Wire Connectors

I was skeptical at first of the new types of wire connectors. I had good cause to be I thought based on the failures of using those back stab connection which are available on the back of many receptacles.  Therefore, I stayed hesitant to depart from the old faithful wire nut system. Many of the problem of the pushpin system were eliminated with the clear plastic material use for the push in connector which permits the user to visually inspect the connections. This addition was the first changer in connection I believe because when wire ties aren’t tightened properly, they also fail. When there are a lot to do it can become repetitive and a bit more of a labor. The cost difference may have discouraged some from trying the new pushpin devices when they first came available but then man-hours are costly also and they proved to be a time saver.  that is why many used a special tool to twist them on. Still the wire nuts remained in demand due to a few factors:

• Inexpensiveness
• Availability in many sizes
• Reliability when wires were trimmed correctly, stranded wire pre-twist and push into the conical spring of the wire nut and then tightened correctly

The later reason was basically I’m staying with the status quo. This clearly was the reason why Ideal developed the different systems.  The design of their pushpin system had a spring clip which grabbed the sire an held it in place with the clear plastic shell we could look at and test our connections. (Wire nuts also should be pull tested to insure they were installed properly.)  This system allows for a quicker, and a more consistent proper connection. Do not confuse these with the backstab connection on many receptacle devices which leave many with an uneasy feeling and the inability to depart from the clockwise screw and hook system.

However not all push-in connectors are equal. Some will work with stranded and solid core wire while some only with solid

The draw back to this push in system were:

• Cost
• Once installed it was hard to wiggle the wire or wires out and the push pin was no longer safe for usage.
•  Wiggling the wire out also damaged the wire

Thew lack of reuse and damage to the wire kept many from using the system so which aloud the birth of the WAGO device. It relies on the same type lever mechanism in its’ push-in port. It has the same transparency to allow for the visual inspection of your connections. There is a small spring device in these lever-nuts which prevents the lever from reopening.

The wire nut will not become obsolete tomorrow because these level connectors are the most expensive and are limited in availability. But with their new benefits:

• All the benefits of the push-in connectors
• The added hole for multi meter and voltage testing
• Frictionless conductor insertion Almost limited re-usage without damage to the connector or wire.

It is safe to say that these lever connectors are catching the eyes of many professional and DIYers alike.

Now switches and receptacle are coming to our marketplaces and one of the major advantages of these systems is there are no exposed wires.

For years I’ve been told to build the better mousetrap and people will flock to me. In order to build the best mousetrap requires that we keep an open mind and allow ourselves to migrate to the improved methods of preforming our task.

The image below is that of a typical wire nut, push-pin connector and the WAGO connector from left to right.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.