How To Rough In Wires for a Standard Outlet or Receptacle Using Pigtails in Daisy Chain - Ben's DIY

Here I explain the process of how you rough in a standard outlet in a daisy chain using pigtails. It is important to roll the wires in neatly and in the order of grounds, neutrals, and finally the load carrying conductor.
I prefer the pigtail method because if you need to take a receptacle out in the future you can do so without disconnecting power to the down stream outlets. It is also not as hard on the wire itself as you are only pushing the pigtails around instead of all of the incoming wires.

0:00 - Rough In Wires for Outlets Intro
0:12 - Situation
0:36 - The Box We Are Working On
0:57 - Pigtail Ground Wires
3:18 - Don't Join Circuits With A Receptacle
4:47 - Pigtail Neutral Wires
7:08 - Pigtail Hot Wires
7:43 - Trim Excess Wire & Safe-Off
10:07 - SUBSCRIBE!!!

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Blessings from Minnesota!

Ben

[BenjaminSahlstrom]

NOTE that per the NEC you are required to run the same size wire for the grounding pigtails as the circuit size would require for the neutral & hot now! Check with your electrical inspector though as some do allow using 14ga on a 20amp circuit but that opinion will vary. Good luck on your projects!

[rollyman]

30 year electrician overall, and 16 years with my own business.
Good job but I will add my thought or opinion I should say.
IMO Wire nuts are nothing more than a fast way to insulate the exposed conductors.

I always teach my guys to strip about an inch and a half, twist the conductors with lineman's plyers in a clockwise rotation. This way each conductor is binding with each other creating the real contact point.
This also prevents one wire from getting pushed out of place when the wire nut is installed.
Trimming the wires after the twist creates the flat point for the wire nut to get a hold of and also insures that every conductor is bound by the internal wire nut spring.

In all my years of experience I have never had to service a failed connection done this way.
I have repaired hundreds that were not twisted prior to the wire nut.

[kelmarservicesllc]

Good job! As an electrical inspector, it's nice to see someone do it neatly, and not trying to cut every corner.

[rickl]

Thanks for taking your time and energy to post these videos and sharing your knowledge. I really appreciate it. Above and beyond. Be safe. Thanks again!

[vincentfloyd]

This video was more helpful than any other video I could find and I've been searching the internet for quite some time before I wanted to start wiring my house you're awesome buddy your information on the three gang switch box it's great

[kathrynweller]

Great video, very clear, can actually see what he’s doing and he explains everything in layman’s terms. would recommend and looking forward to learning more.

[englishguy]

Thanks Ben, one of the Few individuals who actually knows the Electrical Trade. There is lots of dangerous electrical misinformation on YouTube.

[JoeNathan]

Hey I'll tell ya what. This guy is good. He does good work and knows what he's doing. I'm an electrician and I still scan his channel for something to watch an pick up on something new to try. Never hurts to learn an he's one of only a few on YouTube I would ever recommend to someone. I'm pretty sure He's a master plumber and he was working on his journeyman electrician he might even have it by now. Or maybe it's the other way around. Either way keep up the great work brother 👌

[handyhands]

I really enjoy your teaching. I've leaned a lot as a DIYer. Thanks.

[ltwadley]

Thanks for this video. I'm a first year apprentice and I have learned a lot from watching this.

[gerardosilva]

Gracias for all the so useful explanations you give on the videos. The way you explain is easier to learn. Thanks

[majordanggle]

Great video. Why don’t you pre-twist with the pliers prior to adding the wire nut?

[anthonycarr]

I notice the pigtail wasn't cut to length before adding to box connection - that's a good tip for me as I've had problems with keeping pigtails fastened properly (no tension from longer wire). Thank you.

[misterritter]

Thanks for the video! Most in depth but straight forward one I've come across. I want to run some lights off an outlet/circuit and I wasn't going to pigtail, but I will now!

[devinmartin]

Very much so helpful my dude you can tell you actually know how to install properly

[Bicklehoff]

I’m learning a ton watching the video and then reading all of the comments, amazing how much information is at our fingertips these days, thank you!

[venividivici]

Hey Ben, I trained under a master electrician. I was taught not to rely on the wirenut for a secure connection so we use lineman pliers to twist the wire together first, trim the head then screw on the wirenut until tight. Just my 2 cents. But great video!

[maagu]

For the rough in outlet, he powers on boxes and "leaves them on" during the sheet wall process. He indicates that a Roto zip would be used and indicated that damage could occur either when the boxes are cut out and/or the sheet rock is screwed in. Not good for either of the two scenarios if the power is left on. And where are the metal stud covers to protect wires during the screw in process. I say yes, turn power back on BRIEFLY during the arcfault test, then on again AFTER the sheet rock is on to differentiate when the problems were introduced and to protect the sheet rock guys.

[dudemanmanguy]

Thanks for this as a first year apprentice I appreciate it more than you know 👍🏻

[SuperDdy]

This method is more for factory production where if one outlet fails the remaining outlets in the run continue to work. In a home
setting if an outlet fails you would want to replace it immediately. The problem being some people might just ignore it and continue to use
the remaining outlets in the run rather than incur the expense of an electrician. With current continuing to flow through the faulty outlet
you could have a fire hazard brewing. In a factory setting outlets have a lot more stress and strain placed on them and are much more
prone to failure . There are also personnel on hand to replace an outlet quickly and here the pigtail method makes perfect sense.
Taping your wire nuts to the sheathing and wrapping the receptacle terminals with electrical tape is also good practice.