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

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.

🤘⚡️EU Learning System⚡️🤘
-Video courses on every side of the electrical trade (theory, code, safety, wiring, install, troubleshooting, leadership, and more)
-Practice exams for 2017, 2020, 2023 code
-YouTube videos categorized and searchable
-Audio lessons
-Forum
-Business version has admin portal and ability to assign learning to technicians and monitor progress
-Any business size from 2 techs to 2,000!

🎓💡CONTINUING EDUCATION💡🎓
-State Approved
-Video Based

✍📝PRACTICE EXAMS📝✍
-2017, 2020, and 2023 NEC versions
-Online Residential Wireman Exam
-Online Journeyman Exam
-Online Master Exam
-300 Question Online Code Cannon (not license specific, all code)
-Take as many times as you want
-All of the above come with printable PDFs

🎤🎧PODCAST🎧🎤
Spotify:
Apple Podcast:

📱👍SOCIALS👍📱

🎧🎹Music, Editing, and Videography by Drake Descant and Rob LeBlanc🎹🎧

#electrician #electrical #electricity

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.

[FosterFarmsOk]

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

[PlayNowWorkLater]

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

[sigcrazy]

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.

[billk]

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.

[tomnielsen]

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

[andrewbargo]

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.

[BearStar]

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

[meckiecha]

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.

[christhomas]

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!

[ryanhoffman]

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.

[ConcernedCitizenPPCA]

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?

[mrnade]

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

[Postinos_Ploddings]

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.

[aristotle]

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.

[walterbordett]

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.

[timwintersoncntr]

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.

[codyols]

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.

[gregderise]

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!

[sharkey]

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

[Awegner]

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.