Nexus7 wrote:
Rusht Limpalless wrote:
I was always taught the 'right' way to use wire nuts was to pretwist or
'pigtail' the bare wires first, apply the wirenut in correct size and then
use vynyl tape over all as insurance.

Yeah, electricians seem to delight in burying the wirenut in insulation
tape. It looks very good going in, but a year down the road the
insulation has welded itself and won't unravel. There you are jerking
the thing around and using the knife in close proximity to other hot
wires. I'd rather they slice off the correct amount of wire sheating so
that when the nut is tightened, some sheathed length of both wires is
well inside the nut (but still below the spring part).

There's an 'Ideal' brand winged nut at the HD, which I found will make
reliable connections without pre-twisting. Everytime I re-do a joint,
the wires inside turn out to be well twisted around each other.

Why not just solder?? Never given a straight answer by anyone except that
its not neccessary or allowed. I see they also have wirenuts that
incorperate both twisting and crimping after application, anyone had any
experiences with these?

Unless you use the kind of heavy-duty crimping like the utility uses, I
think a good wire-nut will form a better joint.

If you have a junction box with a spaghetti of cables and conduits,
then instead of a whole mass of wirenuts inside it, you can get a
junction strip from Radio Shack. It consists of a series of screw
terminals encased completely in plastic. It will accomodate 3 #12 or a
#10 wire on each terminal on each side. This is not the terminal strip
that you can get at the HD where the screw heads are exposed and the
wire goes directly below the screw head. The RS one has a blob of metal
with a bore into which you insert the wires. The screw tightens into
the bore. The head of the screw is 1/4" deep in the plastic, so you use
a narrow screwdriver to tighten the terminals. You can grab the whole
strip with hot connections while you tighten new ones, and you're
insulated all the time.


If I'm thinking of the same terminal strip those individual terminals
are only listed for one conductor each. The only strip that I'm aware
of that will take two conductors per side is the Marathon brand with a
Sems pressure washer under each screw.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison