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This really comes down to workmanship. A properly made up wire nut
splice will last forever but if you get one of the wires a bit short
and it does not engage the spring, you will have a bad connection.
For your average homeowner, I suggest stripping about an inch of wire,
twisting them up tightly (clockwise), cutting off all but the last
5/8" or so, looking it over carefully to be sure it is uniform, then
screwing on the wire nut.

That's for stranded wire, right?

No for both but required for stranded.

The one failure I saw was on my hot water heater replacement. Since it
was a rental I didn't do it myself. But I came back to a house with cold
water and a burnt smell in the utility room. The wires had burned off at
the wire nut.

They probably cracked the wire there.

The connection was on #12 solid, and the mechanic had twisted the wires
before putting on the wire nut, but they didn't make good enough contact,
it's very hard to twist solid wire tightly enough.

You need the right tool. It is easy to do with electricians pliers.


Can anyone show where the companies recommend or require the wires to be
twisted ? I bet not. All that I have seen say not required and the videos
that show them being instlled do not show anyone twisting the wires together
before putting onthe wire nuts.

If done correctly the nuts twist the wires together and will not be easy to
just pull off.