Electrical wiring 101 pdf

White and gray wires are neutral wires that connect to the neutral bus bar, which attracts current and carries it throughout the house. White wires wrapped in black or red electrical tape are also hot wires. The tape just lets you know that the white wire, which is normally neutral, is being used as a hot wire instead. Green wires connect the grounding terminal in an outlet box and run it to a ground bus bar in the electrical panel, giving current a place to escape to the ground in the event a live wire touches metal or another conductor.

Green wires can only connect to other green wires but can still be live if the electrical system is faulty. Bare copper wires are the most common type of grounding wires. Blue and yellow wires , although not usually found in non-metallic NM cable, are sometimes used as hot wires in an electrical conduit. The blue ones are travelers that might be in the switches at both the top and bottom of a staircase to control the same light.

Black Wire. Carries live electrical loads from the electrical service panel to an outlet. Red Wire. Used to interconnect smoke detectors, so that if one alarm goes off. White and gray wires. Are neutral wires that connect to the neutral bus bar, which attracts current and carries it throughout the house. What type of wire is used for residential? DIY wiring and switching tips. Have the proper tools. Familiarize yourself with the different wires. Make sure you know which colored wire goes where and their purpose to avoid electrical shock and to safely wire your home.

Have more wire than you need. Make sure it stretches at least three inches outside of the electrical box. Patch drywall with big plates. Did you make the hole in the drywall too big? Fix it with an oversized electrical plate. Pay for quality. Check the voltage before you touch wires and circuits. Do your research. Watch YouTube video tutorials. Electrical wiring mistakes to avoid. Remember the three-inch minimum on wire length. This article will attempt to reveal some of the mystery surrounding the maze of wiring that runs throughout your home and that makes everything in it work with the flick of a switch.

From the breaker box, this flow of electricity is spread over numerous circuits to different parts of the home by first passing through individual circuit breakers which serve as a safety mechanism to keep the system from being overloaded. Electrical wiring comes in different gauges, or sizes. The heavier the gauge, i. Electrical wire and circuit breakers are designed to work in tandem with one another, and each must be of a proper corresponding size.

These two size wires are the standard that are used in homes today for most lighting and wall outlets. Again, heavier gauges and higher amp circuit breakers must be used for certain appliances that use more electricity and as dictated by local and state building codes. Electrical wire is gauged like shot for a shotgun. The smaller the number the heavier gauge the wire. Twelve-gauge wire is heavier and will carry more of a load than gauge wire but is smaller than gauge wire and will carry less of a load than the 10 gauge.

If the improper gauge wire is used with the wrong size circuit breaker, it can easily result in a fire or a malfunctioning electrical circuit. For example, if a wire of too small gauge is used with a high amp break, then the wire can overheat and catch fire long before the circuit breaker ever trips.

On the other hand, if a too large of a gauge wire is used with a low amp breaker then the breaker may continuously trip, disrupting the circuit before the wire ever reaches its maximum electrical load. It is imperative to know exactly what gauge wire and what amp breaker have to be used for any given application. This is not an area to guess-timate. The result of such guesswork can be a house fire or someone being electrocuted. Be sure to consult your local and state building codes before beginning any electrical work.

Typical electrical wire for home use comes in an insulated sleeve and consists of three wires. When electrical wires are joined together the black wires must be hooked together, the white wires must be hooked to the white wires, and the ground wires must be hooked together. First and foremost, always disconnect the electrical power supply before working with any part of the electrical system. Like the wire itself, wire nuts come in different sizes to accommodate the various gauges of wire.

To connect, strip back the insulation from the ends of the wires, hold them between your fingers and twist the wire nut in a clockwise direction onto the ends. Light switches and wall outlets have screws on both sides for connecting wires. Some of the most common electrical projects that a homeowner will encounter are replacing light switches and wall outlets.

Room additions or major renovations may even involve having to increase the number of wall outlets in a particular area of your home. Therefore, the scope of this article will be confined to the most basic of electrical jobs using only single-pole switches and end-of-run receptacles. This interruption in the flow is what turns the light off, and then back on.