JHZR2
Staff member
It doesnt seem to me that there is as much interfacial area between the wires as there are with wire nuts... Or as much clamping force. I prefer wire nuts. What am I missing?
Twist wires or not for wire nuts?
- Thread starter stchman
- Start date
It doesnt seem to me that there is as much interfacial area between the wires as there are with wire nuts... Or as much clamping force. I prefer wire nuts. What am I missing?
Nope. Installed many thousands of ballasts and would still be at work if I twisted every wire before putting on a wire nut. Only people I have seen pretwist wires were not electricians. Stranded wire should be twisted so strands aren’t sticking out and potentially shorting but not twisting the whole splice together.
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Depends on the wire.
Same type and sized wire, do a twist. Solid and stranded, use the nuts. #12 and #14 solid you can get away with a twist. #10 and #14 not so much. Use your best judgment.
Ideally, the mechanical twist should be what’s doing the holding. Not the nut, which should only be to cover the bare wire.
Same type and sized wire, do a twist. Solid and stranded, use the nuts. #12 and #14 solid you can get away with a twist. #10 and #14 not so much. Use your best judgment.
Ideally, the mechanical twist should be what’s doing the holding. Not the nut, which should only be to cover the bare wire.
I twist them if possible.
These aren’t highly regarded in the electrical profession.
Perfect your the DIY’er who watches too many home improvement shows though.
If you can put enough torque on a wire nut by hand it will twist the wires together for you.
If you can't, pre-twist, use wagos, or maybe get the wire nut tool that fits into a power screwdriver.
If you can't, pre-twist, use wagos, or maybe get the wire nut tool that fits into a power screwdriver.
Ease of use and speed. Less chance of failure and user error all but non existent. As much contact by way of built in and viewable "busbar". I'll tell you when you are making hundreds of box connections or replacing ballasts on a ladder they are so much nicer to use.
Only real drawback is cost. This is offset by less labor. Wire nuts are acceptable for occasional connections. Just not my cup of tea when I have something that saves time. It's kind of like comparing a cutting torch to a plasma cutter LOL
They have a "bus bar" and the spring is strong enough to really hurt or blacken a fingernail if you are stupid using wagos.
rewiring ballasts or lights 10ft in the air on a ladder is a breeze. they also dont fall apart as you try to shove it all into a tiny junction box.
I redid half my fixtures and added some ceiling fans.. they work amazing IMO.
Ideal for lights etc.. the ease of use is amazing. You can pull on that wire hard it isnt coming out.
I almost always use 2 wire wagos but the 3 4 wire work great too.
Had to rewire a radon fan in a junction box. the hack installer wire nuts fell off merely getting the wire ball out of the junction box(Yikes)... Added 2 3wire wagos and was done in about 1min.
If they are a great idea for wiring outlets or other high draw items could be debateable.. but for light fixtures etc.. no brainer IMO..
I'm not an electrician and my ladder is 7.5ft.. working on 10ft ceilings.. give me the wagos.
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JHZR2
Staff member
I get it for light ballasts. Probably low current connections where it wont matter quite as much. I was more interested in junction boxes where high currents may aggregate.
Ive used these for light fixtures with LEDs with no concerns. But my impression was that the interface was somewhere between razor blade and thin flat screwdriver biting into the conductor...
Around here, houses built in the 60s and 70s, the electricians who wired them commonly used the ceiling box for the light fixtures as a splice/tap point to feed receptacles. So you'll have a ceiling box with 4 or more cables going to it. Makes for a real fun time when replacing light fixtures and having to cram all that wiring into a metal box (which is usually smaller than the plastic boxes used on newer construction).
I don't see that wiring scheme on newer houses, thankfully.
In office buildings, those are fairly common. You ain’t gonna twist wires and cap them with a wire nut if you’re building out cubicles. I helped tear down an old data center, I saw a lot of Wago connectors. The union guys getting bids for offices use these.
They were likely data guys who wired the cubicles.
There are lots of electricians out there that complain about new stuff just like people on this board whining about thin oil and brands of filters.They were likely data guys who wired the cubicles.
I haven’t had either style fail yet.
Wagos are the standard in the UK.
I was skeptical about them but there are tons of videos on youtube of guys torture testing them and they seem to hold up good.
I was skeptical about them but there are tons of videos on youtube of guys torture testing them and they seem to hold up good.
