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Had a foreman chew me out for using too much wire nut torque
I was trimming out a new residential build over in Arlington last spring and the foreman walks over and yanks a wire nut off a splice I just finished. He held it up and said I was over-tightening and risking breaking the copper strands. I honestly thought tighter was always better for a solid connection. He showed me a dozen failed joints he'd seen where the strands snapped right at the nut from people cranking down too hard. Now I twist until the conductors start to bind together, then stop. I also switched to using the pre-twist method he recommended before capping. Has anyone else had a bad habit they had to break after someone pointed it out on the job?
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paige1664mo ago
Wait, isn't the whole point of a good connection that you don't need to pre-twist the wires? I thought modern wire nuts are designed to be twisted on directly.
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evan_davis4mo ago
I read something from an old timer in an electrical forum once who said the same thing. He claimed that pre twisting was more of a habit from the days when wire nuts were just plastic shells with no grip. But then I heard a manufacturer rep at a supply house say the opposite, that pre twisting gives you a more solid bond and prevents the wires from pulling apart under tension. So honestly I think it depends on who you ask and maybe even the gauge you're working with. You ever try it both ways and see which holds up better in a rough in?
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