Which Splicing Device is Best? Push Ins Vs. Wago Vs. Wirenuts

In this video I talk about the pros and cons of some of the most popular splicing devices used today. I also talk about some of the places I use them, along with where some of the pros in the field that I talked with, use them as well.

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Blessings,
Adam

How To Home assumes no liability for damage or injury. How To Home highly recommends using proper safety procedures and professionals when needed. Our content is for entertainment purposes only. No information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not How To Home. How To Home will not be held liable for any negligent or accidental damage or injury resulting from equipment, tools, electrical, fire, electronics or any items contained in this video. Attempt projects and repairs at your own risk.

[HowToHomeDIY]

Which splicing device are you using and why? I always appreciate the feedback as I am constantly learning new things no matter how big or small, and it can help the community here as well. Thanks a lot!

[jeffw]

WAGOs, WAGOs, WAGOs...there is nothing better. Do not use 'knock-off' brands. WAGOs save time, are highly flexible (24-12 gauge, stranded and solid wire), saves space, easy adjustments, and are very secure (add elec. tape on levers if you're concerned with them lifting off). I rarely use traditional wire nuts anymore.

[xepherys]

The Wago connectors are great. I started using them a couple of years ago and won't look back. I've also got in the habit of putting a Sharpie dot on the lever of LINE (as the others will be LOAD), and a mark on the LINE wire as well. This is especially useful in junction boxes where you may have multiple LOAD wires running out of the box. Takes a few seconds, but saves time down the road if you ever open the junction box back up.

[GastonGalibois]

Wirenuts have been around for a long time and proven very good. I tested some over 50 years old rigid wires connections with wirenuts and they were still excellent, pre twisted wires the better. On the other hand, almost every connection using wirenuts older than 10 years with the mix of rigid and stranded wires were completely loose probably due to metal fatigue I believe.
We can see this situation with thermostats, baseboards and convectors, those units are supplied with stranded wires and the house wires are rigid. So every time I see this situation, I re-strip the wires and change the wirenuts with Wago 221. These Wago 221 are also great for light fixtures since they are easy to disconnect and re-use without damaging the wires.

[nldigtp]

In Germany we exclusively use the WAGO push in connectors since at least 30 years without problems. I think WAGO were the first one on the marked with those. The wago lever connectors are very handy when connecting solid to stranded wire, for example when connecting a light fixture (there are also WAGO 224 connectors especially for this usecase which I highly recommend).
Also intersting: In Germany WAGO connector is a synonym for the push in types not the lever ones since they are uses for a long time.

[Lordjerm]

Been using wagos for about a year now, no issues. I do wrap them in electrical tape if there is not a lot of room, just to make sure they stay closed. All residential use. Worth every penny

[robertpeters]

As someone who got their electrical contractor license in 1970, over time you can get arthritis in your hands from constantly twisting wire nuts. The WAGOS are the answer and so much easier to work with. I’m old school, but now I won’t use anything but genuine WAGOS.

[benjaminwilliams]

Any Skilled electrician using the very very well-designed Wago connectors knows to wrap electrical tape around the Wago housing to prevent the securing latches from lifting during the wire-tucking phase.

[ChrisTexan]

Haven't gone through comments, but it seems like a simple "prevent lever flipping open" option would just be 2 wraps of electrical tape around the body/levers when done, prior to inserting into box (still keeping thumb on it also of course while pushing in as a safety factor), wrapping tight onto the wire insertion side, thus keeping the levers down and/or preventing anything sliding up under them in the first place.

[TrinitronX]

One correction: When you're talking about sticking a probe in the open terminal slot on that Ideal push-in connector: “You can actually stick a probe in there and test to see the ~~amperage~~”

You probably meant *Voltage* because amperage would require either an in-series measurement probe or multimeter in Ammeter mode, *OR* a non-contact coil type ammeter that wouldn’t require contacting the metal at all (e.g. Fluke Ammeters with the “crab claw” current sensing loop that clips around a current-carrying conductor.

[junkerzn]

I gotta say, once I started using WAGOs I couldn't go back to anything else. They are just too useful, easy, and reusable. Love the test holes, too. I've twisted my last wire-nut :-). I think the WAGOs are also superior to the push-in connectors... with the push-in connectors its often too easy to ride the contacts up onto the insulation without realizing it. And as you noted, with the WAGOs you can see everything that is going on and verify (before or after installation) that everything is good.

Sometimes I put one or two wraps of electricial tape around the WAGO, but most of the time I don't bother. And sometimes I put a few wraps of tape around the wires a few inches away from the WAGO to reduce strain or simply to keep the collection of wires together.

The wire-nuts work well but its harder and harder to find quality wire-nuts. In fact, I began looking at alternatives when a batch of wire nuts started to break on me just while I was twisting. I think that's my biggest issue with wire-nuts these days. The quality has gone to hell.

-Matt

[josephbrewer]

If you want to avoid having the Wago lever pop open when inserting it into a box you could place a wrap of electrician’s tape around the device to hold all levers in place.

[chuckwest-znip]

Great presentation. Only thing I would add is one of the reasons the wire nuts are so popular is they fit a wide variety of joints, including different wire gauges and a variable number of conductors. I think the red wire nut you showed us is the Ideal 452, which can connect a minimum of 2 18 AWG wires, and a max of 4 10 AWG connectors, according Ideal's web page. Also, I learned a trick from your presentation which is after pre-twisting the wires and prior to installing the wire nut, you cut the ends of the connectors flush so the nut grabs the connectors easier. Many a time I've had to try several times to start the wire nut because I didn't do this. Awesome video!

[aurvaroy]

WAGOs are awesome. I use them all the time in my ceiling fixtures. Makes wiring so much easier. That being said, I still use wire nuts for switches and outlets. It is trickier to join stranded with solid but if the stranded wire leads the solid, the stranded will stay inside the wire nut during a pull test.

[TimboStang]

20+ year electrician here and I have to definitely say wire nuts all the way with proper twist from linemans. The push in connectors are DEFINITELY the worst, I retro fitted literally tens of thousands of commercial fluorescent fixtures in my time and found so many issues from them (mainly cause of user instal) . Wagos are good but I still feel I don't get that super tight connection as with my nuts lol😅

[nsvn]

I recently bought some wago lever connections and I thought about buying some knock offs but decided saving a few bucks is not worth starting an electrical fire or short something out. They were great!

[infinityphotorob]

I love Wagos from my old industrial days. We used Wago Terminal blocks and they saved so much time for wiring control panels. The lever things are super cool. I discovered them doing a project on my van. Super easy for stranded wire. And multi size wire applications you will run into with RV stuff. I had a weird box that when I was jamming wires into I kept unlocking levers. So I did a wrap of electrical tape for safety and all is good in the world.

[amplitudeelec]

I am a licenesed electrical contractor and I use the Ideal push-in connectors whenever possible for residential work. Saves time and are safe to use. But I'm an electrician who relies on data, not anecdotes, tradition, and superstition like a lot of electricians.

[mikeking]

Looks like you could also put a turn of good electrical tape around the Wago to keep the levers from flipping. Wagos are also great when connecting stranded wire to solid core. I also like Wagos to extend leads in boxes that previous DIY'ers clipped the leads too short. That said I always keep a box or two or "wire nuts" around, too. I prefer the Scotch-Lok type.

[jameskennedy]

I’ve used wire nuts for years, that’s what I was taught to use, always use the tug test to make sure the wire nut has connected. The guy who taught me how to use wire nuts preferred the soft 3M ones verses the hard plastic ones. I was taught in the mid seventies