Just a neatness thing.. but it totally depends in the situation. In this example, since it's just a basic light box in a bedroom, there's no need to be splicing on a neutral wire.. you're just making more work for yourself when you have to stuff in the wires! And.. lights have their own pigtails that you connect into your splice! Where you may want to splice a pigtail neutral on is in a very large 12x12 box with 30+ wires.. in that case, you can either use a big blue marrette, or splice the neutral to make joining a little easier.. but it's still kind of unprofessional looking. Does that help!?
@@BecomingAnElectrician Wouldn't having a pigtail on the neutral make it much easier to attach, remove and/or replace the fixture? Yes, the neutral wire on the fixture could be spliced directly with all the other neutrals in the box, but then the whole splice needs to be torn apart if the fixture is replaced, which is probably not an uncommon occurrence over the lifetime of the house as fixtures are removed during renovation and redecorating. Even if the fixture isn't being replaced, it can sometimes be necessary to remove them temporarily to repaint the ceiling, etc.
@@cashanova_slim This is a great point! However, it was not a pull chain with terminal screws, which would require you to pigtail the neutral & hot to screw onto the pull chain light fixture base.
@@andreafalconiero9089 You do not have to undo splices when adding or removing a light because light fixtures are typically stranded wire. You simply take off the wire nut (marette), then add or remove the stranded wire, which is not splice in, but wrapped around the splice, and the wire nut holds the stranded wire in tighter. (You should always perform a tug test to ensure the wire nut secured the stranded wire to the solid wire splice). Your point is valid and seems like it would be easier, but on a jobsite with hundreds of lights, would require extra work of adding the pigtail, plus extra connectors & wire length in the box. If you're a home owner, it works either way. My channel is for electricians who do start-to-finish electrical. The process would go like this: - Drill holes & pull wire - Cut wires into box & splice wires - (Drywall, taping & painting happen) - Electricians come back for finishing, we now install plugs & lights So everything is already spliced, we simply remove the wire nut, & add the stranded wire from the light fixture. For the plugs, we add pigtails on which attach to the terminal screws. As a previous comment mentioned, if you KNOW a light will be a pull chain light fixture, then you make sure it has pigtails to satisfy what is to come. In short, pigtails on lights adds extra wire, an extra connector, and makes splicing harder during rough-in. becoming-an-electrician.com/
Nice info. would be nice to see a quick shot or example of an organized box to contrast the difference
At the moment, I just have my roughing in series which may help you out: becoming-an-electrician.com/tag/roughing-in-series/
Why arent you allowed to pigtail the nuetral? We do it all the time and im curious is it a neatness thing or is it not to code?
Just a neatness thing.. but it totally depends in the situation. In this example, since it's just a basic light box in a bedroom, there's no need to be splicing on a neutral wire.. you're just making more work for yourself when you have to stuff in the wires! And.. lights have their own pigtails that you connect into your splice!
Where you may want to splice a pigtail neutral on is in a very large 12x12 box with 30+ wires.. in that case, you can either use a big blue marrette, or splice the neutral to make joining a little easier.. but it's still kind of unprofessional looking.
Does that help!?
Depends on the light fixture, could’ve been a pull chain light fixture with terminal screws.
@@BecomingAnElectrician Wouldn't having a pigtail on the neutral make it much easier to attach, remove and/or replace the fixture? Yes, the neutral wire on the fixture could be spliced directly with all the other neutrals in the box, but then the whole splice needs to be torn apart if the fixture is replaced, which is probably not an uncommon occurrence over the lifetime of the house as fixtures are removed during renovation and redecorating. Even if the fixture isn't being replaced, it can sometimes be necessary to remove them temporarily to repaint the ceiling, etc.
@@cashanova_slim This is a great point! However, it was not a pull chain with terminal screws, which would require you to pigtail the neutral & hot to screw onto the pull chain light fixture base.
@@andreafalconiero9089 You do not have to undo splices when adding or removing a light because light fixtures are typically stranded wire. You simply take off the wire nut (marette), then add or remove the stranded wire, which is not splice in, but wrapped around the splice, and the wire nut holds the stranded wire in tighter. (You should always perform a tug test to ensure the wire nut secured the stranded wire to the solid wire splice).
Your point is valid and seems like it would be easier, but on a jobsite with hundreds of lights, would require extra work of adding the pigtail, plus extra connectors & wire length in the box.
If you're a home owner, it works either way.
My channel is for electricians who do start-to-finish electrical. The process would go like this:
- Drill holes & pull wire
- Cut wires into box & splice wires
- (Drywall, taping & painting happen)
- Electricians come back for finishing, we now install plugs & lights
So everything is already spliced, we simply remove the wire nut, & add the stranded wire from the light fixture.
For the plugs, we add pigtails on which attach to the terminal screws.
As a previous comment mentioned, if you KNOW a light will be a pull chain light fixture, then you make sure it has pigtails to satisfy what is to come.
In short, pigtails on lights adds extra wire, an extra connector, and makes splicing harder during rough-in.
becoming-an-electrician.com/
Right to the point! 👍
That's the goal! Focused on educating apprentice electricians! Thanks for the comment!