ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area ground screws

Everything also depends on the loads attached to the receptacle, in a house there will almost never be anything plugged in that would seriously strain a device, the obvious esceptions being airconditioners and space heaters. and if you work remodling houses you become very grateful for not having to jam a wirenut and extra wire into a box along with the old, stiff, rubber and cloth covered wire. Personally I think that the conection to the device is far, far more likely to fail then the device itself under load, especially if not properly installed.
I'd also like to say that back stabs may be a good thing for speed-freak tract home electricians, they do everything fast as possible, and if they had only screw terminals to hook to I can see such things as sticking unlooped wires under screws, not tightening screws down all the way etc.
-Will

renosteinke -

"Another assumption these days is that you'll be using a "greenie" to join the grounds together."

Ok, I'll show my ignorance, what is a "greenie" (and does it go by any other names)?

Steve

I found this, never seen one before https://www.electrical-contractor.net/forum/BUS/greenie.jpg

A "greenie" is a green wire nut, made by Ideal, that has a hole in the end. To use it, you trim all your grounds back (except one). You slip the long wire through the nut, out the hole, and several inches later, tighten the nut on the remaining grounds. This gives you a pigtail for attaching to a screw.

I prefer the buchannon or stak-on barrel crimps for ground connections. They use less space, and if installed properly make a good connection. Note the words installed properly.

They also make a greenie with an attached green insulated stranded 12ga pigtail that has a spade connector on it.
I am not sure how the money works out but they are great for retro work where the EGCs are too short to reach the device. I would think that would be good in those packed fan boxes on AFCIs too where an errant ground hitting the neutral can trip the AFCI.

Hello from South Dakota!!!!!

Forgive me for this, but I always thought that you had to pig-tail every device. I was always told that you could not rely on a device for circuit integrity, but then again I have never questioned that in 16 years.

Am I wrong?

Jon

Jon the NEC only requires the grounding conductor and the grounded conductor of a multiwire branch circuit to be pigtailed.

(Actually they do not require a pigtail but that is the result of what they do require)

Outside of those conductors you may use the device to feed through.

Pigtailing is one of the more common ways that "trade practice" exceeds code requirements.

[This message has been edited by renosteinke (edited 03-29-2006).]

Does it really exceed code requirements or is it simply acceptable?