staple it every

41/2 ft. along the run and within

12 in. of each box.

Use a Rota-Split to cut through

a single coil of the cable 's metal

jacket. then slide off the severed

jacket section to expose the wires

inside. Use diagonal cutters to snip

off the kraft paper covering the

wires O. Slide a plastic antishort

bushing between the wires and

the metal jacket O. Next. wrap the

silver bonding wire around the out­

side of the jacket O. Wrapping this

wire bonds the jacket and creates a

continuous ground path.

Slide a setscrew connector over

the end of the AC cable and tighten

the setscrew to the meta! jacket O. The screw compresses the cable

jacket and the bonding wire, hold­

ing them fast and ensuring a con­

tinuous ground. Insert the threaded

end of the connector into a box

knockout. Then tighten the locknut

that secures the connector O. Attach a mud ring to the box to

bring it flush to finish surfaces,

which will be installed later, and

fold the wires into the box O.

INSTALLING AC CABLE I 203

MAKING TURNS WITH METAL CONDUIT

To change directions in a metal conduit

system, you can either bend the pipe or

install directional fittings such as offset adap­

tors, elbows, or Condulets. EMT pipe is rigid, but

its walls are thin enough to bend easily with a

conduit bender.

Pros bend conduit whenever possible. Bend­

ing pipe reduces the number of speCialty fittings

to buy and enables pipe to follow the contours

of surfaces and structural elements. It's not

necessary or desirable for conduit to follow

every last jog or bulge in a wall; the simpler you

can make an installation, the better it will look

and the faster it will progress.

To bend pipe, use a fe lt-tipped marker to

mark the beginning of the bend on the pipe.

Slide the pipe into the bender O. Gently step

on one side of the bender and simultaneously

pull on the lever bar O. The raised marks on

the outer curve of the bender indicate the

angle you're creating in the pipe-typically,

15,221/2,30,45, or 60 degrees.

After bending the conduit-but before cut­

ting it to final length-test-fit the piece to see if

it lines up with the connector on the box 0 or

to a coupling that joins two pipe sections. With

practice, you can also offset pipe O. Offsetting

creates two bends in opposite directions so a

length of conduit can move from one plane

to another.

There are a couple of rules to keep in mind

as you bend conduit. First, there's a minimum

requirement bend-radius for conduit: lOx the

diameter. For 1/2-in.-diameter conduit. for

example, the minimum bend radius is 5 in.

Second , each turn makes it harder to pull

wire. So between each pair of boxes, you can

have no more than 360 degrees of bends. In

practice, every fourth turn should be a pulling

point in which you can access and pull wire-in

other words, the fourth turn should be a pull­

ing elbow, a condulet. or a junction box. There

is not enough room to splice wires in a pulling

elbow or in a condulet. Splice wires only in a

junction or outlet box.

206 1 MAKING TURNS WITH METAL CONDUIT

2 Pull and simultaneously step on one side of the bender.

4 Conduit benders can also create multiple offset anqles.

USING DIRECTIONAL FITTINGS

You can also use directional fittings to make turns. A T-condulet enables you to run wires in different direc­tions and doubles as a pulling point when fishing wire. To attach pipe to a condulet, first screw a locknut onto the threaded shaft of a male

Use a T-condulet as a pufflnq point for fishinq wlres_ Here, wires from the source diverqe in two directions.

adaptor. Turn the adaptor most of the way into the Condutet hub and turn the locknut clockwise until it seats against the hub. BacHightening the locknut in this manner ensures grounding continu ity.

To attach pipe to a condulet, use an adapter and back-tiqhten the locknut until it lodqes aqainst the hub.