A parallel circuit is also a closed circuit where the current divides into two or more paths before coming back together to complete the full circuit. Wiring diagram for dual outlets.
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Line Or Load With Gfci Connection
Wiring two outlets in series. When you daisy chain receptacles in a residential circuit youre actually wiring them in parallel not in series. They only need to be a few inches long. To wire outlets in series youll need to cut taps theyre also called pigtails or conductors. If the first outlet in the circuit is damaged internally in some way it may affect the flow of electricity to the outlets that follow. The outlet addition methods we show here are based on the most common wiring 14 gauge wire on a 15 amp circuit and an 18 cu in. The other cable goes to the next outlet in the chain.
One of the cables is the live cable that either comes from another device that has power or directly from the panel. Cut three of them one for the hot one for the neutral and one for the ground wires. Strip ½ inch of the insulation off both ends of each wire and set the wires aside. Here two outlets are installed in one box and wired using the device terminals to connect them. The procedure for wiring an outlet is to connect the incoming wires to one set of terminals and the outgoing wires to the other set. The outlet automatically splits the electric path.
The neutral wire from the circuit is shared by both sets. This wiring is commonly used in a 20 amp kitchen circuit where two appliance feeds are needed such as for a refrigerator and a microwave in the same location. Here 3 wire cable is run from a double pole circuit breaker providing an independent 120 volts to two sets of multiple outlets. Box typical inside dimensions are about 2 in. These are short lengths of wire. Much more common than series circuits are those wired in parallelincluding most household branch circuits powering light fixtures outlets and appliances.
Parallel wiring is used in homes because of the reliable self containment of each outlet or light fixture that allows current to flow past them even if they fail than to have. If youre wiring an outlet in the middle of a chain of outlets youll have two cables in the outlet box. Wiring outlets has to be done in parallel since that way should one outlet fail or a bulb inserted in one light fixture burn out the rest of the fixtures and appliances hooked up to that same line will keep working. With this arrangement if receptacle 1 fails receptacle 2 may also fail. Wiring dual outlets in a series.