James L
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician
Twisting the wires with linesman pliers before using a wire nut?
- Thread starter zappy
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James L
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician
Not that it's a "big deal" LOL, but my talk-to-text got me again. Supposed to say 4 wires plus a pigtail
- Location
- Tennessee NEC:2017
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrician
When joining solid and stranded conductors, I often put the wire nut on solid conductors and twist the nut on until I get the twist that I want. Then I hold the wires and take off the wire nut. You can then see the wires are still twisted and acceptable and add the stranded, then put the nut back on.
LouisianaApprentice
Senior Member
- Location
- Forest Hill, LA, USA
I will always do this with wires bigger than 14 especially when more than two individual wires. It's just what has made the most secure joint for me. I also do it when adding the pig tail from a smaller lead wire such as from a relay or lights that don't have a quick connect such as pendants or vanity's but I won't twist the lead wire just the bigger #12's and lead the lead wire ahead of the twisted joint while twisting on the wirenut then I twist the wire but with my klein's. You can hang off it afterwards. Most wirenuts allows pretwisting u will just have to check on bag as some forbid it even tho I've never seen that as we most use 3m and bcaps. In motors where u don't have small polaris lugs, copper crimps, or kerneys I'll usually open up the strands of my power wire and interweave the motor leads to them and then tape the wirenut onto them. I've seen enough equient burnt up and issues over the years from heat cycles on wirenuts causing them to pop off and joints either break loose or slap the side of the enclosure.
Dale lee
Member
- Location
- Fort myers Fl
- Occupation
- Electrician
Sure you can, different problem same concept. You can’t dismiss someone else’s comment simply because you don’t agree. Everyone’s opinion is valid.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
Please show me a picture of an instruction that says you are not permitted to pre-twist. I don't think that there are any that say that. A lot of them say that pre-twisting in not necessary, but I don't think any say that you can't.
Yes, if you install them correctly they should look like that and look the same as if they were pre-twisted, but is has been rare when I have removed wirenuts to see them look like that.
I wasn’t trying to be dismissive, sorry if it came across that way.
The point I was trying to make is that backstabbing has a track record of proven problems.
Properly installed wirenuts are proven to be reliable, pretwisted or not.
Dale lee
Member
- Location
- Fort myers Fl
- Occupation
- Electrician
ok sorry, very true
James L
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician
I remove wire nuts periodically, just to have a random quality test. They look like that every time
Lots of guys, I call "Tommy two twist" because their connections fall completely apart when taking a wire nut off
Bluegrass Boy
Senior Member
- Location
- Texas
- Occupation
- Commercial/ Industrial/ Maintenance Electrician
Stupid “smart phone”! Lol
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
I often say, "I want my computer to do what I want it to do, and not necessarily what I tell it to do."
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
That is what I see most of the time when I take off wirenuts that others have installed.
When I was doing work that used solid wire (a long time ago), my guys pre-twisted or they were no longer my guys.
Frank DuVal
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor, Electrical Engineer
I twist every splice, just I do it AFTER I put the wirenut on....
Ever since I READ the instructions on the box of Ideal wirenuts back about 1968.
Ever since I READ the instructions on the box of Ideal wirenuts back about 1968.
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
Take two sets of three #12 solids. Pretwist one of the sets. The other set twist with the wire nut then remove the wire nut. Inspect. Both. You WILL be able to see the difference. Tell me which is the superior splice.
James L
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
That's pretty good, but still looks like it is about to fall apart. Also #12's would be even looser.
James L
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
It looks like it's about to fall apart, but you think it's pretty good?
I think the debate is whether or how good a splice needs to be with the wire nut removed. In practice It probably doesn't really matter if the splice is no longer good with the wire nut removed, even though I would call one that is still good once the nut is removed "superior". 
Buck Parrish
Senior Member
- Location
- NC & IN
We use to twist solder then tape. No wire nuts. This was required at Duke the early 80's in Durham.
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