How To Wire An Outlet With Red Black And White Wires

If it s a yellow wire nut you ll be pushing its capacity limits so maybe change it for a red wire nut.

How to wire an outlet with red black and white wires. Figuring out the intent of whoever originally wired the room can be a little bit difficult but it s doable. Place the ceiling fan motor on the floor and position the canopy on top of the motor feeding the. Put the black and red wires into the hot ports on the back of the outlet. The black wire hot wire coming in from the left is the source power.

Now get a short length 9 of black wire if in doubt use 12 size. If you only have black wires in your box connect both the non white wires from the fan to the black wires in the box. Strip about 3 4 inch of insulation from each wire. This is called a pigtail.

First for god s sake mark the white wire with colored tape so the next guy knows it s a switch loop. Add the pigtail to the 3 wires on the wire nut. Step 3 connect the black wire to a brass screw or terminal on the plug and the red wire to the other brass screw. Feed the black white red and copper wires through the hole in the center of the mounting plate.

There will be 2 unlabeled screws left on the back of the outlet which are known as the hot screws. Peel one and 1 2 to 2 inches of sheathing from the electrical cable with a wire stripper or sharp knife to expose the wires. Connect the white wire to either of the chrome screws remember they are still joined and the ground wire to the green ground screw. Remember black and red wires are always hot meaning they are source wires that carry power from the electric service panel to a destination such as an outlet or a light.

The white wires on the fan go to the bundle of white wires. Never connect a hot red or black wire to ground nor to the white neutral wire doing so would form a dead short should trip a breaker or if not could cause a fire or could cause a dangerous shock. The black wire goes to the bundle of black wires. You can now screw the outlet to the box and proceed to the switch box.

When measured with respect to the white neutral wire the red wire carries the same 120 volt current that the black one carries making the voltage across these two hot wires 240 volts. One of the hot wires attaches to a brass terminal on one side of the outlet and the other attaches to a brass terminal on the other side. However a black wire can never be used as a neutral or ground wire or for any purpose other than. Attach the black wire to the outlet you want to always be on usually the top one and the red wire to the switched outlet.

It is tied together with a wire going to the switch and the black wire going to the outlet. White wires augmented with red or black tape or markings are used as hot.