What to do with this backwire connection?

[y_p_w]

Still haven’t done the project yet with the rental house. At this point I have 10 of them available, but I’ll probably just buy more GFCI receptacles locally if I need more. I still don’t know exactly how many will be needed, since the house is a combination of some grounded outlets after remodels and GFCI in all wet locations. I might need to check to see which GFCI are grounded and label them accordingly. I’m not going to use any of the load terminals since I have no idea how they’re wired. I guess I’ll find out if any were daisy chained.

I did try wiring some of the GFCI receptacles in advance where I’ll just connect to the line with a wire nut. I’m worried about having little wire to work with. I have plenty of wire nuts now, but just in case I got a 10-pack of WAGO 3-port Lever-Nuts.

My big worry is that some of the wire might be 70 years old and the copper possibly strain hardened. I’ve snapped off hardened wire before when I overtightened a wire nut. I figure the WAGOs might work better if there’s little space to work with and I'm worried about maybe breaking off some wire.

 

[y_p_w]

I tried to order 2 of these from HD. Originally went to a store and they indicated available for pickup today, but no aisle/bay location and an employee said it needed to be ordered, probably from a local warehouse. So I did that and after ordering it said they weren’t available, I’m guessing they don’t exist. The price was better than anything else they had.

Leviton 15 Amp Self-Test SmartLock Pro Duplex Tamper Resistant GFCI Outlet, White with Red Black Buttons (2 Pack) M6R-GFTR1-R2W - The Home Depot

Peace of mind, all the time. The SmartlockPro Self-Test GFCI tests itself even if you forget. Designed to meet the latest UL standard for auto-monitoring (self-test) our complete line of self-test GFCI's

www.homedepot.com

 

[y_p_w]

It is fine. Done hundreds of them like that. The backstab without the screw is the one not to do.

I rechecked my work. I’m pretty sure I torqued them tight, but found a couple of wires that pulled out. I’m sure that I pull tested them when installing, but somehow they loosened. Not sure exactly what happened, but I’m at least redoing all these backwire connections with loops around the screw. There’s just something about that really soft pressure plate and where the wire is positioned relative to the screw.

I still haven’t installed any at a rental property, which is why got them in the first place. I’m down to just five, but I’ll see what the tenant’s priority is for replacing ungrounded outlets. I did put in an order for another dozen so I can finish it later.

 

[jhellwig]

That is why you don't by cheapy no name electrical equipment.

 

[y_p_w]

That is why you don't by cheapy no name electrical equipment.

Tenant actually suggested buying some no name ones from Amazon. His suggestion were ones that had a screw terminal, but also where there was an insertion hole and it’s supposed to clamp on the wire with the same screw. I just picked one that looked pretty decent. I’m just looping around the screw and it should be OK. His suggestion were ones that were kind of big and I’m not sure what kind of room there will be.

 

[y_p_w]

I completely removed the pressure plate and screw, then put all that over looped 12 AWG wire. That seems really secure.

I also did this as pigtails where I’ll connect with wire nuts or lever connectors. I’ve seen a lot of industrial receptacles don’t have terminals - just pigtails. Reused an old but working Eagle GFCI receptacle that has screw terminals for hot and neutral, but a pigtail for ground. It went into an ungrounded box, so I capped off the (stranded) ground with a small wire nut.

I’m wondering why pigtailed receptacles aren’t more common. I guess the pigtails are usually stranded, which makes it harder to get a proper connection.

 

[y_p_w]

Finally did four outlets at the rental. Surprisingly I tested that some outlets were grounded through the metal box, even though there was only a two prong receptacle. Some were really nasty, using old style one time use backwire connections where the screw went down on a crimp. It’s really secure, although not reusable once the crimp is made. Had to pry the crimp off, including one where it was used as a bridge (both crimps) and there was barely any wire left for one set. I ended up using a WAGO 3-port to connect that to the outlet. But this was the GE receptacle with the crimp pried open and the screw removed. That’s clearly copper and not brass, and yeah it’s all brown except I scraped off some of it exposing clean copper.

I did have a problem with the tamper resistant plugs on a few of GFCI receptacles, so I didn’t install them for the tenant to use. The plug just didn’t go in easy, although I could get it to go with a fair bit of wiggling side to side. Made more sense for something where maybe a power strip or refrigerator is connected, so I installed them at my parents place in a location where they don’t get unplugged much.

It was weird in the laundry room which had two-prong, but with a 3-prong adapter. I tested it at the adapter and the box was grounded. However, the tenant and I thought that a GFCI receptacle would be better since it’s a wet location. I did have a bunch of recycled grounded receptacles that could have gone there, but we went with GFCI.

I have another dozen GFCI outlets coming, but that might not be enough.

 

[Kantaro]

Have you looked into Decora Edge receptacles? Might save you a ton of time if you're doing a lot of receptacles. I don't think there's a GFCI version yet though

Decora Edge | Install Switches & Outlets Faster | Leviton

leviton.com

 

[y_p_w]

Have you looked into Decora Edge receptacles? Might save you a ton of time if you're doing a lot of receptacles. I don't think there's a GFCI version yet though

Decora Edge | Install Switches & Outlets Faster | Leviton

leviton.com

Yeah. Even started a topic on them.

Lever style electrical receptacles and switches

Not sure what kind of patent WAGO has on their lever style electrical connectors given how many similar devices are available. However, Leviton has switches and regular outlets (not GFCI yet) that use only lever connections in the back. It looks like the holes for backstab connections, but I...

bobistheoilguy.com

 

[y_p_w]

That is why you don't by cheapy no name electrical equipment.

I needed one more for now to go in a weird location and Harbor Freight had theirs for $10. Not sure who makes it for them, but it's UL listed, but maybe 1/4" deeper than most newer 15A GFCI receptacles. I'm going to need an extender box anyways given how nasty the existing wiring was. The previous receptacle barely pulled out and whoever did it used the terminals to bridge the line. There was barely enough room for an old compact two-prong receptacle. I also tested and found that the box is grounded even though it's only ever had a two-prong receptacle there.

But that one has a different style backwire setup. There's a cage inside with two pressure plates. The one next to the screw is loose and does double duty clamping a loop on the outside. But on the inside there are ridges and the second pressure plate is threaded where tightening the screw draws the plate in. I used that with the backwire, although a little bit of copper peeked out the hole. Shouldn't be an issue I'd think.

 

[y_p_w]

I got some Eaton GFCI receptacles. The pressure plates seem thicker and harder than the no name ones and they have these little indentations that seem to dig into the wire. I threw on some 12 AWG pigtails and they don’t bend much. I’m going to backwire them and hope they stay put.