Avoid These 5 Basic DIY Electrical Mistakes

WAGO 221 (90 Piece Kit) - amzlink.to/az0eBpCFKyJJK
Knipex Wire Strippers - amzlink.to/az0RAB6YA7HPM
Klein Tools 11-in-1 Screwdriver - amzlink.to/az0hk1BETCxjR
Legrand Commercial Grade Outlet - amzlink.to/az08luQeUTDU6
All My Favorite DIY Electrical Tools - amzlink.to/az0fGo9mGJ3Em
I will walk you through the basics you need to know to swap out an electrical outlet in your home. There are 5 common mistakes I will call out to help you avoid any issues that might lead to an unsafe installation.
Free Home Maintenance Checklist:
everydayhomerepairs.com/home-...
Friends Don't Let Friends Tape Outlets T-Shirt: everyday-home-repairs.creator...
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

Tools Used WAGO 221 (90 Piece Kit) - amzlink.to/az0eBpCFKyJJK Knipex Wire Strippers - amzlink.to/az0RAB6YA7HPM Klein Tools 11-in-1 Screwdriver - amzlink.to/az0hk1BETCxjR

[@JL-yo1du]

Yeah, as I use them more I am using Wago instead but I do put electrical tape around them to make it impossible to the lever to get bumped.

[@user-ib4gf5bx5i]

How do I request ​@@JL-yo1du

[@hickorystx]

Thank you so much for explaining the basics of better hone repairs!!! 😃

[@whatsthedileo]

I got some of those Knipex wire strippers for Christmas. Love them.

[@100vg]

I guess repeats of this are good for new subscribers, but the reminder is a good things, too. I have to remember Legrand brand Commercial Grade Outlets. Thanks, Scott.

[@berthongo8531]

Long, long ago, I started using the Jed Clampett Method to remember which wire goes where. "And up through the ground came a-bubblin' crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea." Black wire to gold. White wire to silver.

[@beck943]

That's a great memory tool!

[@mattomite9097]

Love your videos. Well explained. Not too slow. Not too fast. Just the perfect speed of explanations with options.

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

Thanks for the feedback Matt 🙌

[@docferringer]

A few tips for Klein tools: 1) The impact-ready socket driver Scott is showing off is a standard 1/4" handle. If you already have Klein's 14-in-1 multi-bit or their 8-in-1 multi-bit adjustable-length drivers then you can save yourself some cash and just buy the replacement socket set. Just the sockets are available on their site: part # 32907. The adjustable shafts work the same even if the ends are different (and yes, the "stubby" screwdriver will work with the longer shaft). 2) If you like the ECX bits from Milwaukee then they will work in Klein's 1/4" multi-bit drivers as well. If you get the Klein (NON-HVAC) 14-in-in multibit then it comes with Klein's version of the ECX bit already (screwdriver part # 32303).

[@ncooty]

Great updated video, Scott.

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

Thanks!

[@kriskafowlski4463]

Thanks Scott and Happy New Year. I am Canadian. And yes, we love our Robertson head screws and screwdrivers here. They are great. Too bad you never adopted them down there

[@aaron74]

Legend has it Robertson just asked for too much money to license it, so it just never took off here in the USA! It absolutely should be the world standard in my opinion.

[@daviddesilva4971]

​@aaron74 Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company wanted to buy Robertson's patent but Robertson refused to sell. Hence the crappy Phillips was the mainstay on vehicle production.

[@kenbrown2808]

a third of the screws I use are robertson. I will say, robertson is the only screwhead I've experienced stripping out the hole, and then having to use pliers to pull the driver tip out of the hole.

[@beck943]

​@@daviddesilva4971Good for Robinson. Henry Ford was a bastard.

[@JL-yo1du]

Available in US, just not as common

[@michaeljavert4635]

Not off the hook... Great pun and great video. And I am always on the lookout for commercial grade.

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

😁

[@anthonylawlor9130]

Most outlet have strip gauge noted on back of outlet body.

[@JL-yo1du]

Yep, but NOT most smart switches and dimmer which is what I use. I would just buy Kasa WiFi if I were doing a house this decade. Install to router using their app and run from you Hubitat Elevation C-7 or C-8.

[@CaseAgainstFaith1]

I'm a DIY'er. I found something in my house that is unbelievable. For my cooktop, I have a 240V circuit. What they did was, used 10/2 romex. Used the white and black as the two hot wires, and the bare ground wire as neutral! Now, here's the kicker. They spliced the bare ground wire to a BLACK wire. So, in the electrical box for the outlet, there were two black wires and one white wire, where the white wire was hot and one of the two black wires was neutral!

[@FoxMan777]

Great video. Happy New year also. :) So Pig Tailing for both line and neutral as well as ground, on multiple power sockets (especially residential grade) would be preferred, so as not to stress the bonding tabs between screws in the earlier sockets of the run from the panel. While the circuit rating and 12 gauge wire is fine, there's no guarantee the bonding tabs on an initial socket or two in the run from the panel would be able to handle the amperage several loads down the line if you parallel from screws of one socket to the next. I appreciated the comparison of residential grade vs commercial grade. It was a question I was going to ask in another of your videos to which I don't need to ask now. :)

[@arthendrickson4860]

I was taught Brass is black (i.e., put the black lead on the brass-colored screw) as opposed to calling the hot screw the gold screws.

[@harveylong5878]

black to brass white to silver save your ass is what I was taught

[@JL-yo1du]

@@harveylong5878 You can also look at the slot, neutral is bigger regardless of color, I have switches with blue screws or just wires. How does you rhyme handle red wire vs blue wire.

[@Eddy63]

Great info Scott ... Thx for sharing

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

You bet!

[@todd2456]

I installed an outlet the other day and it actually did have the same plate that screwed down onto the ground screw. Without having to make the J hook.

[@doreenwilliams9857]

I like this one better.Thank you

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

Great, thanks for the feedback.

[@yeltsin6817]

Love the shout out to Robertson bits. I’m obviously Canadian and these screws are by far the best The history behind it is very interesting and why the US uses Phillips more Love your videos. I do have a quick question. When I have done outlets or switches in the past once completed I will run electrical tape around the back housing I guess to sort of protect and keep wires safe. Is that something you’d say is ok to do or should I cease ? My uncle was an electrician from Germany and he always did that.

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

It doesn't hurt anything to use electrical tape. It can leave bit of a sticky residue after a few years and here is a video I did several years back talking about my thoughts and also feedback from the audience kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4qXZo16mc6DpJY

[@welpro21]

How did the mrcool hyperheat 3ton work in the cold Temps without the heat grid? I'm about to do the install and it gonna be in the 20s late next week.

[@toddmarimon9292]

Where do you buy your outlets and switches? Looking to get commercial grade outlets and switches for the whole house, and all the big-box stores seem to only have the commercial grade stuff only sold as singles. No bulk packs.

[@erichsh58]

This was very helpful and I learned a few things. What is the purpose of those metal tabs with two holes on each end of the outlet?

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

Those are there to help align the outlet flush with the drywall when tightening into the box. Assuming the drywall isn’t cut back too far.

[@VFRExplorer]

Those are called "plaster ears" and Scott has a whole video on their purpose and when to remove them: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3upe3SQbrB3o80

[@mattwarrensocal]

My issue with current rating is 120v welding. I have a Harbor Freight 125 welder which has an input amps of 23.5 but it has a 15a plug. I have tripped the breaker trying to weld near its capability. Would like to add a 30a circuit and be able to plug into that but any suggestions?

[@MrAgility888]

Is there a commercial version of a decora series outlet?

[@Chuchi-2325]

Happy New Year Scott. My name is Chris. I'm from Pennsylvania. When you're done hooking your wires to the septical. What about wrapping the wires to the receptacle with electrical tape. Is this good or bad let me know. 🤗

[@aaron74]

You can if you want, but it's just not necessary in my opinion. If you do wrap in tape, start at the top of the receptacle and within 1/2 inch, twist the tape so it's sticky side out and wrap that around once, then twist again so it's sticky side down and wrap again and cut. Then you will not have the adhesive residue all over the device in the future.

[@MrTLinSTL]

Licensed master electrician here. There is no need to wrap the receptacle and like aaron said, it's a nasty mess with the residue from the tape when someone comes back later to service it. If you do wrap it with tape, use a colored electrical tape as they don't leave the residue black tape does.

[@smashthings4fun]

I'm currently doing some remodeling to my shed and I'm using hostpital grade because the grip is so much stronger

[@JL-yo1du]

Same as commercial grade, you do not need to sanitize a wire.

[@kenbrown2808]

you left out that the NEC requires any outlet installed in a dwelling unit be tamper resistant.

[@webcompanion]

The "back stabbing" spring-loaded terminals are bad news. I don't know why they still exist, would probably be cheaper to make without them. I replaced outlets for a friend a few years ago where I was measuring 40 volts AC instead of 110-120 volts. He had back stabbed outlets. I put the wires on the screws... problem solved.

[@TopJoo7]

Commercial grade 👌

[@harveylong5878]

even more fun when outlet was originally wired with 12/3 or 12/4. just had ever so fun joy of chasing down why half the outlets in a unit werent working after one of our maintenance monkeys replaced a GFCI that was wired with 12/4

[@JL-yo1du]

How to tell of the GC framer did it, it will be backstabbed, if an electrician did it they will use the screw. I had both and had to fix many.

[@jkidd2007]

My question is about switched outlets and outlet orientation. Normal outlets orient outlets with ground plug to the bottom but I've seen switched outlets turned around so the ground is turned around and puts the ground up. Is there a code for that or was it just some builders or electricians?

[@Sweno4028]

There is no code in the NEC for receptacle orientation it's just the preference of the installer or the customer

[@frosted1030]

Got a mess on my hands, wondering if I can get some help. This all started when plugging things in. Power doesn't get to the device I plugged in. I tried a few different things including a very small fan. No power. I broke out my Klein Tools RT105 testor (because I am a full on total n00b). Both orange lights lit up showing "correct wiring". If I plug anything into the other socket the testor switches and says Hot and Neutral are reversed. This was tried with the tester in the top, then in the bottom, with the same results. I would like to get some perspective on what is happening with this. I asked this on reddit and added pictures, and did not get a good response. Has anyone seen this type of issue before?

[@Lenny4400]

Hello l connected the black wire in on the gold side and the white wire to the silver side and there 😮 was no flow of electricity I.

[@gardenfork]

Yes buy commercial outlets! Such a difference in quality for Mbe $2-3 more in cost. - Eric.

[@Yeah-pu7hg]

Pigtails for life!!

[@VSLComputers]

How does one know if they are looking at a resi outlet or commercial outlet?

[@Lughnerson]

Usually the back of residential is just plastic, but commercial (spec grade) has a metal band.

[@robertjames-life4768]

Squaredrive (Robertson) should be law. Hate flat and Phillips

[@infin1ty850]

I personally prefer the Leviton commerical grade outlets, but the wiring is almost all the same when you spend the small amount of extra money. I'm still working on replacing the outlets that the initial contractor installed when building the house, but I've currently replace everything with Levitan.

[@StonyAcresEstate]

Romex is to Non-metallic (NM) cable, as Sheetrock is to Drywall.

[@JL-yo1du]

Robertson is a square driver

[@keithf5236]

Another youtuber uses the phrase black to brass and white to bright, it's stuck in my head when needing to make a quick receptacle change.

[@17dcolby]

Giving the receptacle a wrap in quality electrical tape doesn’t hurt either.

[@Scott-st2yi]

Never....

[@kenbrown2808]

it annoys the heck out of the next guy.

[@harveylong5878]

pfft. waste of time,effort. only time I'll tape switch/outlet is if I had to use a metal box

[@DoYouLikeMyNameDude]

1:35 I have never heard anybody say Knipex like you do. I pronounce it nigh-pex.

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

I thought so too but the company on an expo floor included the K 🤷‍♂️

[@aaron74]

It actually really is pronounced the way he said it. Another company pronounced differently than you'd expect is Kidde, the company that makes fire safety products. It's pronounced "kid-duh".

[@ncooty]

He pronounced it correctly, according to the (German) company itself.

[@DoYouLikeMyNameDude]

As a native English speaker i'm going to stick with our ancient time-honored tradition of anglisizing foreign words because it just sounds better. Also, I don't owe a corporation anything 😊

[@RJ-ej1nr]

While I understand not wanting to expand the video discussing torque, along with the wrenches not being in DIY arsenal, I'm concerned that "tight to the screw terminal" is going to end up with many devices with out of spec, with some dangerously so. I've seen inexperienced people be way off on my definition of tight. Devices have different tight specs too, with box store ones typically being a single value that's somewhere from 12 to 20in-lbs. People should be told if you want to play in this space, tightening to spec is part of what you have to do.

[@EverydayHomeRepairs]

What percent of people installing an outlet used a torque screwdriver to ensure the screw was torqued to spec? I am genuinely interested and my guess is 5% max. What’s your guess? I will put out a poll to see what the audience says.

[@RJ-ej1nr]

Kinda annoying YT eats my response when it’s a good but long discussion. Short version - torquing is code 110.14(D). Don’t care about pros, they’ll do it right enough and mostly AHJ are ok with it. Do worry about newbies, seen epic fails.

[@michaeldunham3385]

Bizarre that you have two different grades of outlets

[@aaron74]

Yeah, like many things there's good, better, and best

[@kenbrown2808]

two? there's five.not counting knockoffs.

[@michaeldunham3385]

@@phillipbanes5484 there should be one standard, that's what's done elsewhere, making a cheaper alternative just doesn't seem right

[@rogereldridge8233]

Being Canadian I can't understand why Yankies don't use Roberson's for everything ? Is it a case of pride because they did not invent them ? Beside electrical applications they are great for wood or metal screws and bolts.

[@destroyerofmines152]

The order that you wire the outlet should not matter at all because there shouldn’t be any power running to it while you’re wiring it

[@JK-dp3lp]

That's what I was thinking

[@aaron74]

Yes, but working with electrical you should always assume it COULD be live. The moment you start making assumptions is the moment you get zapped. It's vital you follow the safest best practices always.

[@ncooty]

There's a big difference between "shouldn't be" and "isn't." Safety is a habit.

[@ragheadand420roll]

Wrong Its about forming safe habits

[@GigsVT]

And if it happens to be live and you put the ground first, you are now holding a grounded outlet and will get shocked worse. The whole thing is silly. Make sure the power is off and the order doesn't matter.

[@Scott-st2yi]

K-nip-x........good god do you say k-nife....?

[@nomen_meus]

That's the way the Germans pronounce it, though it should be more like kuh-nee-pex. The K isn't silent in German.

[@RadioRich100]

This guy makes constant mistakes in his videos giving advice hes not qualified to give. Telling you what you to do when he doesn't know himself. Anybody telling you to use wagos - especially (cause he sells them)should be avoided. Go to a qualified professional for your advice. There are plenty of qualified persons (real electricians) on utube. This guy isnt one of them.