To Twist or not To Twist? THAT is the Question.

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Pre-twisting your joints under a wire nut has been and continues to be an ongoing debate amongst most electricians for years. Some tradesmen do and some don’t. So, which is the correct way to do it? In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin sheds some light on the subject.
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The topic of pre-twisting your wires prior to putting a wire connector on has been one of the most widely debated practices in the electrical industry. And it continues to be one to this day! On one half of the divide are the tradesmen/electrical contractors that say that pre-twisting your wires will make a solid connection even when the wire connector is removed. On the other half of the fence are the tradesmen/electrical contractors that say pre-twisting your wires is a complete waste of time. With 2 clear lines drawn in the sand, how do we know which is actually the proper way to make up our wires?
To start the debate, let’s talk about the wire connectors themselves. Wire connectors of past years were not made the same as they are today. I think we have all been there- out on a service call trying to troubleshoot something only to find that there was an old wirenut that had loose conductors within it that dropped power to some device. Expansion and contraction of the wire from being energized/deenergized, stuff being plugged in and out could have the wires worked loose if you didn’t twist them together really well. But todays wirenuts will actually twist the wires much better than the old ones did. You can strip your wires, put the wirenut on, and when you remove it, your wires will be reasonably twisted together. Today also, we use a lot of pressure type wire connectors (push in type) that actually do not spin the wires at all.
On the other hand, as we have all been there too, trying to add or rework something where someone had twisted the wires together can be a time-consuming process. Having to untwist the wire bundle to add or remove a conductor and then having to straighten all the stripped wire out can be a royal pain! And again, many wire connections today rely on pressure type connectors and not a twist-on type wire connector and require no twisting at all, which results in a much faster installation.
In the end, it comes down to personal (or corporate) preference. Many of us become very proficient at the art of twisting the wires and the amount of time added is negligible when compared to the solid connection we get. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the specific type of wire connector you are using also. If the instructions tell you to pre-twist the wires, then pre-twist them. If it does not specifically tell you, then do what you, as a professional tradesman, feel gives you the most solid connection. The end result should be a joint that won't unintentionally come apart and will stay a solid connection.
We hope this has been an insightful look into the argument of whether to pre-twist your wires or not to pre-twist your wires. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

Опубликовано:

15 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 448

@FosterFarmsOk Год назад

ive been pretwisting for 23 years now. Not one call back for any bad wire nut connections.

@galenmarek8287 6 месяцев назад

@thomasjeffersunidk about him, but for me they’ve been nothing less than a Godsend. Makes me wonder why we haven’t been using them for much longer. From what I understand, Eu has been using them for years.

@OtisFlint 4 месяца назад

@@galenmarek8287 Yep, they have been the standard in most of the EU for decades. So much better than wire nuts.

@sigcrazy7 Год назад

Dustin makes great videos. I think about his content all the time. Just last week, I shocked myself enough to involuntarily throw my tool twenty feet. Afterwards, I thought “Well at least I’m not in a wet Texas crawl space with a live conductor repeatedly falling on my chest.” Lol, Electrician U is the best.

@PlayNowWorkLater Год назад

As a second year apprentice, I have just recently run across a Journeyman who doesn’t. From the beginning of learning the trade I was taught always pre-twist. And any Journeyman I worked under it wasn’t even a question. Now, with the encounters with the “don’t pre-twist, it’s written on the packaging instructions” folk, they do a good job of it. They’ve shown me the whole process, then taken off the marrette and low and behold the wires are twisted as well as a pre-twist. When I attempted it it turned out like crap. That probably had to do with my inexperience with doing that method. What I like about pre-twisting is I know when I have finished a splice, it is solid before I put the marrette on. I don’t know how solid of a connection it is with the “twist with the marrette” method unless take it off and inspect it. Pre-twist just makes sense, for someone who is new to the craft. You can walk away from a job and know 100% that you did a good job. That’s my two cents worth

@nym5635 10 месяцев назад

What the hellllll isssss a marrette ? Lmao😂 a wire nut you mean

@PlayNowWorkLater 10 месяцев назад

@@nym5635 if I lived in the States I’d refer to it as a Wire Nut. In Canada, most electricians refer to them as Marettes. World doesn’t revolve around the USA. Sorry.

@nym5635 10 месяцев назад

@PlayNowWorkLater touche' haha sorry man I thought u were in the states

@billk8780 Год назад

My father, an industrial electrician craftsman, taught me to scrape the conductors, carefully twist them together, trim the bundle end, and only then add the wire nut. As Dustin mentioned I've had many times when pulling a bundle from a box the conductors come springing out of the loose nut.

@foobaz624 Год назад

This is the way.

@dantejohnson4003 Год назад

Twist all the way

@brentthomas2931 Год назад

I agree with a caveat. I've seen cases where a twisted wires have been over twisted and broken.

@Noah-the-boa Год назад

Hell yeah brother

@poyo3582 Год назад

@@brentthomas2931 impossible with kliens that happens when people use the drill attachments and just go caveman with it

@majstrujeme8352 Год назад

Or you can join the 21 st century and use wago...

@dantejohnson4003 Год назад

@@poyo3582 I accidentally did that once by hand by being overzealous on 4 #14 wires. Probably didn't help the wires were 40 years old though.

@andrewbargo1 Год назад

To add, I've naturally always pre-twisted my wires as of the last 6-7 years. I got a call back on one of my jobs from years ago when I used to use the wire nut to twist my wires. As I twisted the wire nut, one of the wire's walked down just enough to barely make a good connection with the other wires and the nut. The twist I put in the wires when twisting the nut made the "pull test" work just fine. But the wire over time finally lost it's connection. Long story short, I pre-twist because I like that visual inspection of the wires before I cap it with the wire nut. I also prefer how solid they're twisted together that way. So it's stuck with me ever since that day years ago. To each their own.

@ConcernedCitizenPPCA Год назад

I like the idea of pre twisting. You want something you won't have to go back and fix later on. That said I think most wire nuts expect you to twist until the wires themselves are twisted outside the nut or at least that's what I've seen on packaging of these things so most likely non pre twisting people aren't giving it enough turns to do that which might make people think they're less secure?

@joejoeV88 Год назад

I used the ideal brand screwdriver that has a wire nut slot in the back so you can used that handle to crank in the nut and when you take it off you can’t tell whether or not it was pre twisted up to 3 10AWG conductors and more I pre twits if the situation allows for it but I agree with you

@meckiecha3217 Год назад

I totally agree with you Dustin. I always twist the wires together whether they are solid wires or strand wires when I go out on calls.

@tomnielsen3661 Год назад

I like the way that you explained why to twist the wire together. I always have done it that way, I just figured it was the right way, so that you had a much better connection. Now it makes even more reasons to twisted them. I don't know how you can keep coming up with new things to explain to us. Thank you

@mrnade333 Год назад

I couldn't agree more with you, Electrician U, twisting the wires before applying wire nuts is essential for creating a secure and long-lasting connection. As you said, any skilled electrician knows that taking the time to ensure a solid connection is worth its weight in gold

@christhomas5937 Год назад

I have taught all my guys to pre twist, even if that means taking a little more time to do it. I didn't really realize the hatred for and against. Recently I have started to adopt Wago 221s in my line up, I like them. Though it feels sloppy in a way, I like the satisfaction of the snap tho. I also make videos for my employer, I should incorporate this method into company wide training. Great video, thanks again!

@Postinos_Ploddings Год назад

What about a solid/ stranded connection? Twist the stranded and then twist around the solid? Wrap the stranded around the solid? What about a single stranded wire connecting to a couple of solid wires? These questions would be good to address as well.

@timwintersoncntr Год назад

The key here is in the listed item's instructions as they appear on all boxes of wire nuts. If Ideal specifies using only their wire nut to twist the wires, they have done the testing that proves that pre-twisting is a detriment to the connection's integrity. Note that they also provide those nice plastic, three-sized wrenches to facilitate a sufficiently tight twist. I've worked with electricians who, following my instructions as the engineer who specified a specific brand of wire nut, used their lineman's to tighten the wire nut. I have experienced an electrician who just couldn't muster the will or the strength to securely tighten the wire nuts splicing 480 VAC to motor leads. I doubt he would have done better if burdened with a pre-twist step. After I spent an afternoon pulling off all his faulty splices in an industrial conveyor system and properly wire nutting them, that individual never worked on any of my future projects. Wire nuts, by design, require very high installation torque. I never approved winged wire nuts for my jobs because they imply that finger tight is ok--it is not. Now on to why pre-twisting is not approved. First, you will not pre-twist to the same pitch that the wire nut wants to impart to the connection, hence weakening the nut's hold. Second, your lineman's introduces nicks in the conductors, and so stress risers and weak spots for the nut's connection. Third, your twist will not match the nut's bottomed-out twist length, so short or long engagement may result, the latter yielding exposed conductors. Fourth, the pre-twist pre-stresses the conductors arbitrarily and in opposition to the stresses that the wire nut will introduce; I have witnessed an arcing connection as the result of a broken conductor where it exited the wire nut due to the above over-working stress.

@docferringer Год назад

Hell if you want to go above and beyond hand tight, find a socket that fits the wire nut and hook it up to your drill. Takes care of the torque problem and compensates for people who just want to rush through a job without checking their work. You use a drill? You can twist it inside and have your buddy out by the truck tell you when the twist makes it to the pole. ;) The only issue I have with letting wire nuts do the twisting is when you have to use stranded wire...It just will not twist properly in every nut I've tried. One wire becomes the middle and the other wires flatten out and wrap around it, and you can pull the wires out of the nut every time. Twist it harder trying to compensate and you end up breaking off strands or nicking wire. You can pre-twist the individual wires and THEN put on a wire nut to twist all the wires together, which works, or just pretwist both. OR use a Wago on stranded wire...usually not a high voltage circuit if it is stranded anyway so it doesn't cause people to clutch their pearls when you use one.

@codyols9966 Год назад

Awesome video. I'm on team "No pre-twist" but I twist the wire nut until the conductors start to twist beyond the stripped area. I'm just happy to see someone have their own preferences but admit that there is more than one right way to do things. Also, I am a commercial electrician so I am dealing with stranded wire 99% of the time.

@csimet Год назад

Agreed. His example at 3:00 actually shows an invalid install, as per the wire nut manufacturer's instructions. The wires should have a couple twists along the insulation outside the nut and not depend on the twists of the stripped portion inside the nut. I usually don't pre-twist unless it is 3 or more wires... wrestling them to line up can be hard unless you twist them before placing the nut.

@calvissuperman Год назад

Agreed, I work evenly on stranded and solid and I always pre-twist solid wire, but never stranded. Stranded wire just won't stay in the nut sometimes if you pre-twist it, but if you let the nut do the work it ends up forming correctly in the nut I've found. Like Dustin, I've also run into many problems with bad nut connections, and all of them were solid wire not pre-twisted. Only once did I have a stranded wire problem, but that was because the user didn't strip enough jacket away, and the nut didn't grab onto anything.

@blakek1043 Год назад

I pretwist but started to use coaxial driver to grip the nuts real tight and that helps twist them up alot. But anything over 2 I use lineman and then cut them in a v shape

@csimet Год назад

@@blakek1043 Take a look at the VoltClaw-12... one of the most handy tools to have for nuts, pushing (live) wires around in boxes, etc. Lives on my tool belt now.

@BearStar1 Год назад

Over 55 years in the trade and I have never '' pre-twisted '' the conductors when using Wire Nuts or 3M Wingtip Scotchlocks Wire Connectors but lately I've started using the Wago 221's and Ideal's In-Sure Push In connectors that don't require any ''twisting '' of the conductors and I have always '' pigtail '' all of my devices ! I very seldom use Wire Nuts or 3M Wingtip Scotch Locks anymore for my wire connections but I do use Greenies for the Ground Wire Connections on Duplex Receptacles as called for but sometimes I even use 221's or Push In's for them also

@ryanhoffman5864 Год назад

I was about to ask you this the next time you posted. 1st year apprentice here. I always twist, no matter what. It makes it easier for one, and for two, like you said it makes a solid connection. I’ve gotten hit by 277V because someone I came behind didn’t even attempt to twist it, just stuck it in there, and as soon as I moved the wire out of the way to get a stick of pipe in, and the wire nut fell right off and got my hand. I also (after pre-twisting) take my linesman’s and do a couple more twists once the wire nut is hand tight. Love me a good, rock solid connection.

@ikerivers1795 Год назад

Why you sticking your hand in a live box🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ needle nose my dude. 🤷🏼‍♂️

@Ephesians-ts8ze Год назад

I go as far as to spiral my solid wire around the stranded and crimp it down with my sidecutters. If you have to go back and tap on to the circuit, the joint stays maintained when you twist off the wire nut. It makes it easier and safer when you have to do hot work. We’re not supposed to have to do hot work but those of us that have been in the trade for a few decades know that it happens. Like with hospital remodels. Do it like you’ll be the one coming back behind yourself to tap on to the circuit.

@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou Год назад

Well, I suppose, if one is going to do hot work, then a hospital is simultaneously the best and worst place to do so.

@Ephesians-ts8ze Год назад

@@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou 😂 well said! The ER is just a hop skip and a jump away

@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou Год назад

@@Ephesians-ts8ze _ER Doctor:_ Uh, call maintenance, I can't get the defibrillator to function. The power is out on this wing for some unknown reason. Ironic, the paperwork shows that this guy _was_ an electrician. 🤣 _Second floor critical care DO:_ pulling the plug is one of the hardest and most emotional things one can ever be asked to do for a loved one, but now, since a higher _power_ has failed, _you_ didn't have to be the one to do it.

@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou Год назад

Eh, on second thought, those might be a bit too macabre and inappropriate.

@FishFind3000 Год назад

@@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou don’t defibrillators have battery’s inside them?

@aristotle56 Год назад

I'm an electronic tech, not an electrician, but have used many wire nuts over the years. I always pre-twist. A tech school instructor almost 50 years ago told us just about every day "Always make sure you got good connections!" Good advice.

@sharkey086 Год назад

I've learned to pre-twist, personally it makes me feel a lot more comfortable about the work I'm doing.

@benjaminhoyt1421 Год назад

Depends. For two #14's under a red wire nut in a private residence, it's not worth the extra time. If you're pushing the wire nut capacity or you're in a more extreme environment, then you take the extra time and pre-twist. It's the situation that dictates what you do.

@walterbordett2023 Год назад

Long time DIYer here. I pretwist three or more solids and anytime I have a stranded wire in there. The old style wire nuts in the many sizes work better than the new fits bigger range of wires kinds with respect to wires backing out while nut being twisted on. I want to get some Wagon 221 for fixture wires as I like them for that application a lot. Thanks Dustin. You do a lot of good content and I appreciate the emphasis on craftsmanship and taking pride in doing the job right.

@10jonchannel Год назад

Agreed, if I’m struggling to out on the wire nut, I just pre-twist and call it a day. It’s especially helpful with stranded and solid wire together as you said. I can’t imagine doing that for every connection though

@noiseismymiddlename5669 Год назад

8:36, "Always do work to the best of your ability." He then goes on to take ownership of why he wants this done his way. Nice job.

@marcgaskett Год назад

In Australia we not only pre twist but we also don’t use these wire nuts at all, instead we use screwed tunnel type connectors that make a much more permanent solid connection and also require a tool to open them, an extra additional layer of safety

@rayives7758 Год назад

I am a dedicated pretwister. I agree with your belief that it is a more secure connection. It also looks more professional when the wire nut comes off for servicing. One thing you don't mention is joining stranded to solid, which is very common for fixture and appliance wiring (my main application). I like to twist in such a way that the solid wire "corkscrews" and the stranded wraps with it. I also like to twist the stranded conductor so the strands make a semi-solid piece.

@Awegner176 Год назад

I totally do both depending on the application. I tend not to pre twist connections that are two or three 14awg wires- I tend to twist the crap out of the winged wire nuts. Something 12AWG and up, like a typical 20A circuit in a garage etc I tend to pre-twist. I also love wago lever nuts and I even use wago push in connectors all the time for lighting circuits. It all works if you're not lazy and focus on what you're doing. Yes, I have encountered loose connections that were a result of poorly twisted joints too. There is definitely a method to installing wire nuts on 14's without pre twisting.

@Enlightn76 Год назад

Pre-twisted joints are the way I was taught as an apprentice. We did a lot of hospital work and a joint failure could literally be life or death. That method pretty much stuck with me.. In 27 years I've seen maybe 10 or less failures with the twist method. Dozens maybe hundreds with other methods. Regardless of method you should give the wirenuts and conductors good tug to ensure solid connection.

@michaelfulcher6390 Год назад

I work with 22, 18, and 16 gauge wire mostly. I don't pre twist these as tightening wire nuts does the job. I will pre twist larger wires.

@stevenprebeg Год назад

Depends on the AWG size and how many conductors in the splice but honestly I’ve found that a few 14’s or even 12’s, I can make a solid twist with just using the wire nut , especially red or tan.

@aredditor4272 Год назад

Ideal even had a vid showing no twist.

@Carl-ek4oe Год назад

I twist them a ton with the wire nut until the sheathed portion starts to twist. Once I take the wire nut off the wires are twisted just as good as doing it with lineman’s. It really just takes more finger strength. Haven’t had any issues. With that being said I always have the newer apprentices twist them with lineman’s. Their hand strength is never good enough for a solid twist.

@Kensdisguise Год назад

No matter what the "wording on the package" says about pre-twisting", until they come out with a CLEAR wire nut so that I can SEE the twist, I will be pre-twisting all my wire connections.

@TheForgottenMan270 Год назад

I like the pre-twist because of the more solid connection, but I also see the connection happening. That I have no question if there's a good connection or not. Just landing a wire nut on without a twist no one is sure if it's a solid connection.

@workingmanrondoyle3287 Год назад

Very well said 🤠 and a nice video presentation 👍🏼👍🏼 you are the electrician that needs to be teaching trade schools!

@davegibson4255 Год назад

Please no!

@davegibson4255 Год назад

If that is teaching I definitely do not want to know who taught the glorious “teacher” not saying twist or not to twist right or wrong just very poor teaching and lack of general knowledge and should not be spreading potentially life hazardous (fires etc.) lessons to the public. A little bit of knowledge can be dangerous!!!!!!!!

@gregderise9969 Год назад

I’ve gone both ways. I used eschew pre-twisting because it’s not necessary and a need to take apart. Not any more. I don’t like failures! After one in particular, a year after I did it, deep in an attic with struts crisscrossing through the air so I had to practically be a gymnast to reach the spot and work on it with my body in an uncomfortable position. Digging through 12 inch deep blown in insulation, I now pre-twist! I don’t trust the wire nut that I can’t see what is going on inside, even if it appears to be good on the outside and passes the initial tug test. I also like the fact that I can see that there is very good metal to metal contact so under a high load, there won’t be the possibility of a thermal issue. I really like your very complete explanation. This is by far the best I’ve seen on the issue. You are an excellent explainer, a natural teacher!

@phi5head Год назад

12 gauge and up requires pre-twisting. If you're working with 14 gauge, the wire-nut will do the work.(Talking solid wire here)

@mae2759 Год назад

I like this approach.

@FighterPilotPoker 8 месяцев назад

Yeah except it’s not what the manufacturer says, There’s no advantage / disadvantage to twisting certain gauges. I work with 6AWG - 10AWG almost exclusively. No need to twist

@phi5head 8 месяцев назад

@@FighterPilotPoker I disagree.I definitely see an advantage to pre-twisting 12(and up, although rarely do I need wirenuts on anything bigger than 12). Makes a much more solid joint that I can be sure will never come apart, even if the wirenut somehow comes loose.

@boeing757pilot 5 месяцев назад

Agree. My family are electrical contractors. They use the 3M Performance Plus connectors. 2 or 3 #14 conductors will twist perfectly as the connector is twisted on... More that 3 conductors or larger gauges, they're pretwisted...

@jayztoob Год назад

How about just following the instructions as provided by the manufacturers of the Wingnuts, Wirenuts, and so forth? "Twist the solid connectors, don't twist stranded." What about joining two solid to one stranded? Same instructions. THANK YOU for making the distinction between what's required and your preferences/experiences! That's one of the main reasons that I recommend your channel to the newts.

@tinshum7412 Год назад

Just graduated from a trade school of two year electrical studies. I was taught we should pre-twisted the conductors before putting wire nuts on. Teacher came over and try to pull it apart in order to see it falls off or not. Now I follow this practice and it doesn't fail so far.

@erich1380 Год назад

what i say is that in panels i dont twist wire nuts and in boxes i do. nothing is worse than checking/working on something live and you go to untwist a wirenut and the wires fly apart and you get zapped.

@Devin-_- Год назад

What’s worse than having to untwist live is untwisting a wire nut and live wires shoot out into all different directions.

@erich1380 Год назад

@@Devin-_- indeed. In a panel it's not a big deal because you'd turn off the breaker anyways

@StrainingDingelberry Год назад

I always been told to never put wire nuts in a panel

@Devin-_- Год назад

@@StrainingDingelberry sometimes you just gotta.

@LordSaliss Год назад

I've always pre-twisted just a bit simply to get the conductors to be all together nicely to fit the wire nut on easily. Not pliers level pre-twisting, just using fingers to give it a little twist around each other one time before the wire nut goes on, then using the nut to get a nice good twist on them all since it has better leverage. When doing more than 2 conductors it can be hard to group the conductors well enough if you don't pre-twist (like was mentioned in the video with the 5 conductor example). I spend more time trying to fit the conductors all together to fit all evenly and properly into the nut than if I had simply done a little pre-twist to begin with.

@Mike-01234 15 дней назад

Had a large plumbing company replace my direct element water heater with a heat pump type. He used wire nuts to connect the 6AWG aluminum wire to copper 8 Awg whip. When I came home from work my wife said there was no hot water. I checked the breaker it was tripped I thought well maybe the compressor failed in that water heater. Knowing enough about HVAC if the breaker trips again you call a tech out, but this one didn't trip again. 20 minutes went by and I checked it the breaker was tripped again this time a saw a black mark up the wall. I opened the box the wire had burned back like a fuse to the strain relief. That was the only thing that kept my house from burning down was the strain relief caused the wires to pull enough current to trip the 50 amp breaker. I remember when he put the wire nut on he never pre-twisted the wire. Should AL and CO wire be connected with a yellow wire no I should have caught that. The old water heater had a timer on the wall it acted as a busbar for the AL and CO wire. I had them install a disconnect that was rated for AL and CO that way wire was under a lug not a wire nut.

@DominickRuocco Год назад

I always twist the wires together before putting on a wire nut. I can not tell you how many issues I have fixed over the last 15 years that were due to the wires not being tight under the wire nut.

@tent405 Год назад

Wish you would have gone into more detail about twisting multiple wires of different sizes and also stranded mixed with solid. The comments here do that a bit of justice but it would have really been great to see a demonstration.

@garbo8962 Год назад

Worked in a large slaughter house and injection molding shops where they had a lit if vibration and valve the locations had water intrusion from high pressure nightly wash downs. Chief electrician told me first day on the job if I did not pre twist wires then app!y several layers of tape ( prevents pressure connections from falling off and keeps water out ) I would be fired. We would keep our short rolls of black tape for guys on the kill floor & boning rooms. Called it the electricians band aide.Would wrap a few wraps of black tape sticky side out then a few layers sticky side down. Was the only thing that stayed on cut fingers for more then a few minutes with all the water around.

@CharlesDAlessandro Год назад

I have found using wire nuts with more then two wires and not twisting causes the wires to move into the wire nut leaving conductors loose not staying together. The wago connectors are great solid or stranded. ferrule crimps on stranded are a must for solid connections. I highly recommend watching EFIXX they have a video on crimping tools. After 33 years pooping wire nuts I welcome the change.

@JackKirbyFan Год назад

Working on our flip house, I cannot tell you how amazing it is to see such LONG wires. WHY did they cut the wires to lengths so short, you just want to scream! Why! :)

@glasshalffull2930 Год назад

Code is 3 inches beyond box. (I always leave about 5 inches.) Combine that with someone replacing a receptacle and just cutting off the old receptacle and now you’ve got even shorter wires. This is one situation where Wago 221 connectors are a godsend. I’ve often wondered what fatigue is introduced to the wire when undoing a shepherds hook and then adjusting it for the new receptacle?

@JackKirbyFan Год назад

@@glasshalffull2930 Yes, I've used the Wago ones as well. I literally bust the old outlet to avoid getting the wires any shorter (with eye protection on as well). They are the old push connectors and it's a nightmare. I found a 5 in 1 painters tool effective in doing that (power off of course). After that begins crying since it's often 2 - 3 circuits wired to it and cut ground wires - or soldered ground wires together -> because. It's a miserable experience. I tend to replace the old metal boxes with ones with room in them that aids in LESS suffering.

@glasshalffull2930 Год назад

@@JackKirbyFan I feel for you brother!!!

@JackKirbyFan Год назад

@@glasshalffull2930 Thank you!

@boeing757pilot 5 месяцев назад

Wow! Same with my house. Wires cut as short as possible. A pain to fix. I feel you!

@2163mrjeff Год назад

I will ALWAYS pre twist.. Because I'm not just here to get the job done and go home. I'm here to give good quality work. And so that your grandchildren don't have to call an electrician to fix connections that have gotten loose.

@ikerivers1795 Год назад

😂😂😂

@meganw6007 Год назад

Thanks for explaining the conundrum for the NEXT person, with pre-twisted then being mangled. That's something I hadn't yet considered before, being so for pre-twisting

@CrispyCircuits 8 месяцев назад

Yes, they are a bit mangled, but at that point you really have to clean the wires to get the corrosion off anyway. plus the dead bugs, gecko eggs..... :-}

@camdendexter Год назад

As a homeowner, I pre-twist. I did see one manufacturer provided instruction that indicated to also tape the wire nut to the conductors which I thought was odd.

@jasonhoward7756 9 месяцев назад

I always pre twist solid stranded it's a no. If I have 2 solids 1 stranded, I twist solids and bring stranded to joint with tip slightly higher than solid twist to ensure the stranded gets to tip of nut and won't pull out when pushing into a box.

@johnwheeler1476 Год назад

I personally think all connections should be bolted together. With awg 12-14 I will use a tiny drill bit to bore a hole in the conductors then use a #2 bolt and nut to make my termination afterwards i use empty match boxes filled with waterproof grease to encase the junctions. Its a little more work, it once took me three days to make up one junction box but the piece of mind makes it all worth it.... but seriously TWIST THE DAMN WIRES...

@BigislandEJ Год назад

I find that there’s many ways to make a connection, nuts,wagos,butt splice,….., in service I see it all, some guys just don’t possess the grip an electrician has that he can hard twists with a red wing before pre twist guy gets his linesman’s out his pouch. Some guys need the pre twist and I encourage it! But you badasses out there you know who you are, the money makers

@johnwalker890 Год назад

When I went to trade school, the code stated that all connections shall be mechanically connected, because soldered connections can heat up and separate, I believe pre-twisting is good when it's good practice, and also believe that some connector make it so you don't have too, but it all comes down to the person whether or not the electrician choice to do such, if you are putting in multiple lighting or receptacles, sometimes you are pressed for fast response and time is money, and sometimes getting done faster is more important, than pre-twisting every wire, and that's when I use speed connections, or push connectors, not the greatest, but they work.

@dustind292 Год назад

I tell all my newer guys that it's MY code that any solid wire 14ga or larger has to be twisted. In the past I've had too many return trips and failed devices due to bad taps. Also on devices like switches or receptacles that will be daisy chained to another, I want the main runs twisted and a pig tail used at the device. If the device fails it can be replaced without affecting everything down line, especially critical in commercial spaces.

@boeing757pilot 5 месяцев назад

Well said! My house has every box made up so that only a single pair terminate to the device.

@alkalize Год назад

Loose wires start fires. That's why I'm a perfectionist when it comes to joints. Every joint is pre-twisted, every wire is pulled. Stranded wires get less twist, but I always give each wire a tug to ensure it's bonded securely.

@monteclark1115 Год назад

I always pre twist solid wire. I strip long, line up the ends of the insulation, twist, then cut the tips off to make it even. Never had any trouble with those connections. I even pulled all the receptacles out of my own house and pigtailed them all like this after I had a burnout in one of the daisy chained back stabbed receptacles. I also don’t back stab them. 25 years ago when I worked for a residential contractor, they didn’t like pigtails or side screws because “it’s a waste of wire nuts and it takes too long”.

@jacqueshummelgaardolesen Год назад

I know that the wirenuts are diffrent in the us, but have you tryid to look at the danish wirenut, where they use screws to make the connection solid, try to look at it and give your appenion on it, sorry for the bad english.

@tlhIngan Год назад

Or just avoid the issue altogether and use Wagos instead of wire nuts. They go in straight and come out straight. The only thing that sucks if you have 4 wires to splice together because I think they only come in 2, 3 and 5 conductors.

@K2teknik. Год назад

Push-in connectors have 4 connections, both as 4 inline and stacked 2+2.

@jonblakemore6454 Год назад

I almost never pre-twist. I use an old GB wire nut spinner. Anywhere from 2 #14 to 5#12 I can use the wire nut to twist. When I remove the wire nut to check, the wires are twisted together beautifully.

@tjvroom7076 Год назад

I do not pre-twist most of the time. I just tighten my wire nut until the insulated portion under my wire nut has twisted twice, that always seems to give me a solid connection on my wires. If using stranded with solid, have the stranded wire sitting a little taller than the solid wire, then the same deal, seems to work great for me.

@digi3218 Год назад

You have high quality videos... I'm surprised you don't get more views 😮

@draaks1 Год назад

I have always been of the mindset you make your electrical/mechanical connection then the wire nut or beanie in the case of low voltage stuff is just your insulator. One of the reasons I don't like Wagos since the copper is not in direct contact with each other. Plus an issue with no pretwist is when you pull a wirenut the conductors can come loose and spring over and short out against something or spring out and shock you or worse.

@DC-go5mc Год назад

If the NEC defers to the manufacturer for proper use, you should have brought out one or more data sheets and covered them.

@Enyuno916 Год назад

3M wobbly wire nut spinner and 3M wire nuts. Strip out wire 1”+. Hold 2” from end of wires. Line wire ends evenly and stop twisting when 1” of insulation is twisted or touches your fingers (not all the way to the end like some)

@lessechrist2898 3 месяца назад

I believe the manufacturers' instructions for modern wire nuts states to twist until the insulation outside of the wire nut starts to twist (if you don't pre-twist).

@PurlCat Год назад

If I'm doing stranded-stranded or stranded-solid I always pre twist. If I'm doing solid-solid I twist the wire nuts by hand and then I have a nut twister on the back of my screwdriver and I make sure I see the wires are twisted at least 3-4 times. If I'm doing 4-5 solid-solid conductors then I pre twist as well, usually I strip a little extra on each conductor, pre twist, and then cut them all to the same length, then I make sure to twist super hard on the wire nut with my wire nut driver.

@FishFind3000 Год назад

Adjust assume that connection will be buried and never seen again. Do you think your current method is strong enough to never have an issue? If you have any doubt, go the extra mile and pretwist. If I can see the copper is twisted nice and tight before the wire nut goes on I already know it’s a solid connection. One that only relies on the wire nut for insulation instead of it mechanically holding the wires.

@charletonzimmerman4205 Год назад

Like 50's song say's ; "DO THE TWIST". Bill Haley & the COMETS.

@jakesully5402 Год назад

Pre twist all the way for me. Generally I do service work; I hate it when I troubleshoot and a wire just falls out of the wire nut. At least with a pre twist I have a shot at a joint staying intact. Let’s face it, you mostly work “live” when doing service work. If a joint falls apart when working live, it just sucks for everything down stream….

@NeedtoSpeak 8 месяцев назад

Hats off to you on your lecture on professionalism. Good man!

@Bob.W. Год назад

If I recall correctly the big selling point of the 3M wire nuts with those big springs in them, in the late 60s, early 70s, was that you didn't have to pre-twist. It was a time saver. I didn't care for them. A big outfit that I worked for in Florida used them exclusively for speed (plus aluminum wire, lol). Wagos are great from solid to stranded.

@wmcomprev Год назад

I suspect that someone could also make the point that the code says to use items in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. So, if the instructions say to just put the wire nut on then twist, you'd need to do it that way.

@jeffreykornspan9053 Год назад

I was taught many years ago to strip solid wires about 1 1/2 inch and twist holding side cutters at the very end and then cut off any marks by the pliers and install a wire nut over the conductors tightly and use a wire nut tightening device to secure. I'm old school and cutting teeth marks away is essential for a long-lasting connection. Twisting stranded wire, you can repeat the same steps. Too many people try to install too many conductors under a wire nut. That's asking for future problems after time. My opinion!

@icanreadthebible7561 Год назад

A wirenut is an insulator. (What I was taught) At one extreme: had a DIY customer who had twisted and soldered every connection before wirenutting and taping. At the other extreme: An HVAC installer who didn't strip any low voltage connections, just trusted the wirenuts to cut into the insulation enough to make the connections. Not good. Oh, and there was a 20-story condo where NONE of the neutrals in j-boxes had wirenuts, just twisted. Saved a few bucks.

@HenryGertcher Год назад

As a home owner I always pre-twist wires for the reason you gave. If the wire nut comes off the wires are still connected.

@walkngdude Год назад

Very cool, but what about joining a stranded conductor and a solid? I was taught to nose the stranded just a hair forward of the solid (no twisting just side by side) then start spinning the wire-nut before it touches the conductors. After it starts grabbing you have to have a tight hold of the insulated side because sometimes if the stranded was too far forward it will pull past the solid and bunch up in the nose of the wire-nut and leave the solid not-connected. Then part way through bend the wires back and forth a few times and twist a little more. Then there's when you have two or more solid wires and one or more stranded... That's a mess haha

@isaacromero8331 Год назад

This week we had a call to go check out why some outlets and lights weren’t working at our towns local Super 8. Before starting any work I ask if anyone had worked on this before and the whole hotel on the interior rooms had been repainted, the guy that did the paint also did the electrical work of changing out outlets and switches, Adding usb outlets near bed stands, so I already had an idea of what the problem could be. Checked with my plug in tester and I had a hot ground reverse on the whole room, the light in this room was the only one to not work I assume out of all the other singular lights added to each room, the light is right above the door when you walk in, no light previously, or I assume the light was in a different location. Upon fixing the gfi that was wired on the load side as to why it wasn’t working, I went up in the attic and found splices everywhere with no j box or nothing, the Smurf tube was cut and the switch leg and neutral was spliced and a new Romex wire went to the light, Romex in commercial I know, so my foot got caught on the Romex and just tugged it a bit, I could continuously hear a popping sound so I undid the splice and nothing was pre twisted, one of the neutrals had popped out and was making good connection giving me 38V at the light. So I properly make 2 j boxes ran mf cable 12/3 in between for the switch leg and constant hot now everything is working fine in the room. Still curious as to why hot and ground reversed isn’t there no more and everything is reading good

@isaacromero8331 Год назад

Also when doing new construction/ electrical rough in it’s good practice to leave some slack on your whips, especially for 4ft lights that go into a drop ceiling. The extra slack could of just been taken directly to the new light, preventing me from having to make 2 jboxes, if I would of had slack I could of possibly just had 1 j box if the whip wasn’t long enough to go to the new light location

@bigrick7108 Год назад

The twist makes the connection. The nut just hold them together.

@soullessdevice Год назад

Sometimes pretwist is necessary. It's situational. More often I don't need to pretwist because if you have a quality wire nut it will do it for you. Plus pretwisting makes dismantling more of a chore than it needs to be.

@kylebailey8498 Год назад

Only thing I do different and I think is key on stranded is to cut the ends flush after twist

@911Pranksters Год назад

I like to pre twist solid wire , however i don’t pre twist stranded wire. One of my friend called me to see if i can find why his GFCI breaker tripped instantly. Turn out that one of his neutral was loose . When i took that wire nut off all the wire came un done . I pre twist them and was able to fix his problem

@blackforkfarm4356 8 месяцев назад

The only time I don't pre twist is when I'm connecting solid to stranded. I feel like I get a better connection using the wire nut to twist the wires together in that instance.

@randallbursk8784 7 месяцев назад

Excellent, professional, go home after work satisfied attitude. Old ceiling fan with single twist wire. What’s the proper way to insert into a wire clip? Wasn’t comfortable doing it. Used a twist connector cap. Thanks

@citygirljace Год назад

Pre-twister here. The problem with pre-twisting stranded is that it often just becomes too smooth for the wirenut to bite. So pre-twisting good, but making sure whatever group of wires you’ve got together (mix of stranded and solid, for example) lets the wirenut bite, also good.

@Lazdinger 7 месяцев назад

I’m definitely a pre-twist guy. Although, if there’s a guy or girl - a journeyman/certified electrician - that does not pre-twist, then I say that’s fine. I might not like it but if they know what they’re doing, they have experience and are qualified, then they are responsible for their work. HOWEVER, I think new apprentices should always be taught to pre-twist because they lack the experience to know what a good connection is.

@armandocornejo7476 Год назад

I pretwist. When I used to be a residential service guy, I saw what happens when people don’t make good connections. I tell the young guys that I prefer to pretwist.

@davidjackson4112 Год назад

Thanks! Ideal wire nuts instruction on the back package says twisting is not necessary.

@leealtmansr.3811 Год назад

The best explanation I have heard. Great information 👍

@robertbugglin5504 Год назад

Well, I'm not a real electrician. I was taught as a teenager by the son of an electrician, and later became an electrical engineer. I have done electrical from time to time, and I generally pre-twist unruly wires. If they are being compliant, I'll let the nut do the twisting. But I do have a nut failure story. Friends called the gas company because of a burning smell when the heat came on. Nothing found. Called an electrician. Nothing found. So they called me. I looked around, touched a blank switch plate in the next room, and nearly burned my fingers. Behind it was a brightly glowing connection with the remains of a wire nut sitting on it.

@FastSS02 Год назад

I've always pre-twisted because the old wire nuts that were just plastic inside sucked and would barely stay on as is. I never thought it was an option to not pre-twist. It gets to be unruly when working with 3 or 4 12 gauge wires, even with a large size wire nut.

@dracula3811 Год назад

I pre-twist unless it's ballast wiring (18-20awg). There it isn't necessary. Everywhere else you make the good mechanical connection first and then finish it off with the wire nut.

@WestHaddnin Год назад

I’ve gotten yelled at for doing both as an apprentice smh. Ive decided twists is the way as a journeyman 9 years in the trade.

@Tie509 Год назад

My one argument for not pre-twisting is that I like seeing the action of the wirenut itself twisting the wire. That lets me know for sure that the wirenut is biting into the wires. But there is nothing wrong with pre-twisting either. The packaging on Ideal wirenuts says "pre-twisting not necessary", rather than not to pre-twist. So they leave it up to you.

@johnburgess2084 Год назад

I'm just super compulsive sometimes. At 0:33, in MY opinion the stranded wires are being twisted the wrong way (counter-clockwise when looking at the end of the wire is wrong). Because then, if you use a wire nut on the joints, since the wire nuts only go clockwise, that would actually untwist the stranded wires.

@jfrostjr Год назад

I do not pre twist wires. I have not had any issues with my wire nuts failing. Twist the wire nut on, tug test, and fold them neatly into whatever enclosure they’re in. Either way, as long as the electrician doing the installation does their due diligence, I don’t care if they pre twist or not.

@miguelajguerra1mg Год назад

100% of the time I’m pre twisting open circuits especially in new construction however if the circuit is closed and energized I wouldn’t. I still tug on the wire nut both ways and they hold the same

@surferdude642 Год назад

I agree that pre twisting is better, but so many choices, pre twisting or not, Wago's or wire nuts, pigtails or using the screws on the receptacle to connect downstream. They all have pros and cons.

@joshhowie4071 Год назад

2 solid #14 AWG together I don’t pretwist… everything else I do

@noferblatz Год назад

No twist! Here's why: when i was doing remodels, I had no end of connections which had been twisted. I needed to get them apart and add another conductor (solid 12 or 14 wire). Getting them apart was a pain, and I either had to straighten them out to get the connection back together, or cut them. Sometimes they were so short that cutting them was a real problem. I don't know what you're talking about with wire nuts now and then. When i was doing this back in the 80s, we used Ideal wire nuts, and they bit into the conductors and twisted them slightly, just like you showed. We almost never used stranded unless someone made a mistake at the parts store, at least not with #12 or #14. Anything above that was probably stranded, and we were usually putting them into lugs rather than pigtailing them. Plus, whenever you put a wire nut on, you have to pull on the conductors to make sure they don't just pull out.

@surferdude642 Год назад

Using Wago lever nuts initially would be the best solution for those issues.

@rfpeace Год назад

I've always twisted solid, but stranded, especially smaller gauge stranded pretty much suck if you ever need to break it apart! Although if and when I come across these smaller gauge stranded (ceiling fans, dimmers, led drivers, etc) if there is enough I just chop the nut off and re-strip everything. That's my 0.02¢ cheers!

@sparky8910 Год назад

You have to twist when have more than two wires, you are creating a good mechanical connection and the wire nut is just a cap to protect the bare conductors.

@WRWhizard Год назад

Just saying. As an HVAC tech. Had a no cooling call back. No line voltage at condenser. Traced back to a junction. 2 #10 wires that had been wire nutted the lazy way. One fell out of the nut. The way I see it, You make the joint so it stays together no matter what, then you cover/insulate it with a wire nut. The wire nut is insulation not a joiner.