rough inspection grounds

bfan781

Getting ready for rough inspection. The inspector wants to see wires stripped and grounds connected. Trying to determine exactly what I should do. For the outlets that have two wires coming in, I am stripping the wires, twisting the grounds tight and then crimping the grounds together. Then I am clipping one of the grounds after the twist. Is there any difference for three cables? do I twist all three, crimp, and then cut two, leaving one wire past the crimp/twist?

brric

Yes if that is what he requires. Don't know where you are but in our area inspectors want switch boxes made up, metallic boxes grounded, etc. We've never had to make up equipment grounds on the rough for receps. Different inspectors different requirements.

AllanJ

If you use crimps and you would need two pigtails, then two long ends can continue uncut past the crimp. If you have three incoming ground wires and need three pigtails, then all three ground ends continue past the crimp.

If you use wire nuts, at most one end can go past the wire nut and that is only if the wire nut has a hole in the small end. The other needed pigtails have to be separate 6" lengths, coming out the large end.

__________________
The disadvantages of crab apple trees. In summer, the apples are too sour to pick and eat. In winter the birds come and leave dropping all over the place.

brric

The only wire that is a 'pigtail' is the wire or wires extending to the device(s), e.i. switch , recep, or fixture.
For instance, in a 3 gang switch box, all of the grounding wires are twisted, crimped, wire nutted whatever along with 3 pigtails which are later connected to the switches.

bfan781

Little confused, so for the grounds, the boxes that have two wires going in, I am twisting, crimping and cutting one after the crimp. The one I didnt cut will go to the device. If I have three wires going in, should I twist, crimp, and cut two so only one extends past the crimp? Or should I just cut one and have two extend past the crimp, which will be pigtailed and go to the switch, recept. etc?

This may be a stupid question, but still learning. If I have a box that has two separte circuits in it, one 15, one 20 amp are those grounds connected twisted together or do you do them each to there own twist/crimp?

jbfan

You leave any excess wires after the crimp to the number of devices in the box.
If you have three wires and only one device, you cut two.
If you have two wires and 2 devices, then you cut none, and so forth and so on.


Yes all grounds connect together.

__________________
Yes I am a Pirate, 200 years too late. "Jimmy Buffett"

AllanJ

All grounds from all cables are connected together in a box. But if two hot feed cables enter a box, the neutrals are kept separate (separate wire nuts), each feed neutral is connected just to the neutrals of the loads it serves.

__________________
The disadvantages of crab apple trees. In summer, the apples are too sour to pick and eat. In winter the birds come and leave dropping all over the place.

gregt848

Is there a good way to twist three or four grounds together?

jbfan

Practice and a good pair of lineman's pliers!

__________________
Yes I am a Pirate, 200 years too late. "Jimmy Buffett"