How to Repair a Bad Surface Raceway Outlet

In many garages and workspaces there is a need for more receptacles than those commonly found along the walls. In some of these cases, surface raceway can be installed to help distribute the electricity in more manageable areas, thus reducing or eliminating the need for extension cords. But, what happens when one of the outlets go bad or there is a dead short somewhere inside the raceway? Here is how you can repair a bad outlet in a surface raceway.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wiremold W30 pressure-type wire connectors
• New raceway outlet
• Screwdriver
• Touch-type voltage tester
• Wire strippers
• Electrical tape

1. Turn off the circuit that is delivering the electricity through the raceway. If you have more than one circuit running through it, be sure to turn ALL of the circuits OFF.

2. Use your voltage tester to test as many of the outlets along the raceway as you can find.

3. Look along the top of the raceway where the bad outlet is located and you should see a ridge where the cover overlaps the wall-mounted section of the track. Stick a flat-headed screwdriver in the ridge and twist it. This should begin the process of prying the cover off of the raceway. Be extremely careful you do not pull the raceway cover off before the entire length is loosened or you may bend it. A bent raceway cover is much more difficult to put back on.

4. With the raceway now open, use your touch-type voltage tester to once again test each wire inside for voltage.

5. The bad outlet will have a black, a white and a green wire going in one end and coming out the other end. Use your wire strippers to cut all six wires as close to the outlet as possible. Throw the bad outlet away.

6. Take the new outlet and insert it into its place on the cover strip, then hold the cover strip up against the mounted section exactly as if you were going to reinstall it. Be as accurate as possible.

7. The new outlet will already have its wires attached to it so you just need to cut and splice them with the wires from the old outlet. Stagger your cuts by about 2 inches (meaning, make the white wire on the outlet about 2 inches shorter than the black and the green 2 inches shorter than the white). This is so the pressure connectors do not overlap each other, which would make reinstallation of the cover that much more difficult.

8. Once the wires on the outlet are cut, strip about 3/4" of insulation from the ends of each. Then, take each wire that you cut from the old outlet and cut them at the point where they meet the like wire from the new outlet. Strip the ends of these wires as well.

9. 
   WM30 pressure type wire connector

   Take pressure-type wire connectors (WM30) and slide the wires inside to bridge the connection. Black goes with black; white goes with white and green goes with green.

10. Wrap electrical tape around the wires to make them a little more manageable to work with. Carefully stuff the wires back into the wall-mounted section of the raceway at the same time you are positioning the cover plate in place.

11. Take the bottom lip of the cover and set it in its groove at the bottom of the wall-mounted section. Be careful that no wires are sticking out or getting caught between the sections.

12. Carefully snap the top side of the cover back into place. In some cases, you may have to tap it with a rubber mallet or use your screwdriver to get it to catch.

13. Double-check the work to make sure no wires got caught. If it looks clean, then turn the circuit(s) back on.

14. Test all of the outlets once again to make sure they are all working properly.

Tips & Warnings

• Turn off the power before beginning any electrical work.
• If the raceway is showing signs of rust buildup, it should be replaced.
• Never use a wet cloth to wash the walls where surface-mounted raceways are located.