I need to add an outlet for a low-load lamp. The existing outlet I want to tap into is part of a series circuit I think, it has two sets of black and white wires going to/from it. 15 amp circuit. Are my diagrams correct? I did not show the ground wire for sake of simplification.

Thank you!

 

Looks pretty good to me, I like your use of pigtails.

 

thanks mitch..............................!

 

Diagram looks good, but FYI, it's a parallel circuit, not series.

 

I went ahead and wired this tonight, the new outlet will not work. The existing one is fine however.

I can't see anything I did wrong.. could it be the existing outlet is a metal box and the new one is plastic? I ran the ground wire from the ground lug on the new outlet to and connected it to the metal box (existing outlet).

 

check any wire nuts, and make sure wire is in correct terminals on new outlet. box material has nothing to do with it.

the ground should be tied into grounds on existing outlet. (new outlet should still work as ground currently wired), but metal box itself may not be grounded to earth.

good luck

 

Whether the box is metal or plastic has no effect, and your wiring diagram looks correct.

A possible cause of the problem would be an open splice behind the existing receptacle. When you made those splices, did you strip at least 5/8" of insulation off of each of the three wires, hold the three wires together so that the ends of the insulation were even, and use pliers to twist the three conductors together with at least three clockwise twists before you trimmed the ends of the spliced conductors and tightened a wire nut on to protect the splice?

Check in that box for a loose wire. If you find one, make the splice(s) as I just described, and see if that fixes the problem.

Was that metal box already bonded to ground?

 

I got it working. Thanks to everyone who helped me out. The issue was the pigtail connections when I squeezed them back into the box. It wasa tight fit but I re-did it and all is well. I also insulated the ground wire just in case that was the culprit, but I don't think so.

 

Thanks for letting us know. Good luck on your next project.