![]() #Wiring outlets in parallel seriesside screws, the two situations in the second image you attached are not detailing this.Ī) is showing a duplex receptacle where one of the receptacles is switched.ī) looks like it is showing two circuits with a shared neutral, which as another poster mentioned makes pigtailing required for the neutral leg.Īgain, if by parallel or series you mean pigtail or sidescrew, its up to you. I may be misunderstanding what you are asking, but if you are just wiring a simple circuit of receptacles and contemplating pigtail vs. Again, using a pigtail eliminates this possibility. Open that neutral wire, and all manner of bad things might happen. Not that you should ever work hot !!! Yet, even with the power 'off,' the neutral wire might still be carrying current sometimes a neutral wire - by design or by accident - carries current from more than one circuit. Using a pigtail prevents this from happening. Then it comes down to this question: will removing one receptacle itself have any effect on the other receptacles?įor example, if a wire goes in one screw, while another wire goes out the other screw, removing the receptacle will interrupt the circuit. The differences come about when a receptacle breaks, or is replaced. One method you describe - where the receptacle has four wires attached to it - is sometimes referred to as a 'daisy chain.'Įlectrically, the methods all accomplish the same thing. Receptacles are never wired in "series,' they re always in some manner that is in 'parallel.' "Series" and "parallel" have specific meanings in electrical work - and you're using 'series' wrong. Hope this is clear, if not I'll try to do better after coffee ) In a parallel circuit, one item failing has no effect on the other loads downstream, whereas in a series circuit (remember the light bulbs?) one item failing (especially "opening") interuppts the flow of current to all other items downstream. The only thing I can think of that's in series are protective devices such as circuit breakers, which are in series with the "hot" line, and switches which perform a similar current interuppting function. In house wiring loads are always (as far as I can think of without coffee) in parallel. In a series circuit, the current flows through each load, for instance if you picture a series of light bulbs end to end, in a "daisy chain", that's a series circuit. In parallel circuits, basically all the hots are tied together (whether by pigtails or not) and likewise all the neutrals are together. The question of whether loads are wired in parallel or series has nothing to do with how they are individually connected to the power source. I haven't looked at your pics but let me try and give you a Reader's Digest answer. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |