I finally stopped using push-in wire connectors on everything

For 20 years I used push-in connectors on every residential job because they were fast and easy. Last month on a service call in Tulsa I found three fried connections in one box that had melted the insulation right off the wires. Has anyone else had enough failures to switch back to twist-on connectors for good?

3 comments

3 Comments

xenaf5121d ago

You used them for 20 years too?

grant.felix21d ago

Ran them for about 15 years myself before switching back. The problem isn't the connectors themselves, it's the tiny copper strands that don't always seat right inside those spring clips. A lot of guys don't know that push-ins actually have a max wire size rating that changes with temperature, and nobody reads that fine print on the package. Once those connections get hot from a overload or loose termination, the spring tension drops fast and you get that melted insulation mess you saw. Twist-ons let you torque the connection by hand and actually feel if it's tight, which is something push-ins just can't match no matter how fast they are to install.

nora_park21d ago

Wait, 20 years and you never saw this coming?" That really got me, @xenaf51 asked the question I was thinking too. Grant nailed it with the tiny copper strands not seating right, I bet most guys don't even know about the temperature rating thing on the package.