Wagos in Motor Terminal Box

Saturn_Europa

Saturn_Europa

Senior Member
Location
Fishing Industry
Occupation
Electrician Limited License NC
Has anyone used wagos to terminate low horse power 480 v 3 phase motors? Wago 221 and wago 222 are rated for 600 v and 20 amps. I usually use crimp on pig tail connectors. Unfortunately someone walked off with my crimpers.

I've used wagos thousands of times with no problems but not in a full horse power motors. Thoughts?
 
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garbo

Senior Member
Still a fan of pressure connectors ( Ya wire nuts ) wrapped with quality electrical tape. I worked in a slaughter house then a large candy plant where both had nightly high pressure wash downs. Had 480 volt motors that we had the motor shop only bring out 3 wires and epoxy the motor leads when they rewound our motors. Would apply tape maybe an inch past the wire nut and often would open a pecker head that was halve filled with rusty water but wire nuts did not short out in the water. Guess you could do the same with WAGO'S. Most sparkles will still use wire nuts because they are a lot cheaper.
 
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petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
I never understood the crazy idea of wrapping the leads up with two inches thick of tape. Just a lot of work for no appreciable benefit. But people have been training apprentices to do that for decades as if it brings some great benefits.

It is like how they go to great lengths to teach apprentices all they know about "better" grounds, when the actual grounding just does not matter much.
 
ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
petersonra said:
I never understood the crazy idea of wrapping the leads up with two inches thick of tape. Just a lot of work for no appreciable benefit. But people have been training apprentices to do that for decades as if it brings some great benefits.
Click to expand...
We added a piece of innertube to the mix for larger motors at my 1st ever electrician job.
 
W

winnie

Senior Member
Location
Springfield, MA, USA
Occupation
Electric motor research
I would consider connectors in the motor junction box to be subject to a bit more vibration than the connectors in a junction box in the wall. So practices which are excessive for 'in the wall' might be justified.

I would be slightly leery of Wagos with solid conductors in a vibration environment, but I suspect they are just fine with stranded conductors in this application. I've also noticed that the levers can sometimes be sensitive to springing open, and in a vibration environment I'd be inclined to use a bit of tape to guarantee that the levers stay properly closed.

The 'voltage sense' holes in the Wagos might be useful when troubleshooting in the future.

-Jon
 
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garbo

Senior Member
petersonra said:
I never understood the crazy idea of wrapping the leads up with two inches thick of tape. Just a lot of work for no appreciable benefit. But people have been training apprentices to do that for decades as if it brings some great benefits.

It is like how they go to great lengths to teach apprentices all they know about "better" grounds, when the actual grounding just does not matter much.
Click to expand...
First days as a apprentice in a slaughter house the chief electrician told me to tape every wire nut, toggle switch & receptacles with quality electrical tape. Reason being water intrusion & vibration were a major problem. Rather spend 25¢ of tape the have a wire nut short out then produce down time that could cost $1,000 in lost production. While working in the same room with a union electrician he was just saying we wasted time & tape wrapping every device with tape then whi!e he was installing a HG TR GFCI receptacle in a old work box he shorted his non taped receptacle to one of the Madison bars. Was funny watching the deer in the head light look on his face. Told him that I would give him a roll of Scotch 33 tape to use. Have a bone to puck with " ground I g does not matter much ". I had a lazy cut every corner always in a hurry senior electrician had the same believes until he was called out to reinstall two lengths of 11/2" EMT back into a coup!ing that he installed just a few weeks earlier. He was too lazy to install a copper group wire and only halve the required straps on a 480 volt line. Wire got nicked and when the nicked wire came into contact with the ungrounded conduit current went thru both bare hands thru his chest. He had chest pains rest of the day and the nurse to!d him sit in her office rest of the day. After that he installed copper ground wire in every conduit. Better safe then dead! Facility director was not happy when he found out that he was not installing ground wire in every conduit. In the USA we loose an electrical worker every day due to electrocution, Arc Faults or Arc boasts incidents. Anything going beyond the NEC that helps lowering injuries or deaths is worth the time & material cost.
 
T

tburdick

Member
Location
IOWA
Occupation
journeyman
garbo said:
First days as a apprentice in a slaughter house the chief electrician told me to tape every wire nut, toggle switch & receptacles with quality electrical tape. Reason being water intrusion & vibration were a major problem. Rather spend 25¢ of tape the have a wire nut short out then produce down time that could cost $1,000 in lost production. While working in the same room with a union electrician he was just saying we wasted time & tape wrapping every device with tape then whi!e he was installing a HG TR GFCI receptacle in a old work box he shorted his non taped receptacle to one of the Madison bars. Was funny watching the deer in the head light look on his face. Told him that I would give him a roll of Scotch 33 tape to use. Have a bone to puck with " ground I g does not matter much ". I had a lazy cut every corner always in a hurry senior electrician had the same believes until he was called out to reinstall two lengths of 11/2" EMT back into a coup!ing that he installed just a few weeks earlier. He was too lazy to install a copper group wire and only halve the required straps on a 480 volt line. Wire got nicked and when the nicked wire came into contact with the ungrounded conduit current went thru both bare hands thru his chest. He had chest pains rest of the day and the nurse to!d him sit in her office rest of the day. After that he installed copper ground wire in every conduit. Better safe then dead! Facility director was not happy when he found out that he was not installing ground wire in every conduit. In the USA we loose an electrical worker every day due to electrocution, Arc Faults or Arc boasts incidents. Anything going beyond the NEC that helps lowering injuries or deaths is worth the time & material cost.
Click to expand...
Why were they working it hot ?
Not very smart.
 
M

MattG0311

Senior Member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
Apprentice Wireman
I’ve made up easily a few hundred single and fractional HP motors with only wire nuts, no electrical tape involved. Never had a connection fail.

In my opinion, if you rely on gobs of tape for vibration protection or moisture prevention, you need to seek better solutions.
 
L

letgomywago

Senior Member
Location
Washington state and Oregon coast
Occupation
residential electrician
If using emt as the equipment ground there should be someone ohm checking it before energizing. That's just the way it should be done this accident sounds like multiple levels of failure because he could still be shocked by damaged wire in non continuous emt with an insulated bare that's terminated wrong on one side.
 
R

Ragin Cajun

Senior Member
Location
Upstate S.C.
Every project I have designed, I ALWAYS require an EGC in the conduit/raceway, no exceptions.

I still remember the busted LB with the wired hanging out. But, at least the EGC was still there.
 
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