The box is 4" square and about 2" deep which is kind of crowded with that large receptacle and 4 very stiff wires. I may replace it with a 4x4x4 deep box if it's available. I don't see any stray strands of wire that could be touching the box, all the wires in there are #10 solid copper wire, and all bare copper except the ground is enclosed in the receptacle lug holes. The box isn't hot, and a test light lights up between the red wire slot and the white neutral slot and between the black wire slot and neutral. When tested with the power off there is no continuity between either hot wire slot and the ground slot, but there must be some contact somewhere between the neutral and ground because a multi-tester shows roughly 12-15K ohms resistance between those slots. Would that be because the ground and neutrals are joined in the breaker box? I can't see how they could be touching anywhere in the box or at the receptacle. I tried pugging in the dryer this morning a couple of times and there was no snap sound and no smut on the neutral blade, but nothing has been changed or messed with in the box since yesterday. I just wish I knew if it is safe to operate the dryer since my wife will be needing it Monday.

To the extent I've helped fan a flame war, I apologize to everyone here. That surely wasn't my purpose. The way I see it is that this is a DIY-oriented forum. There are other forums--Mike Holt's restructured site, for example--that are more suitable for the pros to hash out code interpretations and argue the nuances of harmonicity. (Not that I wouldn't want to learn more about harmonicity, btw.) This forum could have been framed in a way that limited replies to professionals only, and discouraged participation by other DIYers. But it wasn't. And therein lies one of the strengths of this place, IMO. So why should someone who's not a licensed electrician participate in the discussions at all? Well--and I might be way off base here--I think there are some potential advantages to a mix of replies, so long as the result is good advice. FWIW, I'll try to explain my position. In more than a few of the threads here, I've seen non-pros come along with comments or observations that improve the overall discourse for its intended purpose. Sometimes they offer straight-up practical advice that the sparkies don't have time to flesh out. Sometimes they expose, if inadvertantly, a practice that may have pitfalls for DIYers and needs to be corrected or qualified. Sometimes the DIYers "hear" the OP's question in a different light. And sometimes, damnit, the DIYers correct something a sparky has said. A collegial mix of pros and amateurs, IMHO, is conducive to maintaining the type of forum in which a DIYer feels comfortable asking questions and getting sound information. Comments like this one have exactly the opposite effect: Rtscoach by all means it's your house, hookem up with the method you prefer... [The good news is that I'm certain that it is obvious to everyone who's been kicking around here that Rtscoach is far from a reckless idiot and I'm pretty sure it isn't going to destroy his ego (meant in the kindest of ways).] In trying to fit in here, I've been trying to place emphasis on communicating with the OP. Sometimes that means asking more questions about the problem. Sometimes that means taking the time to write very simplified instructions. A sparky comes by and says "inspect box #2 for miswiring". I follow up and say, "OK, that means that you should check to see if the white wires are on the silver screws and the black wires are on the brass screws." Sometimes, when I have reasonably high confidence in what I'm saying, I'll answer the question, subject always to subsequent scrutiny. Am I trying to compete with the sparkies? No way. At least that's not the way I look at it. Sometimes I watch a sparky drop in, give a quick answer that is exactly right from a technical perspective, but I sense that it is unlikely that the OP will understand it fully. Still other times, it's pretty clear to me that the pro hasn't read the OP thoroughly, because part of the answer is contradicted by a fact given in the post that might have been missed. Then there are times that I'm throwing out a strawman--strictly from a DIY perspective--to be refined or refuted. The point is, I believe that a mixed dialogue and discourse is healthy for the forum, and we can all learn from it. I just don't see it as a who-has-the-biggest d**k kind of thing. I'd feel quite differently if I thought a lot of bad advice was coming out of this forum because of incompetant DIY advice--and there are some forums where I believe that is exactly the case. But does that happen often here? I don't think so. On the contrary, I'm impressed by the extent to which problems tend to be worked through until an authoritative answer is found or a correct consensus is reached. Sometimes the consensus is not a single doctrinaire answer (take "pretwisting", for example or, as here, "daisy chaining"), but rather a pretty good summary of where the options and the merits lie. Look, guys, I'm still fairly new here compared to the folks who have been around for years, and I'm still trying to find my legs too. But, FWIW, I like the dynamics here and I think that a mix of pros and amateurs is good for everyone concerned. YMMV. And, oh yeah, back to basics: From billhart: Hey, guys. It isn't about who is right. It is about WHAT is right. And, perhaps easily missed in the shuffle, is this nugget from one of big bird's comment: Helping others? Yes. Sigh. - Tom

I hear the argument all the time that "downstream" receptacles will still work when a pigtailed one is removed. My opinion, for what it's worth on the matter, is if you're pulling a receptacle out because you suspect it's bad, you probably are going to have a replacement to install. And, you ARE going to have the power off anyway - RIGHT? As to finding a receptacle bad and continuing to use the circuit for other things - probably not a good idea either way. I try to put as few things as possible in a box. Adding 2 wire nuts and pigtails are just more stuff you don't need in residential wiring. If you are talking about a 4 or 4 11/16 square box that's 2 or more inches deep, knock yourself. Park a car in there. Doing resi work with (metal) single gang device boxes you need all the room you can get. BTW, are you using #12 for the circuit? The box will need to be 15.75 cubic inches or bigger for 2 12-2s and a device. This gets lots of folks.

texasredhead, no offense but i think the op was asking for more than that. its pretty obvious that both need a hot, neutral and ground. spielbass, you can jumper from one recepticle to the other, or pigtail them.