Connecting Wires W/ Wire Nuts

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I've always pre-twisted. On new houses I twist the connections and put the wirenuts on on the finish. I know I'm very much in the minority, but there are a few reasons, not the least of which is it's how it was done when I started.
 
Hi Folks,

Got another question about the new WAGO 2773 series wall-nuts. I was in my local electrical store today and they were giving out these samples.
I am installing new 20-amp cafi protected receptacles in my home. I'm old school in twisting the copper grounding conductors together and running individual pigtail grounds to each outlet ground terminal. No matter how neat you do this, it eats up a lot of box space. To complicate matters, each of these new circuits will have hubble surge arrestor type receptacles, which are fairly deep. These push-in wire nuts, technically I think the word might be tap, would seem to be easier to install and take up less box space. With all of the issues with push in connectors, and the intermittently operation later because of weak internal connections, I was wondering if anyone has had any firsthand experience with these new style connectors???? These will be installed on the grounding conductors only. Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
Another C10 said:
sorry I disagree .. surface area is important as a contact method. can a contact point be 1/32" yes but I prefer 3/8".
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If you place two solid round wires together, the contact area is a straight line, whether you twist or not.

The only way to increase contact area would be to compress the wires together until you deform them.
 
LarryFine said:
If you place two solid round wires together, the contact area is a straight line, whether you twist or not.

The only way to increase contact area would be to compress the wires together until you deform them.
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Hey Larry,
Understood, I would rather run an individual ground (isolated from other ckts), but I understand that all grounds be tied together in an electrical box, these insertable blocks (4 incoming grounds) and (4 outgoing grounds to receptacles), a total of 8 wires would seem to take up less space in the box, my only concern is a good tight "contact area" using them. What are your thoughts, since push-ins tend to have a history of intermittent contact over time.
 
K1GMB said:
Hi Folks,

Got another question about the new WAGO 2773 series wall-nuts. I was in my local electrical store today and they were giving out these samples.
I am installing new 20-amp cafi protected receptacles in my home. I'm old school in twisting the copper grounding conductors together and running individual pigtail grounds to each outlet ground terminal. No matter how neat you do this, it eats up a lot of box space. To complicate matters, each of these new circuits will have hubble surge arrestor type receptacles, which are fairly deep. These push-in wire nuts, technically I think the word might be tap, would seem to be easier to install and take up less box space. With all of the issues with push in connectors, and the intermittently operation later because of weak internal connections, I was wondering if anyone has had any firsthand experience with these new style connectors???? These will be installed on the grounding conductors only. Any thoughts are appreciated.
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This style has been around for years. WAGO just might be new to your supply house. Word of caution to use the correct size for the conductors used. Have used them, particularly useful in conditions you described. Cannot be used on stranded wire. For that I prefer the WAGO levernut. Really useful in the small razor lights with the small supplied enclosures.
 
You can increase the contact area by making the bare conductor parts longer. The wirenut will be the limit as to how long the splice ends up being.
I'll make up some numbers, lets say finished product before the application of the wirenut is 1" of bare conductors so if you don't twist you would strip off 1" of insulation. If you pre-twist you can strip off 1.25" of insulation because the finished twisted splice will still end up being 1" since the twisting will make the conductor length shorter.
 
horsegoer said:
Yes
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Wirenuts are also a form of insulation. Before them, when only tape was available, pre-twisting was done and various forms of splicing were used. Pigtail, western union, tap, fixture, etc. IMO a wirenut gives additional mechanical strength to the splice in addition to providing insulation.
 
FionaZuppa said:
Wago push or lever. "problem" solved. ;)
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Let the WAGO vs. wirenut wars begin! LOL
I've replaced quite a few melted Wago's because the circuit was heavily loaded and the thin metal that holds the wire in place gets hot and weakened. I believe they have their place in our trade for sure. They make replacing ballasts extremely quick. They would be great for equipment grounding conductors. Personally, I just don't trust them to handle the heat from higher currents.
 
infinity said:
So are you saying that you like the idea of pre-twistng before putting on the wirenut?
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I always pre twist before I put the wirenut on. I know some wirenut manufacturers say you don’t need to. However I like making sure it’s a solid connection.


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A long time ago ( 30 years), I worked for an electrical contractor that mastered the residential wiring in NJ. I was thought to twist the wires together with a plier, cut the ends evenly and place the wire nut over it by twisting until it is tight by hand. Final twist applied with the pliers. Never had any issues .
 
Teaser2 said:
A long time ago ( 30 years), I worked for an electrical contractor that mastered the residential wiring in NJ. I was thought to twist the wires together with a plier, cut the ends evenly and place the wire nut over it by twisting until it is tight by hand. Final twist applied with the pliers. Never had any issues .
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I've seen a couple of guys do this on YouTube.
 
Rick 0920 said:
Let the WAGO vs. wirenut wars begin! LOL
I've replaced quite a few melted Wago's because the circuit was heavily loaded and the thin metal that holds the wire in place gets hot and weakened. I believe they have their place in our trade for sure. They make replacing ballasts extremely quick. They would be great for equipment grounding conductors. Personally, I just don't trust them to handle the heat from higher currents.
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Problems with Wago levers (221) or push (2773)? , does not take away the UL 467/486C approval.

What type of heavy loads are you talking about? Is ckt load within NEC words for the wire being used?

When I twist, which I rarely do any longer, 3 wires no twist, just even the ends, hold together and twist cap on. 4+ wires it's easier to twist then nut because holding 4 ends even w/o twisting and capping it just is just a tad wee bit trickier.

I honestly thought twisting was to help keep wire continuity when a cap goes loose or falls off, gremlins and such.
 
FionaZuppa said:
Problems with Wago levers (221) or push (2773)? , does not take away the UL 467/486C approval.
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I typically only use Wago or similar when there is just a stub left of the wire in the box that isn't easy to get to and even try to avoid that is it is a full amperage load versus just a fixture.
 
Teaser2 said:
A long time ago ( 30 years), I worked for an electrical contractor that mastered the residential wiring in NJ. I was thought to twist the wires together with a plier, cut the ends evenly and place the wire nut over it by twisting until it is tight by hand. Final twist applied with the pliers. Never had any issues .
Click to expand...
When I twist and trim, I twist again to round off the two sharp corners left from cutting, so the wirenut screws on farther and grips more of the wires better.
 
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