BEST Electrical Wire Connector? Wago, Wire Nut, Ideal In-Sure, Lever Nut

Wondering which solid copper wire connector is best for residential or commercial use? Look no further than this video! High current and reliable testing for Wago, wire nut, Ideal In-Sure, and lever nut. You'll see AC voltage drop measurements across each twist, push-in, or lever type connector, as well as connector temperature measurements using a thermal imaging camera after a 15 minute high current load. Electrical connectors put to the test. Helpful money saving video. Enjoy the video!

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[electronicsNmore]

There are MANY viral videos on YouTube that have made claims about Wire Nuts, Wagos, and others. Sadly, very few(if any), have performed the tests shown in this video for the most popular residential conductor type, solid copper wire. Wondering how secure a solid copper or stranded wire is inside the lever and push-in nut types? Watch my other video below. Thank you!

[ProjectFarm]

Awesome testing! Looking forward to your next video!!

[rj.parker]

I use wagos for 120 vac control wiring where #14 or #12 is needed. As indicated they work well for three to five conductors and allow easy testing. For general purpose residential box splices they do save space in small boxes especially when pigtails would be required with wirenuts. I have never seen them fail. However their biggest issue is cost.

[SupremeRuleroftheWorld]

the movement in the wago's is intentional. its designed to allow the wires to move so they can absorb movement and dont work loose over time and operate in mobile/heavy equipement applications. dont forget, its copper and it work hardens. you want to absorb the motion, not pass it along. that is also the main problem with wire nuts: they loosen up over time. and nutting a bunch of wires messes up the wires. not to mention if you have to do repairs you have a serious and time consuming problem with redoing nutted connections as you are basically forced to cut off several inches. especially using nuts properly. lever style is much more forgiving and tolerant to abuse and stupidly faster in repairs and maintenance.

[MyWasteOfTime]

I like the clear ones so you can confirm your wires are all the way inserted. I used this for temp situations and then follow up with wire-nuts when finalizing my work.

[jerseyjim]

Interesting test. I've been biased against using wago type connectors for some time, believing old school was best. But seeing they've become more amd more mainstream without any known failures, I've finally started using them on a limited basis. What really pushed me over was seeing them already in stalled in some recessed lights I installed. I can also see their value in saving my wrist and elbow joints which are plagued with neuropathy issues. And of course, when there are 5 or more wires to connect. I hate using the big blue wire nuts.

[GigsVT]

Thank you for showing the proper way to install a wire nut. Most people don't know how hard you need to twist. You can always tell bad DIY electrical work when you take a wire nut off and the wires aren't twisted.

[jeffm]

For wirenuts its 'when you do it right' for sure. Problem is many can do it wrong. Pro's don't normally make any mistakes. Genuine WAGO connectors are hard to get wrong and have the circuit still work.

[Dr_S]

Thanks for posting this. I agree% assuming the wires are miraculously correctly installed in the wire nut! But I have not found that to be the case over my 30 plus years in the industry. I moved to Wago about 10 years ago and I’m not looking back!

[neplatnyudaj]

Assuming your measurements are correct, wago adds about 500 µΩ of resistance. It's the same as 4 inches of #12 wire. Not saying it's nothing, but given wide variety of wago connectors(up to 8 conductors) and the fact that you need less wire to work with, one could argue that box wired with wagos might produce less heat than one with wirenuts. Anyway keep in mind that most people who advocate for wagos are probably from 220/230V countries, where the contact resistance is even less of an issue.

[jameymatheny]

Good job. I use wire nuts for any power connections. For low voltage or low amps applications such as light fixtures, HVAC low volage and smoke alarms I use lever nuts (not Wago). The lever nuts do a good job of connecting dissimilar types, stranded or solid, differ gauges or some combination of solid and stranded of different gauges (typical in HVAC controls). When I get to a connection that really needs a fail-safe connection, such as a high vibration application, I use Buchanan Splice Caps. These splice caps crimp the wires very well and are also good for combinations of stranded and solid of different gauges. 40+ years ago I invested ($80) in a genuine Buchanan crimper which crimps the cap from four sides at once and that investment was money well spent. I see "electricians try to crimp splice caps with a standard wire crimping tool that is typically used for insulated and non-insulated wire terminals, but this should be avoided because it make a crappy crimp on the splice cap. The downside of a splice cap is that it is not removable or reusable.

[TMNT]

Thanks for the thorough tests, they are always appreciated and enjoyed! I figured the wire nuts would win out due to the direct surface contact of the wires, but it's also great to have detailed information on how each connector performs against another. Another excellent video!

[Adrianyoutubing]

They are from Europe, which is pretty much all 230 to 240V and an 18 amp circuit in Europe is very rare. most sockets in Europe are on 16A breakers, or in the UK we have a weird ring circuit with a loop on a 32A breaker. but they should be designed so that each leg of the loop circuit takes half the current, so again a max of 16A. the only circuits which would likely see anything over 10A would be in the kitchen, or an electronic shower/heater or possuble an EV charge circuit or other new green tech related system. but oven, cookers, showers, and heaters etc are wired on their own separate "special" circuits, with larger cabling (normally 6mm2 or 10mm2) and individual breakers, so you wouldn't be using these wagos on those. Wago do a larger model but the springs are stronger and all round much larger, so the results would be different.

Wagos come into their own when the wiring has to be removed often. I work in industrial control, and Wagos are a godsend for quickly connecting and disconnecting sensors and other control devices. these devices are very low current/voltage (24VDC 4-20mA).

Another reason these are popular in the UK anyway, is that these are certified as "maintenance free connections", meaning that they can be "buried" behind walls/under floors in hidden junction boxes. Other types of connecters (screw type) are not allowed to be hidden, and must be accessible. this is because the spring holding the wire can "breath" with the expansion and contraction from the heating and cooling in the conductor. where as other connectors (screw type) can come loose over time.

[washellwash]

To all those saying they're going to stick to wirenuts, all new construction in the Netherlands have been using inserts for solid wire and lever types for solid/stranded mix or stranded alone for 20+ years. It's fine. You have less faults, because when you're doing a hundred houses worth of wirenuts, enough will be wrong. We never use the 221 as shown here. Labour is more expensive than the small wattage lost in the connectors or their higher price. Also, due to the way we build our domestic installations, it's not uncommon to have to connect 6 to 8 wires, which is trivial with wago's connector that accepts 8 wires.

[Pyridox]

Thanks for the testing, good to know. I use the Wago connectors for low voltage, and for temporary and testing mostly.

[sirwaffleking]

This is a fantastic test. Thank you for creating this content. I think the angle of the infrared camera reading may give an advantage to the wire nuts. The "top-down" angle in those measurements reads the temperature on the exterior plastic of the wire nut. The "bottom-up" angle on the Wago products reads the temperature near the junction of the wire and the metal in the connector, which is where the heat is generated. I would love to see destructive testing that gives the mean time to failure for a sample of each of these units. Thanks for showing us this excellent comparison.

[LV_CRAZY]

I think if you open up some German or Swiss commercial equipment and check the wire connections, well, you're probably not going to be happy. The push on or locking lever style connections work and are reliable. Some things take some getting use to.

[robertarnold]

Very helpful. I use wire nuts when doing final work but have used lever nuts when making temporary connections. Was considering moving to only lever /wago option for everything but your demonstration convinced me otherwise.

Sort of surprise how hot those connections get under load. Never thought it be more than 100*

[mandefo]

Excellent test, especially for doing it under 18 amps, which allows a load evaluation between medium and high, which is not commonly seen in other tests. The temperature detail is definitive when considering which is safer for medium/extreme conditions. My conclusion for use in connections of 10 amps and up I would only recommend a screw terminal box or wire nut used professionally. just my opinion.

[seasidescott]

Wire nut problem is that many people don't tighten them enough. It's not about pre-twisting wires together, just need to tighten hard and feel for the bite into the wires, use pliers to give it a bit more bite without twisting so much you break the ends which happens more often with cheap copper.
Wagos are great for mixed sizes or braided meeting solid.