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adam_0
adam_0
02:10
Hi, anybody here that can help with an electrical outlet replacement question?
I've replaced a few outlets before but this one is giving me trouble and I'm wondering what I'm missing... It works fine when all the wires are pulled out of the wall, but when I screw it into the wall, the circuit breaker won't stay on
It looks like it's grounding to the box, I sometimes see a spark
Googling the problem leads to some pretty generic answers about how to wire an electrical socket
Shalvenay
Shalvenay
02:30
easy answer -- wrap the sides with a UL listed electrical tape after wiring it (one of our resident sparkies, Ed Beal, suggests this several times in answers on the site)
adam_0
adam_0
Sides?
Top / bottom or left / right?
Shalvenay
Shalvenay
like top bottom left right (the goal is to insulate the screws on the left and right)
also, is this an el cheapo builder grade outlet, or a decent spec-grade one?
and what wire are you using?
adam_0
adam_0
Got it from Home Depot for 3 bucks so... Cheap?
I'm using the wire that was already there... 3 white, 1 red, 1 greyish
So I wrapped the body of the plug and screwed in the bottom screw to the box and tried again, saw a spark
It works when out of the wall (and my surge protector says that both plugs are grounded)
So the three white cables are connected to the neutral side, the red wire is connected to the hot side, and the grey wire is connected to ground
The old plug was being replaced because it didn't hold onto the cords anymore, 3 prong cables would fall out of I shut the door too hard
The grey strikes me as odd because I can see green wires running through the back of the cable box... Then again, it's an old apartment so it could just be a faded green
It looks like the grey does go to ground...
Solved! IDK why but grey is another hot wire
So plugging them both into the hot side and popping that tab off fixed it
Shalvenay
Shalvenay
02:55
ah, can you post a photo looking into the back of the outlet box @adam_0?
adam_0
adam_0
Just put it all back together... :/
It's hard to see anything in the back, it's a mess of wires
Thank you for your help
Shalvenay
Shalvenay
because the gray wire makes me think it's a conduit job
adam_0
adam_0
Like tubes carrying the wires through the building?
Shalvenay
Shalvenay
@adam_0 yeah, metal tubes vs just having cables run about
adam_0
adam_0
03:25
Yeah, that's what it is
Shalvenay
Shalvenay
yeah, the installer made a wee bit of a naughty choice in using grey for hot -- grey is supposed to be neither hot nor ground but neutral if you're going by what the Code has to say about wire color choices (which isn't that much!)

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