On Sat, 05 Mar 2016 10:44:56 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

On 3/5/2016 8:51 AM, TimR wrote:
On Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 8:45:15 AM UTC-5, Mayayana wrote:
But more to the point is that the contacts should be wrapped with
electrical tape. I rarely see electricians do that, but if they're wrapped
then there's no risk of sparking or of kids getting their

The contacts? You mean the screws that hold the wires to the outlet?

I have never ever seen this done, and can't picture a way to do it other
than wrapping tape round and round the whole outlet, which would look
incredibly sloppy.

Unless I'm picturing this wrong?

That is how I was taught to install "devices" (switch/receptacle)
in boxes.

Taught by who?

A few loops around the SIDES of the device (start
on one side, up to the top, down the other side, under the bottom,
back up the first side, etc.). The mounting screws in the yoke
at top and bottom require a bit of skill to navigate around
(don't want to cut the tape). And, you don't want the tape to
slip too far forward and become visible around the edge of the
device after the faceplate is installed.

Was also taught to tug on the conductors in a cut piece of BX
to pull them out of the armor, a bit, then wrap them with tape
before letting them slip back into the sheath (the thinking
being the tape helps protect the wires from the sharp edge of
the BX). Nowadays you can buy little plastic inserts.

Again, taught by who: (and when?))
The old AC type cable and the old type connectors REQUIRE he use of
"redheads" Tape does not meat the requirement.
Howeverr, with type MC cable and the approved connectors for type MC
cable, no bushing is required when properly installed because the
connector prevents the wires from contacting the cut end of the cable
armor. Because the "properly installed" can be a little tricky I tend
to err on the side of being cautious and install redheads on all
armoured cable. WAY back, a few wraps of "friction tape" were used in
place of the redheads - plastic tape and cloth based "friction tape"
are two completely different products

Also taught to wrap ROMEX with a few layers of tape before
putting it under a cable clamp.

Tape is moree likely to allow the "romex" to pull out of a clamp than
to help any. You are talking about the "cable clamp" that allows the
romex to securely enter a Junction box, correct??? Was this back in
the day od the tar/paper sheithed "romex"???

In every case, you really need quality tape. When I was taught,
the tape was *cloth* and much thicker. Sort of like double-sided
tape (but with very low tack).

OK - you are talking about Friction tape - so you are talking the
sixties or earlier???

Products and procedures have changed a LOT since then. What may have
been common practice back then won't even pass code/inspection today.

OTOH, most folks use plastic boxes, nowadays (I replace plastic
Jboxes with metal whenever I get the chance). And, unless you're
using a lot of #12AWG, devices tend to stay where you place them
(not a lot of pressure trying to push the device out of position
from crunched wires)

[I tend to use oversize boxes so I'm not fighting trying to cram
EXACTLY the maximum number of volume units into a given box. Nor
worried that the threaded PLASTIC boss to which the device will fasten
will "strip" from the pressure of all that "volume"]

+2 on that. Plastic boxes, although meeting minimum code, are a CURSE.

When pigtailing copper to aluminum in those situations where approved
aluminum compatible devices are not available I use stranded copper to
eliminate strain on the copper/aluminum connections. If done using
Marrette63 or 63 connectors (prown phenolic) it is code compliant -
particularly if the joint is made using no-ox type compound on the
joint.