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Thread: Electrical Question

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Electrical Question

    I am installing some under cabinet LED lighting for the wife. I am changing out the one gang box for a two gang box and using the power for the outlet to power the LED under cabinet lights.

    My question is..... Can I instead of tying into the bundle of wires in the box for the power and neutral for the lights just use the two unused buttons on the outlet and run a short wire to the hot side of the switch from the unused button on the hot side of the outlet and tie the neutral to the unused button on the neutral side of the outlet and then just have to tie the switch ground to the ground bundle in the box.

    I know you can do this but is it acceptable to do so???

    Thanks
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  2. #2
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    Button? If you mean daisy chain off the screws that is to code AFAIK. That is why they have two screws for each terminal. If you mean the spring lock outlet type wiring I would replace the outlet as I do not like those push to connect type as they get older.
    Is there a transformer involved somewhere?
    Bill D.

  3. #3
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    No transformer involved. Everything is contained in the light fixture.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  4. #4
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    Dumb question. I have to disconnect all the wires tied together anyway to change the box so it is immaterial anyway. Duh!!
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  5. #5
    If the receptacle your wanting to connect to is one of the 2 required small appliance branch circuits, you cannot connect any lighting to it and be code compliant.

  6. #6
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    Gotcha Rollie
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  7. #7
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    I wonder if that part of the code was written with incandescent lighting in mind? The low amperage of modern LED lighting may make that rule unnecessary. Might take a while before the code is revised if this is the case.

  8. #8
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    Hopefully you have completed your project by now; but yes, taking power off an outlet will work. It might well be a code violation, but good luck finding a house more than 10 years old without similar violations. As Doug says, it is hard to see how a tenth of an amp is going to matter; you could plug the lights into the outlet if you wanted, and it would be exactly the same thing, only code compliant.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Garson View Post
    I wonder if that part of the code was written with incandescent lighting in mind? The low amperage of modern LED lighting may make that rule unnecessary. Might take a while before the code is revised if this is the case.
    Very doubtful that the code committees will allow lighting to be connected to the SABC's, very little is allowed now & it's not going to happen, changing decades of code practice.

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