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Professional Handyman Services in Casa Grande
Important Tips Q&A
Can you use a 15 Amp receptacle on a 20 Amp circuit?
Answer: Yes and no.
Here is why!
Section 210 of the National Electric Code states:
- If you have a 15A circuit with a single device, the receptacle must be a 15A configuration.
- If you have a 20A circuit with a single device, the receptacle must be a 20A configuration.
- If you have a 15A circuit with multiple duplexes, the receptacles must be a 15A configuration.
- If you have a 20A circuit with multiple duplexes, the receptacles can be 15 or 20A.
A single device is a single round receptacle. Not a double duplex you see in your home. When Section 210 speaks of single receptacles its addressing dedicated circuits powering devices like home vacuum systems and sump pumps.
Item #4 addresses, for the most part, the two required 20A appliance circuits in everyone’s kitchens. This is a minimum requirement. Larger kitchens can have more. The makers of kitchen appliances are aware of this limitation and remain in accordance with Section 210. If not, Underwriters Laboratories will catch it and your product won’t get UL listed.
All being said, I have replaced darkened, partially melted 15A duplexes many times. They were obviously overheated and over worked. This leads me to the next question:
Are pigtails a code violation?
Answer: The National Electric Code neither encourages nor discourages the use of pigtails.
So, what is a pigtail exactly? In the drawing below in the next website frame, you see a set of two wires entering the J-box then exiting the box. This is a standard daisy-chain configuration you will see along the walls of your home and above your kitchen countertops. Power comes into the J-box and then exits to the next box down the line.
In the drawing below in the next web site frame, the third set of shorter wires is the pigtail. Just strip the sheathing, round over the wire and place the two on the appropriate screw on the duplex.
This is the fix to the previous question: Can you use a 15A device on a 20A circuit? When you terminate the incoming wires and outgoing wires to all four screws of the duplex, all the power of that 20A kitchen appliance circuit passes through the 15A duplex. When you add a pigtail, it can’t. All it can see is a toaster or a coffee pot. Not the full current of the 20A appliance circuit. And every discolored and partially melted 15A duplex I found over the years was wired with the four-screw method, not the pigtail method. See the drawing in the web site frame below
Although you will pass inspection either way, the pigtail is a much smarter method. Like Smoky Bear often said: “I’m smarter than the average bear!” So work smarter than the average bear.
Pigtail Drawings
