Why is there a jumper wire between the hot screws on my outlet?
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If my picture messed up during resizing - it looks like a jumper wire between the two screws on the hot side of this outlet.
electrical receptacle
edited Nov 11 at 14:30
isherwood
43.5k453108
asked Nov 10 at 22:14
bee
334
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
favorite
If my picture messed up during resizing - it looks like a jumper wire between the two screws on the hot side of this outlet.
electrical receptacle
edited Nov 11 at 14:30
isherwood
43.5k453108
asked Nov 10 at 22:14
bee
334
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
favorite
up vote
4
down vote
favorite
If my picture messed up during resizing - it looks like a jumper wire between the two screws on the hot side of this outlet.
electrical receptacle
edited Nov 11 at 14:30
isherwood
43.5k453108
asked Nov 10 at 22:14
bee
334
If my picture messed up during resizing - it looks like a jumper wire between the two screws on the hot side of this outlet.
electrical receptacle
electrical receptacle
edited Nov 11 at 14:30
isherwood
43.5k453108
asked Nov 10 at 22:14
bee
334
edited Nov 11 at 14:30
isherwood
43.5k453108
asked Nov 10 at 22:14
bee
334
edited Nov 11 at 14:30
isherwood
43.5k453108
edited Nov 11 at 14:30
isherwood
43.5k453108
edited Nov 11 at 14:30
isherwood
43.5k453108
43.5k453108
asked Nov 10 at 22:14
bee
334
asked Nov 10 at 22:14
bee
334
asked Nov 10 at 22:14
bee
334
334
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
11
down vote
Someone broke the fin off, then had breaker's remorse
A factory-new duplex receptacle has a copper "fin" connecting the two screws on each side -- breaking this fin off on the hot (brass) side is done when you want a half-switched receptacle outlet, for instance. It appears somebody broke the fin off at one point, then either the same person or a different person had regrets about the broken fin and replaced it with a jumper wire. So, leave the fin on your new receptacle, and all will be well.
answered Nov 10 at 23:01
ThreePhaseEel
28.9k104488
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
It looks like the outlet was used at one time with that factory installed jumper removed. That would allow you to have two circuits serve each outlet on there. This is often done when you have lights that plug in, you would wire a switch to one outlet for the light, and the other one would still be usable for other things.
I don't think it's legal to put a jumper back in there, typically you can only have one wire per screw terminal.@Makyen pointed out that in this case, the jumper is the only wire in the screw terminal, and the actual circuit wire goes into the push in terminal at the back, so that part of my answer does not apply here.
answered Nov 10 at 22:47
PhilippNagel
1586
Thanks - I'm replacing the receptacle entirely. So should I just remove that and otherwise wire normally?
– bee
Nov 10 at 22:50
Yes. If you look at your new receptacle, you'll notice the factory installed jumper.
– PhilippNagel
Nov 10 at 23:48
7
@PhilippNagel In this instance, there is only one wire per screw terminal. The incoming hot wire appears to be using the back-stab connection at the rear of the outlet.
– Makyen
Nov 11 at 0:47
1
Ah @Makyen I missed that in the photo. Thanks for pointing it out!
– PhilippNagel
Nov 11 at 2:09
2
Backstabbing is the worst thing to do. I've had to pull and rewire every device in houses wired with backstabs.
– BillWeckel
Nov 11 at 14:51
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
11
down vote
Someone broke the fin off, then had breaker's remorse
A factory-new duplex receptacle has a copper "fin" connecting the two screws on each side -- breaking this fin off on the hot (brass) side is done when you want a half-switched receptacle outlet, for instance. It appears somebody broke the fin off at one point, then either the same person or a different person had regrets about the broken fin and replaced it with a jumper wire. So, leave the fin on your new receptacle, and all will be well.
answered Nov 10 at 23:01
ThreePhaseEel
28.9k104488
add a comment |
up vote
11
down vote
Someone broke the fin off, then had breaker's remorse
A factory-new duplex receptacle has a copper "fin" connecting the two screws on each side -- breaking this fin off on the hot (brass) side is done when you want a half-switched receptacle outlet, for instance. It appears somebody broke the fin off at one point, then either the same person or a different person had regrets about the broken fin and replaced it with a jumper wire. So, leave the fin on your new receptacle, and all will be well.
answered Nov 10 at 23:01
ThreePhaseEel
28.9k104488
add a comment |
up vote
11
down vote
up vote
11
down vote
Someone broke the fin off, then had breaker's remorse
A factory-new duplex receptacle has a copper "fin" connecting the two screws on each side -- breaking this fin off on the hot (brass) side is done when you want a half-switched receptacle outlet, for instance. It appears somebody broke the fin off at one point, then either the same person or a different person had regrets about the broken fin and replaced it with a jumper wire. So, leave the fin on your new receptacle, and all will be well.
answered Nov 10 at 23:01
ThreePhaseEel
28.9k104488
Someone broke the fin off, then had breaker's remorse
A factory-new duplex receptacle has a copper "fin" connecting the two screws on each side -- breaking this fin off on the hot (brass) side is done when you want a half-switched receptacle outlet, for instance. It appears somebody broke the fin off at one point, then either the same person or a different person had regrets about the broken fin and replaced it with a jumper wire. So, leave the fin on your new receptacle, and all will be well.
answered Nov 10 at 23:01
ThreePhaseEel
28.9k104488
answered Nov 10 at 23:01
ThreePhaseEel
28.9k104488
answered Nov 10 at 23:01
ThreePhaseEel
28.9k104488
answered Nov 10 at 23:01
ThreePhaseEel
28.9k104488
28.9k104488
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
It looks like the outlet was used at one time with that factory installed jumper removed. That would allow you to have two circuits serve each outlet on there. This is often done when you have lights that plug in, you would wire a switch to one outlet for the light, and the other one would still be usable for other things.
I don't think it's legal to put a jumper back in there, typically you can only have one wire per screw terminal.@Makyen pointed out that in this case, the jumper is the only wire in the screw terminal, and the actual circuit wire goes into the push in terminal at the back, so that part of my answer does not apply here.
answered Nov 10 at 22:47
PhilippNagel
1586
Thanks - I'm replacing the receptacle entirely. So should I just remove that and otherwise wire normally?
– bee
Nov 10 at 22:50
Yes. If you look at your new receptacle, you'll notice the factory installed jumper.
– PhilippNagel
Nov 10 at 23:48
7
@PhilippNagel In this instance, there is only one wire per screw terminal. The incoming hot wire appears to be using the back-stab connection at the rear of the outlet.
– Makyen
Nov 11 at 0:47
1
Ah @Makyen I missed that in the photo. Thanks for pointing it out!
– PhilippNagel
Nov 11 at 2:09
2
Backstabbing is the worst thing to do. I've had to pull and rewire every device in houses wired with backstabs.
– BillWeckel
Nov 11 at 14:51
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
It looks like the outlet was used at one time with that factory installed jumper removed. That would allow you to have two circuits serve each outlet on there. This is often done when you have lights that plug in, you would wire a switch to one outlet for the light, and the other one would still be usable for other things.
I don't think it's legal to put a jumper back in there, typically you can only have one wire per screw terminal.@Makyen pointed out that in this case, the jumper is the only wire in the screw terminal, and the actual circuit wire goes into the push in terminal at the back, so that part of my answer does not apply here.
answered Nov 10 at 22:47
PhilippNagel
1586
Thanks - I'm replacing the receptacle entirely. So should I just remove that and otherwise wire normally?
– bee
Nov 10 at 22:50
Yes. If you look at your new receptacle, you'll notice the factory installed jumper.
– PhilippNagel
Nov 10 at 23:48
7
@PhilippNagel In this instance, there is only one wire per screw terminal. The incoming hot wire appears to be using the back-stab connection at the rear of the outlet.
– Makyen
Nov 11 at 0:47
1
Ah @Makyen I missed that in the photo. Thanks for pointing it out!
– PhilippNagel
Nov 11 at 2:09
2
Backstabbing is the worst thing to do. I've had to pull and rewire every device in houses wired with backstabs.
– BillWeckel
Nov 11 at 14:51
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
It looks like the outlet was used at one time with that factory installed jumper removed. That would allow you to have two circuits serve each outlet on there. This is often done when you have lights that plug in, you would wire a switch to one outlet for the light, and the other one would still be usable for other things.
I don't think it's legal to put a jumper back in there, typically you can only have one wire per screw terminal.@Makyen pointed out that in this case, the jumper is the only wire in the screw terminal, and the actual circuit wire goes into the push in terminal at the back, so that part of my answer does not apply here.
answered Nov 10 at 22:47
PhilippNagel
1586
It looks like the outlet was used at one time with that factory installed jumper removed. That would allow you to have two circuits serve each outlet on there. This is often done when you have lights that plug in, you would wire a switch to one outlet for the light, and the other one would still be usable for other things.
I don't think it's legal to put a jumper back in there, typically you can only have one wire per screw terminal.@Makyen pointed out that in this case, the jumper is the only wire in the screw terminal, and the actual circuit wire goes into the push in terminal at the back, so that part of my answer does not apply here.
answered Nov 10 at 22:47
PhilippNagel
1586
edited Nov 11 at 14:15
answered Nov 10 at 22:47
PhilippNagel
1586
answered Nov 10 at 22:47
PhilippNagel
1586
answered Nov 10 at 22:47
PhilippNagel
1586
1586
Thanks - I'm replacing the receptacle entirely. So should I just remove that and otherwise wire normally?
– bee
Nov 10 at 22:50
Yes. If you look at your new receptacle, you'll notice the factory installed jumper.
– PhilippNagel
Nov 10 at 23:48
7
@PhilippNagel In this instance, there is only one wire per screw terminal. The incoming hot wire appears to be using the back-stab connection at the rear of the outlet.
– Makyen
Nov 11 at 0:47
1
Ah @Makyen I missed that in the photo. Thanks for pointing it out!
– PhilippNagel
Nov 11 at 2:09
2
Backstabbing is the worst thing to do. I've had to pull and rewire every device in houses wired with backstabs.
– BillWeckel
Nov 11 at 14:51
add a comment |
Thanks - I'm replacing the receptacle entirely. So should I just remove that and otherwise wire normally?
– bee
Nov 10 at 22:50
Yes. If you look at your new receptacle, you'll notice the factory installed jumper.
– PhilippNagel
Nov 10 at 23:48
7
@PhilippNagel In this instance, there is only one wire per screw terminal. The incoming hot wire appears to be using the back-stab connection at the rear of the outlet.
– Makyen
Nov 11 at 0:47
1
Ah @Makyen I missed that in the photo. Thanks for pointing it out!
– PhilippNagel
Nov 11 at 2:09
2
Backstabbing is the worst thing to do. I've had to pull and rewire every device in houses wired with backstabs.
– BillWeckel
Nov 11 at 14:51
Thanks - I'm replacing the receptacle entirely. So should I just remove that and otherwise wire normally?
– bee
Nov 10 at 22:50
Thanks - I'm replacing the receptacle entirely. So should I just remove that and otherwise wire normally?
– bee
Nov 10 at 22:50
Yes. If you look at your new receptacle, you'll notice the factory installed jumper.
– PhilippNagel
Nov 10 at 23:48
Yes. If you look at your new receptacle, you'll notice the factory installed jumper.
– PhilippNagel
Nov 10 at 23:48
7
7
@PhilippNagel In this instance, there is only one wire per screw terminal. The incoming hot wire appears to be using the back-stab connection at the rear of the outlet.
– Makyen
Nov 11 at 0:47
@PhilippNagel In this instance, there is only one wire per screw terminal. The incoming hot wire appears to be using the back-stab connection at the rear of the outlet.
– Makyen
Nov 11 at 0:47
1
1
Ah @Makyen I missed that in the photo. Thanks for pointing it out!
– PhilippNagel
Nov 11 at 2:09
Ah @Makyen I missed that in the photo. Thanks for pointing it out!
– PhilippNagel
Nov 11 at 2:09
2
2
Backstabbing is the worst thing to do. I've had to pull and rewire every device in houses wired with backstabs.
– BillWeckel
Nov 11 at 14:51
Backstabbing is the worst thing to do. I've had to pull and rewire every device in houses wired with backstabs.
– BillWeckel
Nov 11 at 14:51
add a comment |
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