I'm looking to replace my old 15 amp duplex receptacle that has a bit of a wiring mess. I've got two white wires and two black wires backstabbed, plus one white and one black wrapped around a post. All wires are 12 gauge. The problem is, I can't find a new receptacle that accepts 12 gauge wires for backstabbing, and I'm not sure what to do with the extra black and white wires since I can only connect four. Any advice would be appreciated!
1 Answer
You have a couple of options here. One is to make some splices with pigtails so that the new receptacle only has one set of conductors. The other option is to use commercial grade receptacles that accept side clamp wiring instead of backstabbing. That way, you can connect two conductors per terminal post without issues. Any preference for which route to go?
If I use the commercial grade receptacles with the side clamps, can I put two wires on one post and one on the other to make use of all six wires?
Just a heads-up, you might want to ensure that the ground is pigtailed properly, but watch out—there might not be a lot of extra wire unless you pull it through. Keep that in mind!