Electrical Question from Scott about a Receptacle at the End of a Line.

Received from Scott a Homeowner in Trappe, PA

Question: I have a receptacle at the end of a line (1 set of wires coming into the wall box), that I want to make into a blank wall plate (otherwise would need to put in a GFCI in a shallow box situation due to concrete wall). To do this, can I simply connect black to white by wire nut, and put a blank plate?

Additional Comments: cool site!

Dave’s Reply:
Thanks for your electrical question.

Hey Scott – If all you want to do is keep the wiring in this outlet box and place a blank cover over it then just place a wire nut on the end of each wire separately. Do not join the two wires together because that would create a direct short circuit and trip off the circuit breaker. If you need this outlet but need gfci protection then install a gfci at the location that feeds this outlet. You would be wiring the gfci using the Feed Through Method as described in the gfci area of the main website. Use the link below for complete information:
GFCI Wiring Diagram Feed Through Method
This article is about gfci wiring using the feed through method which will protect more than one outlet.

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