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Crimping lots of ground wires

Houghton123's picture

Crimping lots of ground wires (post #104455)

Houghton123 on Tue, 07/24/2007 - 03:42
in

Our local hardware store carries one size of crimp fitting for crimping the ground wires together in a box.  Some of the boxes in my kitchen remodel have more ground wires than will fit in a fitting, and, while I can use wire nuts, they take up a lot of room.  I ran the line ground wire to the grounding screw in the metal box in all cases.  Is it permissible to run the line ground through one crimp fitting with however many wires I can fit in, add a second crimp fitting, and crimp some more wires in the second one?


Incidentally, the issue is not excessive wires for the box - I did that calculation, and I'm OK.

-A +A

(post #104455, reply #1 of 16)

by DaveRicheson in reply to Houghton123 [original] on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 16:42

You can daisey chain ground. Nothing wrong with it.


 


Dave

(post #104455, reply #2 of 16)

by rasconc in reply to Houghton123 [original] on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 16:57

Can use a "Greenie", takes three #12 and 1 #14 or Buchannan B-cap takes up to 5 #12.


http://www.idealindustries.com/wt/TwistOnWireConnectors.nsf

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(post #104455, reply #3 of 16)

by Marv in reply to Houghton123 [original] on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 19:34

What is the size of the box?  how many ground wires do you have?  If its more than three, where do they come from/go to?  What size wire?


You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.


Marv


Edited 7/25/2007 3:35 pm by Marv

You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.

Marv

(post #104455, reply #5 of 16)

by Houghton123 in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 21:15

3-gang, 2-1/2" depth,  line plus four load NM cables, three switches (one switch ties to two cables, for overhead lighting in different directions in the room), in the box that triggered my question.  Some of the other big ones have line plus three - I'm less concerned about those.

(post #104455, reply #6 of 16)

by DaveRicheson in reply to Anonymous [original] on Thu, 07/26/2007 - 11:45

 line plus four load NM cables, three switches


Land one each on each switch. Tie the last one to any one of the three with a crimp connector. No need to bug them all together then pigtail to each switch. Keep it simple, they all go back to the ground bus in the panel anyway, don't they?


 


Dave


Edited 7/26/2007 7:46 am ET by DaveRicheson

(post #104455, reply #7 of 16)

by edlee in reply to Anonymous [original] on Thu, 07/26/2007 - 11:55

No need to bug them all together


Yes there is.


they all go back to the ground bus in the panel anyway, don't they?


No, they simply go back to the previous switch/junction or outlet box in the circuit. If all the boxes were done the way you suggest, if I understand you correctly, they wouldn't be connected to anything.


 


Ed

(post #104455, reply #8 of 16)

by BillHartmann in reply to Anonymous [original] on Thu, 07/26/2007 - 12:19

Your right.

Also IIRC the code requires all egc to be connected together, regardless.

For example if these had beween 3 switch legs, so that each one is connected to the incoming EGC at the light you still need to connect them all of them together.

I don't know why. Electrically it does not matter. One EGC is enough. Must just be belt and suspenders, plus some crazy glue.

.
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
. William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe

(post #104455, reply #9 of 16)

by SamT in reply to Anonymous [original] on Thu, 07/26/2007 - 13:56

'Cuz if you remove a switch, (to replace or ???), everything downstream is degrounded, but still may be hot. If a switch self destructs and takes the ground with it, same thing.

I would add one bare pigtail to the main ground wire bundle, then add three green insulated pigtails to that one wire.

I would use insulated grounds to the switches to prevent possible shorts when they get moved around when anybody works on the box in the future.


SamT


SamT
A Pragmatic Classical Liberal, aka Libertarian.

I'm always right!
Except when I'm not.

(post #104455, reply #4 of 16)

by popawheelie in reply to Houghton123 [original] on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 20:13

Sometimes fitting all the wires in a box is a pain in the butt. When I have a lot of wires I do it in a systematic way. I always put the ground in back to get it out of the way. Fold the wires and push them back with your neddle nose pliers. The next wires are ones that pass throught the box. The last wires are the ones you will nedd for plugs or switches in that box. I like to use pig tails for the box if you can fit them in so next time you go into that box the switch or recepticle comes out more easily. 


When I put boxes in I get big ones. You can plan where the big ones are most likely going to be needed if money is a concern. 

______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves. Will Rogers

(post #104455, reply #10 of 16)

by Rockford in reply to Houghton123 [original] on Mon, 07/30/2007 - 23:33

I started using the crimps on all of my grounds too, until I realized that I was severing the wire with the crimp tool.  I would neatly twist three to four bares, slide on the appropriate sized sleeve and crimp.  When I would fold the bundle into the box one of the bares would simply break off inside of the crimp sleeve. 


I know that crimps have been used successfully for many years, so I must have been doing something wrong and Ididn't want to continue.


I abondoned the crimps for the rest of the job and switched to the feed-through green nuts and the ground pig tales with stranded #12 and a spade connector.  These really make it easy to trim out.

(post #104455, reply #11 of 16)

by DaveRicheson in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 10:08

What were you crimping with?


 


Dave

(post #104455, reply #12 of 16)

by SamT in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 18:22

Ya no those big red tools with 3' handles and itty bitty 2" anvil shaped mouth pieces. Whaddaya call'em. . . . Oh, yeah, bolt crimpers, er, cutters.


SamT


SamT
A Pragmatic Classical Liberal, aka Libertarian.

I'm always right!
Except when I'm not.

(post #104455, reply #13 of 16)

by DaveRicheson in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 18:38

luggers are what we call them. Not really correct, but just a term we are all familar with. Real Luggers are used by our linemen for big crimp on splice connectors. Huge monsters that won't fit in my back pocket.


 


Dave

(post #104455, reply #14 of 16)

by DaveRicheson in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 18:44

http://cableorganizer.com/klein-tools/strippers-cutters-crimpers/journeyman-crimping-tool-insulated.htm


These are what I use.


 


Dave

(post #104455, reply #15 of 16)

by mwgaines in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 18:49

This is probably the tool you should have been using...


http://www.twacomm.com/catalog/model_C-24.htm


New knowledge is priceless. 


Used knowledge is even more valuable.

(post #104455, reply #16 of 16)

by IMERC in reply to Houghton123 [original] on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 19:30

use this type / style...


http://www.twacomm.com/catalog/model_C-24.htm


 


Ideal Buchanan Four-Way Crimp Tool
Ideal


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