twisting wires

[480sparky]

I prefer twisting wires together to make joints... And the reason that I prefer twisting wires is in dealing with MWBC's When one depends on the wire nut to twist as in no twisting required, When the wirenut gets removed, the wires have a tendency to untwist and the lost neutral connection becomes a slight problem. But with pretwisted wire going in a wirenut, the wires don't have such a tendency to untwist.... I also prefer to twist the main circuit conductors first then twist in any taps to fixtures... which also aids in continuity...

Anyone worth their salt would be able to recognize the hazards of a neutral in a MWBC (after all, that's the definition of a 'qualified person'.....) and be able to act accordingly.

The addition of 210.4(B) is just a dummying-down of the NEC in a futile attempt to 'make it safer' for those who shouldn't be poking around electrical systems in the first place.

 

[mjf]

psychic powers

psychic powers

Read the instructions on the bag of wire nuts.

That said just think about the fact that you do not normally find a loose connection on a splice that has been pretwisted as often as you find loose connections on splices that have not.

If a wire nut is pretwisting is not required

I used to be able to grab a wire nut.....look back in time to the point of installation........ and tell which way the joint was made, but nowadays it just gives me a headache:grin:.

You capitalized the important part "PROPERLY INSTALLED".

If PROPERLY INSTALLED, the joint should look, and work, the same (pre-braided or not, and wirenut on or off).

That being said, I generally pre-braid my joints, but not always.

 

[220/221]

4 #12's, typical non pre twisted.

4 #12's, pretwisted with linemans.

I use needlenose pliers on the wing nuts to put a couple extra turns on bigger bundles, especially MWBC neutrals.

 

[electricguy61]

WAGO's: No twisting, easier to disassemble, easier to re-connect, UL listed, no trouble, no mess, no fuss (and I haven't had any call backs)

They come in 8 hole (try twisting 8 wires together)

 

[LarryFine]

Wait until the day you are troubleshooting a hot circuit and remove wirenut and have all the conductors fly apart; you'll pre-twist!

Especially when the light you're using goes out when the wires spring apart.

 

[tkb]

Originally Posted by steve66
Clockwise, or Counterclockwise??

Steve

Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

Not these guys.
Look at their logo.
http://www.hortonelectric.com/

 

[glene77is]

And, post-twisting is unavoidable.

Larry,

One would think so,
but I have heard union Journeymen repeat what they were told in class, that pushing on the wirenut and twisting 3 turns was enough.
When I do that, just to see what happens, I frequently find that there is No Post-Twist, and the joint falls apart. Maybe the guys were not listening, or not trying out the method to see if it worked, but they were serious about following some rule-of-thumb they had been taught.

Every time I think about not pre-twisting,
I recall that time that a joint flipped apart on me, touched my hand,
and my ladder went all the way out the door from knee-jerk!

So, to para-phrase the manufacturers instructions:
You are not required to pre-twist,
but you must twist the wirenut
until there are twists showing beneath the skirt.

(That sounds funny, reading that last line.
Wonder if I could make it rhyme? :grin: ).