Crimped connection - what do YOU do?

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Crimped connection - what do YOU do?

  • Leave it alone - it was working when I got here

    Votes: 8 12.1%

  • Put new tape back on - it was working when I got here

    Votes: 5 7.6%

  • Remove the crimps and install new wire nuts

    Votes: 51 77.3%

  • Worry all night 'cause the rest of the house is the same way

    Votes: 2 3.0%
  • Total voters
    66
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76nemo said:
Me too, very well used, but never on solid. You dodged my question though,...I think. Would you be crimping or nutting in your new home?
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Its not likely I will be building a new home at my age, but if I did then yes I would.:smile: BTW, for a long time I had the only vote for option 2, put the tape back on. Now I notice there are two of us.;)
 
Minuteman said:
Wait, scratch that. I hope to retire before that point from all the money made from service calls caused by the non-pretwisters! :grin:
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Or adding a 277 volt lighting circuit "hot" in a medical facility and break that neutral that was not twisted in a 1900 box.
 
dcspector said:
Or adding a 277 volt lighting circuit "hot" in a medical facility and break that neutral that was not twisted in a 1900 box.
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If you have no choice but to to open a neutral in a hot circuit, isolate the conductor that your are removing and tape the rest or the conductors together. Hope the guy that made the splice didnt twist the wires together, remove the wirenut and pull out the designated conductor. Reinstall the wirenut and if possible, remove the tape.
 
jrannis said:
I know thanks,
I still like people that twist wires, It keeps be busy with service calls and I dont like to say much about it at least not until my kids college is paid for.

PS. read the box or bag they came in and see what it says.
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Come on jr.. How many service calls have you gotten because the conductors were so ill twisted? They should of taped them:grin: Just kidding, don't go there. The internal spring can retract, so it will try to fit to form the best it can. You take a thermal imager and show me a bad connection that went bad due to the intial twists, and I will quit the electrical field and start wearing dresses. Come on, we mean a proper, quality twist.:cool:
 
76nemo said:
Come on jr.. How many service calls have you gotten because the conductors were so ill twisted? They should of taped them:grin: Just kidding, don't go there. The internal spring can retract, so it will try to fit to form the best it can. You take a thermal imager and show me a bad connection that went bad due to the intial twists, and I will quit the electrical field and start wearing dresses. Come on, we mean a proper, quality twist.:cool:
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Found more bad than I can count. My favorite is when all of the conductors are twister together and for some reason one of them wraps around the all of them. The outside conductor is bound up on the spring and the inside conductors are held in place by the outside one.
I only say this because I used to keep the bad splices in a jar for class "show and tell".
Most, if not all faliures, were due to too many wires in the wirenut or it wirenut was not twisted tight enough. It could be that in these parts more entry level people are working residential with solid wire.
You know its 2008 and you can wear a dress if you want, It doesnt mean you are a bad person.
 
jrannis said:
Found more bad than I can count. My favorite is when all of the conductors are twister together and for some reason one of them wraps around the all of them. The outside conductor is bound up on the spring and the inside conductors are held in place by the outside one.
I only say this because I used to keep the bad splices in a jar for class "show and tell".
Most, if not all faliures, were due to too many wires in the wirenut or it wirenut was not twisted tight enough. It could be that in these parts more entry level people are working residential with solid wire.
You know its 2008 and you can wear a dress if you want, It doesnt mean you are a bad person.
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You do realize that has nothing to do with pretwisting. Those problems are poor workmanship or improperly sized wirenuts.
 
Let's keep in mind there are those of us who don't fall into either the pretwisting vs. no pretwisting camps. I usually don't twist #14, but I do for #12 and #10 solid for more than 2 wires.

And like Scott said, any bogus connections have nothing to do with twisting vs. not twisting. If you follow the connector instructions you will end up with a solid connection every time.

As for the crimps, I will never use them, even with the right crimper.
 
480sparky said:
Take 3 seconds to remove it.
Twist the wires together & install a tan twister.
Then I sleep at night.
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Even if the connections appear to be good I put wire nuts on because I like to sleep at night too!:smile:
 
georgestolz said:
I'd recommend to the homeowner that all the splices in the home should be checked out at considerable expense, and when they declined, I would sleep at night.

I also voted for clipping off the crimps and installing wirenuts in the box you have opened. You opened it, you took the tape off, you own it. The rest you have no moral responsibility for beyond telling the homeowner, IMO.
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I agree.:smile:
 
I have a man going over there tomorrow to trim out the bath remodel. She called to day and asked if we can install 2 ceiling fans while we are there. I plan to inform her about the crimped connections and let her know that they should be checked and/or replaced. Hope she agrees.:)
 
Minuteman said:
I have a man going over there tomorrow to trim out the bath remodel. She called to day and asked if we can install 2 ceiling fans while we are there. I plan to inform her about the crimped connections and let her know that they should be checked and/or replaced. Hope she agrees.:)
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I still don't understand what is wrong with the crimped connections. :confused:
 
electricmanscott said:
You do realize that has nothing to do with pretwisting. Those problems are poor workmanship or improperly sized wirenuts.
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Ok maybe guys like to twist solid wires a quarter turn or so to hold them in place, cut the ends even, while they get the wirenut ready to twist on. I do that myself. The manafacturer says its unnecessary, I think its practical. I do not twist stranded or a mix of stranded and solid wires.
 
electricmanscott said:
I still don't understand what is wrong with the crimped connections. :confused:
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Me either. They are being treated like the bubonic plague or something. Maybe the next time I see one I should call haz-mat, OSHA and have the entire house declared a superfund site.:grin:
 
I guess my point is drawn to vibration, load, and surface area. Even the case with stranded, I like to see my twists before I cap them. I am not speaking out for HO run wiring, I am speaking for qualified people that can twist properly. If the wire nut was to fail, you still have the twisted bond. To me it is no different than being deterred by tape. We all have different methods, and that is O.K.. I think that's what the forum is for, it's O.K. to disagree as long as what you do is up to par. It's all in personal preference and trusts.
 
electricmanscott said:
I still don't understand what is wrong with the crimped connections. :confused:
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It's not the crimp, it self. It is that the tape wasn't sticking and one crimp was loose, and could cause arcing.

Oh, and she declined to have us check all the junctions in the house.
 
Minuteman said:
It's not the crimp, it self. It is that the tape wasn't sticking and one crimp was loose, and could cause arcing.

Oh, and she declined to have us check all the junctions in the house.
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Good for her.

Did you sell her AFCIs instead? :grin:
 
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