WAGO connectors

[socalclem]

I have recently been introduced to WAGO's. Thats what i call them, but they probably have a more technical name.(stab-in type connectors)

My questions is this: Does anybody think that using them on Smoke detectors would be a safety issue? When i rough, i tie out the smoke detectors with a WAGo connector and leave an empty hole open, so when i go back on finish i can simply stab in the wires that come with the smoke detector harness. (The wiring harness wires are soldered) They stab in just fine, but i am unsure if there is any listing conflicts with such a device.

Any ideas?

 

[brian wisemiller]

if you mean the type of stab conns in some recess cans they do not provide a good connection in my opinion. a twisted wire connection with wire nut is much more secure than a razor thin piece of metal pressing into the wire. thats why backstab recs arent used anymore and why you shouldnt backstab switches either. i remove those type connectors and use wire nuts.

 

[james wuebker]

Wago's are great terminals connectors. I use them for control work in cabinets and are very easy and secure the wires great. I haven't tried them with solid wires yet but they hold great on stranded wires.
Jim

 

[tshea]

Watched a JMan electrician installing solid wire using the WAGO connectors in recessed cans. He grabbed the first WAGO and it fell off the can wire. Grabbed the second one and it also fell off. Grabbed teh 3rd one and it was loose.
He cut the rest off and wirenutted everything.

I hate call backs!

 

[infinity]

The most important thing when using any type of connector is it's listing. The conductors that are used must of the type (solid or stranded) and within the size range of the listing of the connector. After that it's a matter of opinion which type of connectors are better. Personally I prefer the old twist and wirenut method. I used push in type connectors in a fixture in my own home and they failed after a year or two. And this was with a #12 solid conductors inserted tightly into it.

 

[ramsy]

Last year I worked with a commercial contractor that used Wago push in connectors for 277vac lighting in new parking garages. This was mostly with 12 Awg solid.

As the forman walked around chewing ass for safety glasses improperly dangling around necks, or for stepping on wrong wrungs of the ladder, the jobsite steward tried to impress everyone by making up the lights energized.

By using a common panel key as lock out, this journeyman was already ignoring OSHA and the company LOTO policy we all received in writing. Now, after the forman shows some stress, all precaution gets tossed to the wind.

When he came across a wet location in the ceiling, the previously made-up Wago's came apart in his hand, and an energized solid #12 broke straight through to his bare palm, zapping 277volts through his heart to his other grounded hand. Lukily he lived.

Doing this for over 25 years, he was the jobsite steward supposedly watching out for everyone's safety, but while showing us what it meant to hustle, and ignoring all suggestions to de-energize the cicuit, or use the one handed method as I did, he showed me nothing less than what an it meant to be a complete idiot.

 

[lectrican]

Wago's

Wago's

Somebody post something positive about these things. They are going in everywhere! I raise an eyebrow to the banning of quick stick 20 A recepts then introducing a quick-stick wire nut. Love my wire nuts!!!

 

[iwire]

They are going in everywhere, they are listed, they are legal.

I agree with Infinity that the most important question is if the connectors are being used within their ratings.

Now that said I don't use them, it makes me feel better using wirenuts, maybe one day I will change.

Right now I am of the opinion these will become a source of a lot of service calls down the road a few years.

If I get them shipped with fixtures I usually pull them off and save them for doing ballast leads, I think they are adequate for that low power application.

 

[George Stolz]

Do a search for WAGO and you'll come up with a bunch of opinions.

I am a pretwist and wirenut guy. I've recently decided that in lieu of a no-twist and half-installed wirenut, a stab in connector is superior. But a pretwist and a wirenut is superior to that, IMO.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

I raise an eyebrow to the banning of quick stick 20 A recepts then introducing a quick-stick wire nut.

There is no comparsion in the design of the back stab devices and the pushin wire connectors. There is a lot more metal and a bigger spring in the pushin wire connectors. That being said, I haven't used them, but then I don't use very many wire nuts either.
Don

 

[sparky_magoo]

Do a search for WAGO and you'll come up with a bunch of opinions.

I am a pretwist and wirenut guy. I've recently decided that in lieu of a no-twist and half-installed wirenut, a stab in connector is superior. But a pretwist and a wirenut is superior to that, IMO.

I agree completely. Pretwisting and wirenuts is the only way to go. I have seen way too many failures in wirenut connections w/out pretwisting. I have also seen too many failures of push in connections. This is especially true of wagos preinstalled on can light fixture wires.

 

[james wuebker]

Again, I use Wago's in control cabinets where were using #18,20 and 24 gage wire. They work great in this type of work. You don't stab them in you have a small screwdriver that you put in the wago that allows the clamp to open. Put the wire in a release the screwdriver. The clamp closes on the wire. I haven't ever pulled a wire out without using the screwdriver to open the clamps but using them with solid wire I can say how good they are.
Jim

 

[peter d]

But a pretwist and a wirenut is superior to that, IMO.

I don't agree. I can make a connection without pretwisting that is just as good. :razz:

 

[eric stromberg]

pre-twisting wires

pre-twisting wires

If pre-twisting wires is good, then why do the manufacturers instructions (on the side of the box of wire nuts) tell me not to twist the wires together before installation of the wire nut? Applying 110.3(B), wouldn't it actually be a Code violation to twist the wires together, in violation of the listing instructions?

On a, more on-topic note, imho, Wago connections are okay for small solid wire. I don't like to use them for stranded wire, unless i tin the leads first.

 

[iwire]

Re: pre-twisting wires

Re: pre-twisting wires

If pre-twisting wires is good, then why do the manufacturers instructions (on the side of the box of wire nuts) tell me not to twist the wires together before installation of the wire nut?

The instructions I recall said something like 'pre twisting not necessary'

That does not sound like pre twisting is prohibited.

All the instructions indicate that either way when you are done the wires will be twisted.

 

[ramsy]

The guys that objected to me about shared neutral pre-twisting were in a telecom installation, were it must be done hot. They complained the pre-twist makes it too difficult to untangle without opening more than one circuit. I thought, but did not say, carefull use of side cutters might remedy this problem, after removing the wirenut.

 

[peter d]

The guys that objected to me about shared neutral pre-twisting were in a telecom installation, were it must be done hot.

Opening a "hot" shared neutral is a disaster waiting to happen. :shock:

 

[tkb]

I haven't seen the WAGO connectors except online yet, but I have used the Ideal ones.

I use them for ballast changes only.

Has anyone used both, and which do you like better?

 

[ramsy]

Opening a "hot" shared neutral is a disaster waiting to happen. :shock:

No doubt. People who do this must be removing the proper phase first. One reason to be glad you don't work in a data center.

 

[realolman]

Maybe they shouldn't share neutrals ( I can't find a DUH! emoticon )