Had a talk with an old timer at the supply house about wire nuts

I was grabbing some reds and yellows last week, and this retired guy, Frank, was there. He saw my bag and said, 'You know, I never twist my wires before I put the nut on.' I must have looked confused because he explained that if you just hold the wires together straight and screw the nut on, it does the twisting for you and makes a better connection. I tried it on a job the next day with some 12-gauge, and it felt weird at first, but the pull test was solid. It actually seemed faster once I got the hang of it. I've been doing the pre-twist for ten years, so this was a big shift. Has anyone else switched to this method, or is it just an old-school thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicew687d ago

I mean, Frank's not wrong, it works fine for solid wire. I still pre-twist stranded though.

carr.brooke7d ago

I watched a guy at work try to skip pre-twisting on 12-gauge stranded and the wire nut just spun right off. Alicew68 has the right idea, because stranded can splay out and lose that good grip if you don't twist it first. It only takes an extra few seconds to twist the ends together before you put the cap on. Why risk a loose connection, you know?