Yellow wires to outlet
#1
11-06-15, 07:10 PM
Yellow wires to outlet
I am currently changing all of the outlets in my house and so far things were going smooth. all the outlets were two wires, one white one black. now as I am in my final room I have an outlet that has two yellow wires and I don't know which side of the terminals each one went to as I didn't notice until I already disconnected them. any suggestions? I have never seen yellow wires used in outlets before.
#3
11-06-15, 07:19 PM
unfortunately I am unsure if the receptacle was switched before hand, however I don't think it would have been because of how old the actual outlet appeared to be it seemed to be much older looking then all the others in the house and actually had an extra screw on the left side, a total of 4 instead of three. I was planning on getting a meter tomorrow morning, unfortunately this was my last room on an after work project so all the stores are closed now. once I get a meter what would I be looking for?
#4
11-06-15, 07:35 PM
Be sure to get an analog multimeter not a digital. A $8-$15 one will be fine.
Please post a picture of the receptacle. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/li...rt-images.html
Please post a picture of the receptacle. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/li...rt-images.html
#5
11-06-15, 07:37 PM
ok so I was just looking at everything again and one of the yellow wires is tied in and taped to a few black wires and the other yellow wire is tied to what looks like white wires. so the ones tied to the black wires should be my black and the other my white. if I get a polarity tester tomorrow I should be able to confirm it is wired correctly right?
#7
11-06-15, 07:44 PM
if I get a polarity tester tomorrow I should be able to confirm it is wired correctly right?
#9
11-06-15, 07:48 PM
Replace all the tape with wire nuts. (Unless the wires are soldered the connection is inadequate.) Replace the incorrect color pigtail with a correct color pigtail. Our posts crossed. See my previous post if you missed it.
#10
11-06-15, 07:52 PM
ray2047 thanks so much for your help. I just want to make sure I got it right so I don't start any fires or anything. so I should take the tape off of each and use caps instead. for the pigtail that has the black to yellow I should change the yellow portion to black so I have a black to black pigtail and the other one I can leave alone, other then capping it instead of having it taped? thanks again.
#11
11-06-15, 07:58 PM
Yes. Code wise yellow is acceptable for hot but I'd change it just so no confusion if the next person isn't an electrician. Looking at the picture I'm not even sure it is yellow. It looks more like aged white.
#12
11-07-15, 08:25 AM
Forum Topic Moderator
I agree, aged white, not yellow.
Looks like someone just used the wrong color for the pigtail.
Looks like someone just used the wrong color for the pigtail.
