Tapping Into 120v Question

BFL13 wrote:
I was able to pass a wire (after much digging around for a route) from my new receptacle to another receptacle that has both sets of terminals filled, so it is a "middle of the run".

I added the new receptacle's three wires to that, and it is working showing two yellows on my three-light tester, as it should.

So I avoided the wire nut "issue", but I am still not clear on the series vs parallel thing since it seems to me, I have stolen from the next in the run by tapping in like that.

Does it make any difference if you tap in sideways like I did from adding another receptacle to the "run", for what you can draw from the receptacle?

Thanks.

Just so I understand what you mean by series -vs- parallel: Are you calling wires come from the panel, to a receptacle then "split" into 2 wires to feed other receptacles "parallel" as in the wire splits into parallel paths as opposed to one after the other on a single long run?

Regardless, the wire is more than capable of the full rated current of the circuit breaker so no, you cannot "steal" any power by how you wire them.

Think of this another way: Think of the wires as rope hanging over a cliff and the receptacles as men who are repelling. If you have all three attached to the same rope one below the other, the maximum weight will be felt at the top of the rope. Now if only one guy is suspended from that rope but in turn has 2 different ropes connected to him that have the other guys on them, the load on the top rope is the same. The weak link is always the rope connected to the top.