5 Mistakes DIYers make using metal electrical boxes

what do you need to know in order to safely complete electrical projects around your house when using metal electrical boxes hi it's Dave from upgrade your home DIY and today I want to share with you five mistakes you need to avoid when using metal electrical boxes any di wires tackle electrical projects in their home and do it safely using the videos published by people like Scott from everyday home repair the challenge for those of us in some jurisdictions is that it is not common to use the plastic electrical boxes that are often shown in the videos it is more common or may be required by code to use metal electrical boxes if you have an older home you may end up working on a metal electrical box that was originally installed before the time when plastic boxes became more common there are some important differences between plastic and metal electrical boxes if you're just starting to work with metal electrical boxes let me show you five mistakes I see Di wires make when they use metal electrical boxes first mistake I see is not securing the Romex Cable in the Box a plastic box has a tab inside the hole that you push the Romex through and this tab holds the cable by tension in this segment from one of Scott's videos you see him just pull the cable into the box and then secure it to the wall metal boxes work differently in a metal electrical box you decide which of the four holes you want to use to run the cable into the box you remove the cover from that hole it is usually easiest to pry it up with a square head screwdriver and then twist it off with pliers after you push the cable into the box you need to tighten the plate that holds it in place using a number two square screwdriver the plate pushes the cable against the back of the box securing it tighten it all the way so the cable doesn't move these plates come unscrewed so it's easier to insert the cable if you're not using one of the ends of the box for cables make sure to tighten that plate all the way to the back so it's out of the way second mistake is not grounding the metal electrical box see a plastic box doesn't conduct electricity that's why the ground wire usually in the videos you see goes directly to the outlet or gets tightened to other ground wires a metal box does conduct electricity and so if a live wire or the screw of one of the terminals touches the side of an ungrounded metal box it can cause serious problems always connect the ground wire from each cable to the grounding screws at the back of the box there's a slot that the wire fits into so it will be below the screw I often use needle nose pliers to guide the ground wire under the screw and make sure it's in the slot tighten the ground screw all the way so the wire does not move by grounding all wires to the Box you are keeping the ground connection complete just like you see in videos where they connect the ground wires with a wire nut or a Wago connector in some jurisdictions plastic boxes also require grounding and have grounding screws at the back as you see in this close-up of a new tech box this provides grounding protection to the outlet or switch through a metal connection to the screws that attach the outlet or switch to the Box the screws will likely be in slightly different positions and do not have the slots to keep the wires in place if your jurisdiction requires grounding in plastic boxes you will treat them in many ways like a metal box when it comes to grounding the stake 3 is putting the ground wires in the wrong direction under the screw when the ground wires are in the wrong direction it increases the chance that the wire can come out from under the screw when it is turned and leave the Box unprotected the screw turns clockwise so a wire coming in from the bottom should go on the left side of the screw and a wire coming in from the top of the box should go on the right side of the screw this way when the screw gets tightened it pulls the wires in under the screw instead of pushing the magnet the fourth mistake is putting multiple ground wires under one side of the screw if you have a lot of wires that go through this box you may not have enough slots to put just one wire under each side of each of the screws don't put two wires under one side of the screw and one wire on the other side the slots beside the screws are not meant for more than one wire so they won't help hold two wires in place properly the screw cannot properly tighten when one side is lower than the other leaving a possibility of a dangerous missed Ground connection if you have for example five ground wires that need to be connected you will need to use a pigtail connect one wire and the pigtail under one of the grounding screws then you can connect the pigtail and the other ground wires using a five slot logo connector if you're not familiar with Wago connectors Scott is the one I first heard about them from they are a great solution especially when you're dealing with multiple wires they come in two three or five slot versions and the new straight through connector version you can find links below to get a multi-pack from Amazon I carry them in my electrical bail and they have been so valuable mistake 5 is not leaving extra ground wire after connecting it to the grounding screw at the back of the box after you connect the ground wire to the Box you still need the wire to come out and connect to an outlet dimmer or Smart Switch and you're just installing a simple light switch you may be tempted to do what many electricians did in the past and cut the ground wire just past the grounding screw a simple light switch doesn't require a ground wire so they clean up the Box by cutting the ground wire the problem comes when you need that ground wire to install a dimmer or Smart Switch if you run into this situation you can add a pigtail to an open side of a grounding screw so that the dimmer or Smart Switch can be connected to the ground make sure the short original ground wire doesn't slip out when installing the pigtail if you're starting to work on electrical in your home and it has metal electrical boxes don't make these five mistakes or it could cause serious problems are there other mistakes you've made or you've seen made when working with metal electrical boxes if so add them in the comments below so everyone knows what to avoid if you learned something from this video please click the like button so other diy-ers who are doing electrical projects at their home know how to avoid these key mistakes And subscribe to the channel to get notified of future videos thanks for watching

Channel: Upgrade Your Home DIY

Views: 135,208

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Id: rRHf6W6NV_w

Length: 7min 20sec (440 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 02 2023