Field report on electrical push connectors

[Joe]

Brought home first boxes of 2, 4 and 6 Wago push connectors. The name is a bit cutesy, they call them Wall Nuts, letting us know that they replace wire nuts, I suppose. First use was a quad outlet with GFCI and conventional receptacle in a regular metal box. Used 12 gauge and 20A devices. With the GFCI things get really crowded since they are rather large. Used stranded to connect the receptacle to the load, and push connectors as needed. The connectors needed a fair push to insert, and once in place, the view of the installation was nice to confirm proper placement. Over all the hook up time was maybe a third shorter than standard wire nuts. With only wire strippers to handle, no fumbling with extra pliers was nice. Left plenty of room in the box for the nest of wires and connectors. I'll probably use a lot more of these than wire nuts, so it may be a while before I toss the latter.

Joe

[Joe]

Brought home first boxes of 2, 4 and 6 Wago push connectors. The name is a bit cutesy, they call them Wall Nuts, letting us know that they replace wire nuts, I suppose. First use was a quad outlet with GFCI and conventional receptacle in a regular metal box. Used 12 gauge and 20A devices. With the GFCI things get really crowded since they are rather large. Used stranded to connect the receptacle to the load, and push connectors as needed. The connectors needed a fair push to insert, and once in place, the view of the installation was nice to confirm proper placement. Over all the hook up time was maybe a third shorter than standard wire nuts. With only wire strippers to handle, no fumbling with extra pliers was nice. Left plenty of room in the box for the nest of wires and connectors. I'll probably use a lot more of these than wire nuts, so it may be a while before I toss the latter.

Joe

[Larry Fishel]

Um... What are you using pliers for? Might want to check the instructions on the box of wire nuts...

[Troll]

Time will tell. Thank you for testing them on your house.

Keep in mind that it takes a few years for backstab receptacles to fail.

[bob haller]

you should always twist wires together before twisting on wire nuts, otherwise a loose wire nut will cause a outage and possibly a over heated connection

[George]

But no manufacturers app notes even suggest twisting the wires.

[Tegger]

George wrote in news:iomdnb$bf$ [e-mail]:

The wires twist together automatically when you install the wire nut. Take a look inside next time you use one.

[krw]

Sure, but Bob was talking about twisting *before* placing the wire nut on the connection.

[Limp Arbor]

These look like something I saw at Lowes. Don't know if they are the same but the ones at Lowes have a connection no different than a back- stab receptacle. A thin piece of metal to make the connection by wedging against the wire. Just because it has UL on the label doesn't mean it is a good product, DAGS 'ideal purple wire nuts'.

Sure it is easier and faster but is it as good as a wire nut that forces a large portion of the conducters together? I think not...

[dpb]

Which again is _NOT_ a reqm't of any manufacturer -- I posted links to the app notes only a week or so ago. It's allowable, but not necessary for installation in accordance w/ intended use.

[Bill Gill]

And once again, I will continue to twist the wires. That way there is no way that they will pop off if I mess up and don't get the wire nuts properly installed. As I said the last time I have had that happen, not with mine, with one that was installed by somebody else.

Bill

[hrhofmann]

Got a web site with pictures??

[TimR]

I always twist stranded, never twist solid.

The wire nut is going to twist the stranded anyway, but if you twist first you can be sure it doesn't kink or lose a strand.

The wire nut is not going the twist the solid anyway and if you twist first you get a looser connection.

Neither is anywhere near as reliable or safe as a chocolate block.

[Larry Fishel]

A properly sized wire nut, installed properly is never coming loose on its own. The most likely reason for most people to take one off intentionally would be to remove/replace one of the wires, in which case you would want them to separate (though you should probably be cutting the ends off anyway if you're going to reconnect). Also, when properly installed, the contact area between the wires will be far greater than the cross sectional area of one wire.

In reality, my original point was just that you were giving your extra, unnecessary step as a reason why wire nuts were more trouble to install than the push connectors...

I am certainly not a professional either, just some schmuk who twisted wires for years (decades) before happening across a description of how to do it properly in an electrical manual and took some time to looks at how they really work...

[George]

The usual thing I find when troubleshooting a problem is a broken wire due to someone pretwisting the wires. You remove the wirenut and everything is all held together because of the twists but one wire will be broken.

[krw]

I'm not an electrician, but I'd think you would *only* install them the way they're rated to be installed, i.e. per manufacturer's instructions.

[bob haller]

me:

e quoted text -

This came up on holmes inspection show. The electrician remarked he always twists the wires, to prevent poor connections and outages.

I use wire nuts on the machines I service for a living nearly all stranded wires, I twist then install a wirenut

[EXT]

I twist stranded not solid wire also. Any time that I have tried to twist solid wires together, the act of cutting the twisted lump down to the 3/8" to 7/16" length to fit into a wire nut with no bare copper showing, causes the twisted wires to fall apart. I find that keeping the stripped wires parallel and screwing down the nut real tight works well. I have tried the wire nuts that have a brass ring with a set screw can work well, but sometimes the screw will clamp down real tight, but the stresses of stuffing the wires into the box will re-arrange some wires and result in a loose fit, needing the set screw to be tightened further. But since the wires are now in the box with the plastic cap covering the set screw, it may be impossible to tell if it is loose unless a wire falls out or the connection arcs.

[JIMMIE]

ide quoted text -