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bare wire and wire nut question benjunk 01-28-2008
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Posted by on January 28, 2008, 2:03 am
Ideally wires going into a wire nut will have only so much bare wire
so that that bare wire is entirely underneath the nut and you only see
insulated wire coming out the bottom. It seems like by design there's
maybe a 1/4" of insulation tucked up in the nut (measuring from the
nut's bottom edge).

My question is what if one of the wires in the nut has its insulation
cut point at about level with the nut's bottom. So that if you look
straight on from the side you don't see any bare wire, but if you tilt
the nut so you can underneath it you can see the bare wire just above
the rim.

I can't imagine this really matters, but thought i'd check first. I'm
finding this happening to me occasionally as I do a project. It's
when I've got 4 #12's to fit in a red wire nut. I twist them with my
klein's first (as directed by the inspector). Occasionally, although
the wires start with the same amount of bare wire all lined up, one of
those wires slips down a bit during the twist, so that if I were to
cut off the bare twist so that that one wire will stick up well in the
nut, the rest of the wires would be pretty short.

Thanks for any advice.

Posted by RBM on January 28, 2008, 7:06 am
Some wire nuts recommend twisting the wires and some don't. Personally I
prefer to strip about an inch of insulation then twist the wires. It's
important to hold all the wires tight so none ride up while you're twisting.
Once you have them twisted and tight, cut the twisted end with lineman's
pliers leaving a neat, straight bunch, then twist on the nut. If there is
any exposed conductor, put a wrap of tape on it



> Ideally wires going into a wire nut will have only so much bare wire
> so that that bare wire is entirely underneath the nut and you only see
> insulated wire coming out the bottom. It seems like by design there's
> maybe a 1/4" of insulation tucked up in the nut (measuring from the
> nut's bottom edge).
>
> My question is what if one of the wires in the nut has its insulation
> cut point at about level with the nut's bottom. So that if you look
> straight on from the side you don't see any bare wire, but if you tilt
> the nut so you can underneath it you can see the bare wire just above
> the rim.
>
> I can't imagine this really matters, but thought i'd check first. I'm
> finding this happening to me occasionally as I do a project. It's
> when I've got 4 #12's to fit in a red wire nut. I twist them with my
> klein's first (as directed by the inspector). Occasionally, although
> the wires start with the same amount of bare wire all lined up, one of
> those wires slips down a bit during the twist, so that if I were to
> cut off the bare twist so that that one wire will stick up well in the
> nut, the rest of the wires would be pretty short.
>
> Thanks for any advice.



Posted by Terry on January 28, 2008, 1:25 pm
That is the way to do it. Strip more than enough copper.

After striping the wire, hold the wires together making sure the ends
of the insulation are even. Then twist just a little. If one of the
wire's insulation is not lined up, then push on that single wire
enough to make it even.

Then, do a tight twist and cut off the end.



>Some wire nuts recommend twisting the wires and some don't. Personally I
>prefer to strip about an inch of insulation then twist the wires. It's
>important to hold all the wires tight so none ride up while you're twisting.
>Once you have them twisted and tight, cut the twisted end with lineman's
>pliers leaving a neat, straight bunch, then twist on the nut. If there is
>any exposed conductor, put a wrap of tape on it
>
>
>
>> Ideally wires going into a wire nut will have only so much bare wire
>> so that that bare wire is entirely underneath the nut and you only see
>> insulated wire coming out the bottom. It seems like by design there's
>> maybe a 1/4" of insulation tucked up in the nut (measuring from the
>> nut's bottom edge).
>>
>> My question is what if one of the wires in the nut has its insulation
>> cut point at about level with the nut's bottom. So that if you look
>> straight on from the side you don't see any bare wire, but if you tilt
>> the nut so you can underneath it you can see the bare wire just above
>> the rim.
>>
>> I can't imagine this really matters, but thought i'd check first. I'm
>> finding this happening to me occasionally as I do a project. It's
>> when I've got 4 #12's to fit in a red wire nut. I twist them with my
>> klein's first (as directed by the inspector). Occasionally, although
>> the wires start with the same amount of bare wire all lined up, one of
>> those wires slips down a bit during the twist, so that if I were to
>> cut off the bare twist so that that one wire will stick up well in the
>> nut, the rest of the wires would be pretty short.
>>
>> Thanks for any advice.
>

Posted by John Grabowski on January 28, 2008, 7:14 am

> Ideally wires going into a wire nut will have only so much bare wire
> so that that bare wire is entirely underneath the nut and you only see
> insulated wire coming out the bottom. It seems like by design there's
> maybe a 1/4" of insulation tucked up in the nut (measuring from the
> nut's bottom edge).
>
> My question is what if one of the wires in the nut has its insulation
> cut point at about level with the nut's bottom. So that if you look
> straight on from the side you don't see any bare wire, but if you tilt
> the nut so you can underneath it you can see the bare wire just above
> the rim.
>
> I can't imagine this really matters, but thought i'd check first. I'm
> finding this happening to me occasionally as I do a project. It's
> when I've got 4 #12's to fit in a red wire nut. I twist them with my
> klein's first (as directed by the inspector). Occasionally, although
> the wires start with the same amount of bare wire all lined up, one of
> those wires slips down a bit during the twist, so that if I were to
> cut off the bare twist so that that one wire will stick up well in the
> nut, the rest of the wires would be pretty short.


I have less of problem with this when I use the wing style wire connectors
such as those from Ideal or the Buchanan B-3's. They seem to be deeper than
the standard wirenut. You could wrap some electrical tape around the base of
the wire connector and cover up the copper.


Posted by SteveB on January 28, 2008, 12:19 pm

>
>> Ideally wires going into a wire nut will have only so much bare wire
>> so that that bare wire is entirely underneath the nut and you only see
>> insulated wire coming out the bottom. It seems like by design there's
>> maybe a 1/4" of insulation tucked up in the nut (measuring from the
>> nut's bottom edge).
>>
>> My question is what if one of the wires in the nut has its insulation
>> cut point at about level with the nut's bottom. So that if you look
>> straight on from the side you don't see any bare wire, but if you tilt
>> the nut so you can underneath it you can see the bare wire just above
>> the rim.
>>
>> I can't imagine this really matters, but thought i'd check first. I'm
>> finding this happening to me occasionally as I do a project. It's
>> when I've got 4 #12's to fit in a red wire nut. I twist them with my
>> klein's first (as directed by the inspector). Occasionally, although
>> the wires start with the same amount of bare wire all lined up, one of
>> those wires slips down a bit during the twist, so that if I were to
>> cut off the bare twist so that that one wire will stick up well in the
>> nut, the rest of the wires would be pretty short.

Remember that from the rules, a wire nut is a short protector and not a
connector. Twisting the wires first helps in all cases, but particularly in
the case of solid wire of around 14 or bigger, since the nut won't twist the
wire that much. I twist the wires with Kleins, then clip what is long and
looks like it will bottom out before the nut is on all the way.

Steve



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