Let's Twist Again - Photos

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TwinCitySparky said:
And what I am implying as a possibility (I wasn't there of course) Is that the wirenut may have been tightened fairly sufficiantly? enough and possibly sustained vibration of some sort or was loosened partially while stuffing the box.
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Short of an incredible and well-timed earthquake, that's all still operator error.

That it loosened is evidence that it wasn't sufficiantly (sic) tightened.
 
ItsHot said:
A little OT, but do you normally install receptacles ground up or down?:roll:
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo!
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LarryFine said:
Short of an incredible and well-timed earthquake, that's all still operator error.

That it loosened is evidence that it wasn't sufficiantly (sic) tightened.
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Sure - Could have been the same kind of well-timed earthquake my 10 year old son just created upstairs chasing my 5 year old... Happens all the time.


My weakening point about the 3M's.. is that they "bite" the wire hard as you begin the twist and they resist being loosened. They may have helped in this scenario.

Just my take. Could be wrong. It has happened. :roll:
 
LarryFine said:
As should be obvious by now, I must challenge that statement. I haven't heard a real reason blue = hack yet.

A lousy chef can ruin a great filet mignon, and a great chef can do wonders with a lowly hamburger patty.

I'll take the creation of an artist with chalk and crayons over that of an ape with oils and acrylics any day.
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just because of my picture you think i am an ape ? LOL
 
The installer in the op's photos sucks at electrical work, guys/gals, you know what a good connection feels like, this guy didn't check his work before stuffing the wires back into the box. He's probably one of those guys that says "You can't see it from my house".

Aside from that I'm a wire nut freak, I tend to over analyze my connections and I've come to have my favorite brands and techniques. If I'm lending a hand to one of my buddies, who buys the cheap tans, I think they're NSI, I only pretwist a little because the wire spring inside does not give to or conform to the splice so by time the nut is all snugged up the splice isn't wrapped up like king kong made it. (With these I could get away without pretwisting 14 but I just can't let myself do it) My fave brand is 3m models 312 and 512, these have more of a live spring inside and conforms nicely to the conductors, I'll pretwist to my liking with these. I still carry some Ideals with me though, the oranges are my go to nut when hanging fixtures, they're the best for one 14 and a fixture wire and their small blues are great for changing out ballasts. The original type in yellow (Not the winged one) comes in handy too as do the their tans, my former favorite.

Sorry now to get off topic but Peter D, you make me laugh bro. If I were still single you and I could fly over to Russia and meet some brides to be :) I used to be in your shoes and know what it's like to want a respectable and intelligent lady but can't find one, it'll happen, you're a good guy. I met my girl at a friend's wedding, now our wedding is in Oct.
 
Jesse7623 said:
yeah because I can buy the bcarlon boxes at all sorts of suppliers, only one of which is the big orange box.I only do crappy work when I shop at the HD.
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The HD kept me busy for years doing electrical maintenance inside 3 of their stores. The good Lord used them to feed my family and I kind of got a little bit loyal, that is they keep alot of good electricians busy inside their stores. Pricing has something to do with why we shop there, that is they often smoke the supplier with wire and box prices. Finally, they have a store on each corner of town, can't say that about the supply house.

We set a company standard in writing that all wire nut connections shall be twisted before the nut is installed unless otherwise instructed by the manufacturer.
 
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Hey All, OP, here. Just to respond to a couple of things.

1) The work was done by a licensed GENERAL contractor. (Since he's not a C-10 contractor, his employees are exempt from the State of California certification program.)

2) The boxes are not Carlon, probably Cantex.

3) Guess I shouldn't worry about my camera phone taking bad pics if y'all are able to go on for five pages about what color the boxes are.

4) The work was done with permits and was inspected. The inspector is one of the most attentive to detail in the city.

5) The owner is my best friend. He and his wife just bought the place. The kitchen and baths we hurry up remodels to prepare the house for sale. I met the general contractor, before I discovered the wire connection issues. He said they were working 17 hour days on the project. The project was two months from the date the permit was pulled to final sign off.

I probably shouldn't bother with all of these facts. Everybody seems to be able to provide their own color commentary to keep things going.

Cheers
 
DSamson said:
.........I probably shouldn't bother with all of these facts. Everybody seems to be able to provide their own color commentary to keep things going.

Cheers
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We'll take all the information we can get.

We're good for another 200-300 posts now. Thanks!
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Guess I shouldn't worry about my camera phone taking bad pics if y'all are able to go on for five pages about what color the boxes are.


I probably shouldn't bother with all of these facts. Everybody seems to be able to provide their own color commentary to keep things going.
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We can go on tangents about nothing, can't we? :rolleyes:

Since we are way off track anyway, for those who despise plastic boxes, can you tell me why?
 
mark32 said:
Sorry now to get off topic but Peter D, you make me laugh bro. If I were still single you and I could fly over to Russia and meet some brides to be :) I used to be in your shoes and know what it's like to want a respectable and intelligent lady but can't find one, it'll happen, you're a good guy. I met my girl at a friend's wedding, now our wedding is in Oct.
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LOL, well I'm glad you find me amusing. At least one joke out of 50 I tell is funny, so I guess I'll keep trying. :roll: :grin: And you're not the first to suggest the Russian bride thing either. ;)
 
76nemo said:
Just me, just curious. Does anyone have anything good to say about any GB product? I have found them all to be junk. Is it just me?????
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I think the GB wire nuts are absolute garbage. They have that annoying spring-back affect when you twist them on. They're cheaper for a reason. I usually just throw them away.
 
peter d said:
I think the GB wire nuts are absolute garbage. They have that annoying spring-back affect when you twist them on. They're cheaper for a reason. I usually just throw them away.
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Yup. Me too.

Suppose one of those GB's backed off enough while you were stuffing that box, do you think wires MIGHT seperate a bit, Possibly causing...

NO! NO! NO!

Its workmanship!

Where is that damb apprentice!!! :cool:
 
Personal observation and choices here.... On the box note.... I have used the more durable light blue boxes in my own personal installs. As for at work we use all metal everywhere all the time... after all its industrial!:roll: As for the wire nut thing... you can almost see a CHEAP wire nut a mile away. I prefer the 3m's. I can't say i've ever removed a nut of mine and had the wires not be twisted tightly. I never have pretwisted. Geez, once in a whilte the ends of smaller stuff will break off in the not because I have twisted it so far.... I often twist til the wire outside the nut starts rolling together... It doesn't take that much extra time..... All thhis talk has me questioning wheither or not I prefer black, white, vanilla, chocolate.....twist, not twist..... just give me neapolitan I guess then I get strawberry as a bonus....:grin::cool:
 
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