ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Another "Do You"... Wirenuts

Do you pre-twist wires before installing a wire nut, or opt for using a wire nut wrench?
(With Ideal brand, the end result is the same...)

Pre-twist

[This message has been edited by Bill Addiss (edited 06-15-2001).]

pretwist, cut the very end, as one mentor put it....make it so it is not dependent soley on the wirenut.

Although the manufacturers say (or used to) pre-twisting is not necessary, I find myself doing it most of the time. The possible exception being certain combinations of stranded wire and (maybe) 2 # 14 solids. I like the nice sharp corners that result from cutting the twisted wires. It seems to really seat itself into the connectors spring. I also like the screwdriver with the wire-nut installation hole in the handle(is this what you mean?). It keeps the blisters down.

[This message has been edited by Redsy (edited 06-15-2001).]

Waste of time to twist.

Hello From Colorado!!!
I've seen it done all different ways, and I still say twisting them first is the best!
JON

I pre-twist and cut the ends and if it's the end of the day and my hands are getting cramped I'll give an extra turn or two on the wirenut with my Kleins.

If you have ever had to make into a multiwire's nuetral live, you will appreciate the 'twist'

I use Ideal brand wirenuts which require no pre-twisting. I use a Wirenut "wrench" (mines not built into my screwdriver, but a similar tool made by Ideal) and tighten the wirenut "almost" to the point that it splits, if you remove the wirenut, the wires will be twisted together, just like the pre-twisted ones! I defy anyone to tell the difference between whether I have pre-twisted or not, if they haven't seen me install the wirenut.

I agree with Tom, pre-twisting is a waste of time when the end result is the same... or maybe it's just a WV thing, I don't know...

Sparky,

Why are you working things hot? I can think of very few good reasons to do anything hot.

I prefer to use Buchannon wire nuts & they include a nut runner in their bulk packs, it usually ends up twisting the wires, but even if I did the connection manually, I still wouldn't twist the wires.

Personally, I think that the twisting is a carry over from the days of soldered connections.

Tom

Tom

[This message has been edited by Tom (edited 06-16-2001).]