N8N spake thus:

Somewhat related but not as dangerous, I have found in my old house
several instances where two switches share a wall box. It seems that
it must have been common practice to take the "hot" wire, strip about
3/4" or so of insulation, and wrap it around the terminal on one
switch, then terminate the end of the wire at the other switch. Not
sure why this was done, perhaps large size wire nuts were not available
at the time? (late 40's) apparently wire nuts were available as I have
found several that appear to be original splicing the neutrals
together. In cases where I have found switches arranged as I describe
above, I have replaced this setup with a pigtail of new wire and a red
or yellow wire nut as appropriate.

Why?

Assuming everything is in good condition--no loose insulation, loose
wire strands, etc.--what's wrong with this method? I probably wouldn't
use it for new wiring, but it's perfectly safe.


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