ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion NEC & other Code issues Wire Nuts and splicing device connections

Joe,

I use to use the Yellow, Red, etc wire nuts when I was in business and I always pre-twisted them myself. I have seen too many times where a splice works loose when I didn't twist them. I know that it wasn't required with the wirenuts but I felt better twisting them.

The first foreman I ever had yelled at me for not twisting my wires in a splice and I agree (at least now). When you're taking apart something hot you don't want a hot wire popping out and doing god knows what. Three or four twists on a pair of Kleins takes care of any loose wire problem.

I prefer the yellow and red 3M rangers but also use the Ideal tan Twisters. I use orange wire nuts for fixtures and dimmers. Grey and blues as needed. The Wago push-in connectors work great for ballast changes. I do not pre-twist but tighten my connectors enough to twist the wires. If you were to remove one of my connectors you would think I pre-twisted the wires. I gave up twisting connectors by hand several years ago. I either use a hand driver that looks like a "speed" screw driver or use an adapter in the cordless drill. The 7.2V Makita drills work great for this and for installing devices. I do not tape my connectors. I will also add that standard practice in my area is to pigtail everything.

Curt

I use red,yellow and tan 90% of the time. Large grey or blues as needed. Small blues oranges or blacks for florescent luminares are used often. I pretwist all my splices. Pigtailing is a local code requirement. Rarely have had a splice fail because I test them before the a tucked into the box. It may not be the fastest way to do this but I have secure splices. I only use tape if the splice will be in a wet or high possibility of condensation area.

Scott:

The carpal tunnel is the reason I use the scewdriver. My wrists can't take a multi twist day.

TW

Somebody asked about how many wires per connector, etc. Buchanan lists the following color code with theirs:





[This message has been edited by ThinkGood (edited 02-05-2003).]

Irecently ran across a type of splice in a switchbox that I had never seen before. The house was about 40 or so years old. The splices were made with crimp sleeves and rubber splice caps. The crimp sleeve was crimped twice along it's length and it appeared to have had pressure from 4 sides at once on each crimp. Hope this is not straying from the subject but I'm curious,can anyone shed any light on this? Btw the switch had failed not the splice.

Gasparky, check this link for the connectors and scroll down for the tool. http://www.idealindustries.com/IDEA...p+Connectors+and+Insulators?OpenDocument

Thanks for the link stamcon. This was exactly the type of crimp I saw.These seem to make a very very solid connection.

Yup, that's the one I refered to earlier in this thread. I really like them. Especially good for ceiling fans where I have seen wire nuts come loose from vibration!