Wagos vs Wire nuts

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paul

Senior Member
Location
Snohomish, WA
Stranded wire I prefer wirenuts. Solid wire I prefer Wagos. Wagos are listed for stranded, but it can be a crapshoot whether or not they go on correctly. If you get somebody that doesn't care, you'll have a bunch of poor connections. But that's just my opinion on them.
 

Barbqranch

Senior Member
Location
Arcata, CA
Occupation
Plant maintenance electrician Semi-retired
One of the nice things about the newer Wagos is you can very easily and reliably insert a meter probe in the back. Also you can see how deeply the wire is seated.
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
Wire nuts wherever possible. I will only use a wago if I'm presented with 0.1" of wire in a box and can't pull any more in.
 

synchro

Senior Member
Location
Chicago, IL
Occupation
EE

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
Less than 10 years ago I was still soldering joints.

Today I use wago’s almost exclusively. And yes I’ve used them in my own house.

I can’t tell you how many thousands per year we use company-wide; I haven’t heard of any callback issues due to using them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
I'll admit it....
I'm a wire nut snob....:ashamed:

I actually read wire nut specs, for those that serve the widest range & type of wire

and then there's the whole pre-twist & cut application

maybe there's a support group for my sort?

~RJ~
 

mbrooke

Batteries Included
Location
United States
Occupation
Technician
I'll admit it....
I'm a wire nut snob....:ashamed:

I actually read wire nut specs, for those that serve the widest range & type of wire

and then there's the whole pre-twist & cut application

maybe there's a support group for my sort?

~RJ~



No, I say you are doing right. When you pre-twist you know your copper is level and twisted satisfactorily.
 

synchro

Senior Member
Location
Chicago, IL
Occupation
EE
Wire nuts. I just don't see how wagos could make as strong and reliable a connection. I know I know, that's probably what guys said about wire nuts in the days of solder:lol:

From what I've heard solder makes a very good connection except when fault currents get high enough that it'll be the weakest point when it melts.
By the way, the earlier post where they had a video of wire nuts burning from a bad connection reminded me that I've seen old wire nuts that were porcelain. They had no metal spiral inside. Maybe they used these with knob and tube?
 

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
Wago = back stabbed

:happyno:
They are far from a back stab, here's why...
I have dissected them and there is a lot more clamping area on the Wago vs a back stab connection
The Wago spring clamp is a lot stronger than a back stab
On a back stab, (mostly on receptacles) the wire is subject to move every time something gets plugged in & unplugged, after a while this will loosen the connection and it will either pull out or heat up from high resistance.

With a Wago, the connection is not on the receptacle. You wrap the wire around the screw, or in a pressure clamp just like normal. When you plug/unplug something you are not disturbing the wire where it enters the Wago. So you can push/pull all you want on the plug and it won't affect the connection in the Wago. That's unlike what happens with a back stab, as you are pushing/pulling on the receptacle and the wire connection is directly on the receptacle.

Only failure I've seen with a Wago was "operator failure". And that was my install. Luckily I caught it when I energized the circuit. I just didn't have it pushed all the way in. I've been using them for nearly 10 years and no problems other than my mistake.

Note: Wago is a brand and there are other good mfg of them such as Ideal Push-ins, FPR (Gardner Bender).

I have found a new toy that I like even better than the push-in connectors. It is "Lever nuts" made by Wago. You raise a lever and insert the wire, then push the lever back down. You can feel the strength of the spring when you pull the lever up. They are especially handy when on a ladder trying to hang a light. Sometimes its difficult to hold the light and put a wire nut on the wires. With the Lever nuts, you can use one hand to both insert the wire and push the lever back down. It's best to raise the lever before going up the ladder or before you attempt to hold the light to connect the wires. Then all you have to do is insert the wire and push the lever down.

shopping
 

Srv52761

Senior Member
Location
lowa
Occupation
Energy Manager

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
:happyno:
They are far from a back stab, here's why...
I have dissected them and there is a lot more clamping area on the Wago vs a back stab connection
The Wago spring clamp is a lot stronger than a back stab
On a back stab, (mostly on receptacles) the wire is subject to move every time something gets plugged in & unplugged, after a while this will loosen the connection and it will either pull out or heat up from high resistance.

With a Wago, the connection is not on the receptacle. You wrap the wire around the screw, or in a pressure clamp just like normal. When you plug/unplug something you are not disturbing the wire where it enters the Wago. So you can push/pull all you want on the plug and it won't affect the connection in the Wago. That's unlike what happens with a back stab, as you are pushing/pulling on the receptacle and the wire connection is directly on the receptacle.



Agreed, not all are created equal, some exert more pressure & contact Bill

But it's the conductor/conductor contact that i question....they no longer 'touch', they are now separated and dependent by whatever material exists in the connector itself.

One could extend this notion to polaris & Kup-L tap , even split bolt conn's , one could also introduce the recent popularity of torque

~RJ~
 
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