The BIGGEST Mistakes DIYers Don't Know They Are Making When Installing Metal Electrical Boxes

Have you ever seen any of these mistakes made in this video? Hopefully this was insightful. If you know of other common mistakes made, feel free to list them here. Never know when I may feature them in a future video! 😎

My Dad was an electrician , and many times I would help him on jobs in the summer, and when it got to point where he could trust me to rough in a box ( they were ALL metal back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth!), Dad ALWAYS made sure I grounded the box with a crimped on copper terminal screwed to the box. Dad made sure it was done right! All these years later, I STILL remember that. Thanks Dad.

That’s some great advice. In Bulgaria where I live, metal junction boxes are not that common in households. However, water heater switches are pretty often installed in metal boxes. Which can make it even more dangerous if the water becomes dangerous. Greatly explained, Sir.

Thanks for educating me as I am putting new outlets in metal box for the first time, only dealt with plastic boxes in the past

Thanks for the info buddy. The grounding screw on a metal box I will be installing for my finished basement project could've been something I forgot. Now it's etched in my brain to not forget. Have a blessed day and work safe brother.

Excellent video. Exactly what I needed to help overcome my discomfort working with electrical.

No fluff, easy to understand, great flow of information (no pauses, ums or uhs), AND you know the right names for the parts you are demonstrating! Great job, man! I'm now a subscriber!

Thank you for your video. I have been doing some electrical work at home and rewiring our garage with new breaker box and all. I didn't realize grounding the box would prevent electric shock and other problems. I'm going to fix mine first thing in the morning. Thank you for the advice.

Tightening the loop of ground wire around a loose grounding screw literally made this video worth much more time than I spent watching. Thanks!

Thanks for all your work! Lots of stuff I did not learn at my tech school... plus even plumbing vids! (As a landlord, very useful)

On new work, I install those pre-made ground pigtails in each metal box ahead-of-time (and "Z" them out of the way). It beats fighting through other wires to get to the back of the box with the screw.

Thank you for this video! You probably saved me from a future headache. I'm just a DIYer and I made the ground wire mistake. Going out to fix it now.

Thank you for these videos. The biggest takeaway for me was using the stripper to make the hook to go around the screw. I was using needle nose to do it, and it wasn’t always easy to get the curve right. Everything else will help, too!

FINALLY! A YouTube video that actually cuts to the chase pretty quickly, and gives you good, concise, quick (and hopefully complete) information. Well done!

Whew! I have been doing it right all these years. This is a great go to video to show friends that want to try their own. The mistakes I found in my home after I bought it were a bit unsafe. Just subbed.

I would like to hear you talk about all, or the common, ways to ground that metal box. What I mean is the options for what it can be grounded to. Helpful vid, thanks!

On that twisting the wires bit, I did some extensive rewiring and started having problems with loose connections coming apart in crowded boxes. I wound up going through and twisting every wire nut connection I had made.

The grounding hole is not always raised. It is sometimes one of "mounting " holes. It's usually a little smaller and threaded. Lots of fun on a box mounted to wood. You either have to hang it off the stud for clearance or make clearance before mounting. Those green screws do not drill into wood very well and it will seem tight but is not all the way tight against the wire. Always wiggle that ground once you think it is "tight" to be sure! The boxes with a bump are preferred because the clearance is built in, but you don't always get what you want at the store!

Loved the video!! Gave me some good reminders on what to look for. I was concerned in that I'm updating some of light switches and plan on using the Wagos. On your image for your video there are words "DONT USE" and pointing at the Wago. Now I see it was about the smaller wire.

I ran into two of the issues you are illustrating. First, the metal octagon box I encountered and got shocked from didn’t have the bonding screw connecting the ground wire to the box. Second, it did have a metal romex connector installed but the wire was in at a steep angle and the installer tightened the clamp too tight, cutting into the hot wire and electrifying the box! I wasn’t working on that circuit but just bumped my elbow into it with a surprise! So lesson is, when using the metal wire clamps make sure to run the wire straight into the center and don’t over tighten!