Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
Wes wrote:

I've wired my recepts with 12ga which sucks compared to 14ga. I asked my
brother that is
in the trade why 14 is popular and he told me it is because it is way easier
to terminate.
I belive him. My last garage improvement project wtih 52 year old fingers
didn't like
working with 12 ga.

You used fingers? I use my pliers - and I much prefer having heavy wire
(and 20 amp breakers) run, having lived in a variety of places with
substandard wiring. I leave 14 gauge & 15 amps for lighting circuits
with limited draw. I dislike being left in the dark, so I keep lighting
and outlets separated always.

I don't trust the push-in wiring on some outlets, though I see the GFCI
outlet my electrician supplied has a variant I approve of - straight-in
back wiring _with_ a clamp screw. Easy, but actually solidly connected.
On push-in outlets (no screw clamp) I just bend the wire and connect to
the screws. Not terribly difficult with pliers and 12 gauge.

The thing I get irritated with is the single ground screw, which means
you keep having to fark around with a pigtail and wirenut to run a
series of outlets. Most of the time THREE places to connect a ground
wire would be really nice (in, out, box.) Two would work well enough
(just leave one wire end long to connect to the box) but one is
frustrating.


I just grab my handy bail former pliers.
Strip the wire, stick the ends into the pliers, squeeze and instant
perfect loop. For those who have never seen them they have a round anvil
on one side and a U shaped former on the other.
Mine are custom made ones for wiring. It has steps on it that match
common wire sizes.

--
Steve W.