Loose receptacles shorting out?

Here's my pro....in the process of finishing my basement, and i cut too much drywall wall from top and bottom of where the receptacle goes...so much that the little tabs (ears i think) miss the drywall...so when i tighten the receptacle all the way to the back of the gang back it is too far back for the switch plate...but if i loosen the receptacle to have it come out like 1/4 or 1/2"...then i can get the plate over it....but the receptacle is too loose in there, and when i plug something in it pushes back and shorts out (this happens for like 2 or 3 of the receptacles)...im able to re-set at the GFI and then it works again, but why would it short out..is this a common occurence when the receptapcle are loose in there

i bought box extenders to fix all the receptacles so i can extend out the receptacle so it will be flush with the wall and work with my cover plate....but will this also take care of my shorting out

thank
brett

 

If the box extenders are the correct size so that the receptacle can be firmly secured, yes it will fix the shorting out.

Something else you may want to do it make sure that you have carefully folded the wires back into the boxes. You don't want a big wad of wires crammed in there; that will contribute to shorting out. Make sure the bare ground wires are tucked along the edge of the boxes and pushed all the way to the back. Use a wooden dowel or the blunt handle of a screwdriver to push the wires back; don't use needlenose, or the receptacle itself to push the wires.

 

The extenders should make the receptacle more stable in the box and keep it from wobbling around. But it sounds like perhaps you used metal boxes that are too small, and/or you didn't fold the wires very neatly into the box. You might also wrap the receptacle with electrical tape to cover the screws (a practice that I usually do not recommend, but it might be good for you).

 

i probably have the ground wire right in the middle jammed back there and didnt carefully fold the wire back...i'll make sur ei do that

no i didnt use small metal boxes...got the medium size blue plastic gang box

thanks again

 

If you are using plastic boxes, then the shorting is either the neutral contacting the ground wire after the GFCI receptacle or the hot contacting the ground. The hot contacting the ground should trip the breaker for the circuit, but it may trip the GFCI first.

As has been suggested, make sure that the ground wires are tucked back in the box.