Tony Miklos wrote in
:

On 11/16/2010 11:29 PM, Ricky wrote:
I saw these things at Home Depot, which look easier to use than wire
nuts, because each wire is inserted separately into its own cavity,
and four wires should be no harder than 2. Do you know of any
problem with them? Their first use may be to carry 200 or 400 watts
to floodlights (or even 800, I have to go check again. That would be
8 separate floodlights**). They're UL approved, but they are so
little (flimsy?) I can't help but wonder. And they don't use a screw
to hold the wires, just a spring, something like back-stab switches
and receptacles.

**He has 8 floodlights installed now and working fine, for more than
10 years. Right now wire-nuts are used. He needs to tap into the
system, and if there were no reason not to, it could end up that two
of these little connectors each ended up carrying 800 watts.


Assorted means either 2 wires, 3, or 4 connected together. Here is a
picture of for 4.

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...gSearchResultV
iew?D=902017&Ntt=902017&catalogId=10051&langId=-15&storeId=10051&Dx=mo
de+matchallpartial&Ntx=mode+matchall&recN=112046%2 04294965097&N=0&Ntk=
P_PartNumber The picture is 2 or 3 times life-size. The enlarged
picture is at least 3 times.

They're re-usable, and you can get the old wire out by twisting and
pulling, it says, iirc.

This assortment is $4.48, and in good Home Depot fashion, the webpage
doesn't say what is assorted about it, or how many items are
included, or of what size. And doesn't indicate what gauge wire they
work with. The assortment in the store was $1.86 or 1.69, was labeled
and actually contained 4 for 4 wires, 4 for 3 wires, and 2 for 2
wires, and it was labeled 18-12. It didn't say that was 18 to 12
*gauge*, but I thought so when I bought them. Nowhere do I see an
amp or wattage rating, only wire size, if that's what 18 - 12 is.

Home Depot continues to be tied for first with Lowes for the worst
web site of a major retailer. (and maybe of any retailer.)


This is about 133 other things made by Ideal that HD sells, mostly
electrician tools;
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...View?catalogId
=10051&langId=-15&storeId=10051&N=0&Ntk=level1&Ntt=IDEAL&Nty=1&D= IDEAL
&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallparti al


---
Ideal push-in wire connectors, 30-291 10-pack assorted.
774A, 18-12 250D

When those connectors first came out, the owner or inventor or someone
from the company posted here about them... almost ten years ago. Most
people gave him a hard time comparing them to regular backstab type
connectors. He said they were much better than the old backstab and
they had a "UL" or some type of listing. He even sent me a few to
test but I'll be damned if I know what happened to them.

I've seen them included in several recent light fixtures purchased at the
Borg.