# 3 sets of wires going to 1 outlet



## cejkwo (Jul 1, 2010)

is it safe to put anothert set of wires into an outlet that already has 2 set of wires going to them (black,white and ground) there connected via the pushins in the back of the outlet leaving the 2 brass and 2 neutral free.


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

The backstabs are only for one wire each. you can join the wires together with a short length of the correct gauge and then connect to the screws.

You may not have enough cubic inch capacity to add more cables.


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## cejkwo (Jul 1, 2010)

Jim Port said:


> The backstabs are only for one wire each. you can join the wires together with a short length of the correct gauge and then connect to the screws.
> 
> You may not have enough cubic inch capacity to add more cables.


think you misunderstood. there is only 1 wire in each, the brass and neutral SCREWS are not in use, can I use them giving the outlet 3 sets of wires, I want to go from this outlet to power another outlet that I want to add


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## a7ecorsair (Jun 1, 2010)

Well, you can do what ever you want but the correct way is to remove the four wires from the push in connectors and then use a wire nut and add a short piece of wire to each group. Then connect the short wires to one screw on each side of the outlet. White to silver, black to bronze. The grounds will have to be pigtailed together too.


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## jbfan (Jul 1, 2004)

Yes, you can use the screws to add wire for another receptacle.
The problem you run into is the box may be too small code wise to handle another set of wires.

If you go throught the trouble of adding more wires, the use the pigtail to make the connections.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

Yes you can add another wire to the screws. Most will recommend not using the pushins. They are a very common cause of open connections.


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