How to Wire a 220V Pigtail
A pigtail refers to electrical wiring where multiple wires of the same kind -- hot, neutral or ground -- are twisted together and secured with a wire nut. With 220-volt electricity, it gets a little more complicated because there will be two hot wires in the circuit, each supplying 110 volts. A pigtail is usually found in a junction box where the incoming power is split into multiple outgoing circuits. This is useful if you want to run multiple outlets off the same circuit.
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Turn off the power to the electrical circuit in the circuit breaker panel.
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Feed each of the electrical cables you want to pigtail together into the electrical junction box. One cable will come from the circuit breaker panel, and the other cables will come from individual appliances or outlets that you want to power off the same circuit. Secure the cables to the electrical box with electrical connectors.
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Strip the outer sheathing off of each electrical cable to reveal the individual wires inside. Strip each of these wires to expose the copper. Since you are dealing with 220 volts, each cable should have four wires: black, red, white and bare. The black and red wires are hot, the white is neutral, and the bare is ground.
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Twist the black wires together and screw on a wire nut. Repeat for the red, white and bare wires.
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Screw the cover back on the electrical junction box. Restore power to the circuit once all of the appliances or outlets are wired. The circuit is now successfully pigtailed.
References
- "Popular Mechanics Complete Home How-To"; Albert Jackson, David Day; 2009
Tips
- The gauge for each wire in the pigtail must be the same. For example, if the wire coming from the circuit breaker is 12 gauge, all additional wiring must be 12 gauge.
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