Electrical – Replacing receptacles – why are white and black wires crossed

electricalreceptaclewiring

I am in the process of replacing all receptacles and wall plates in my home. Most of the receptacles are pretty straight forward to replace as they have only one black and one white wire (and ground).
Now, I am running into a couple receptacles that have two black and two white wires (and ground). Sometimes the white and black wires are coming from the same corner of the receptacle, sometimes they are crossed.

How should I re-wire them?

Should I also cross them in the replacement receptacle?

What is the reason behind cross wiring (if that is the right term to use)?

crosses wires in old receptacle

criss-cross wires

Per request, I added the sides of the receptacle:
side of receptacle

side of receptacle

Best Answer

Indeed they are crossed. enter image description here

It doesn't matter because the linking tabs are intact

enter image description here

So, electrically it makes no difference, both left screws do the same thing, both right screws do the same other thing. and so top and bottom are interchangeable.

When you replace the outlets you should probably wire one romex to the top outlets and the other to the bottom, if for not other reason than to reduce future confusion.

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