Seriously...does anyone inspect their own work when they build a house? Does anyone have pride in workmanship anymore? Fifteen years of age, this switch, but still, could you spend a few more seconds wrapping the copper around the screw terminal?

The short answer is no.

It worked long enough to close out the sale.

Agreed. I'm no electrician but that bugs me to no end. A few years ago, I replaced several switches during some remodeling. The original switches were fine, we just wanted them in colors that matched what we were doing. The electrician that did the original work used the "insta-grab" holes on the back instead of the screws. Regardless of what they claim, those holes won't let go. I had to cut nearly all of the wires, re-strip them and then attach them to the screws as they should have been done in the first place.

I have been able to get those instagrab holes to release, just takes a small flat jewelers screwdriver.

The tension hole connections aren't to code anymore, they were creating shorts on a regular basis. It's all screw connections these days.

Never trust a back stabbing electrician.

 
I have replaced all of the most used outlets in our new house (built in 2002), because of the back-stabbing issue. When they are used a lot, the little bit of flex over time seems to loosen up the back stab. That may not be the real cause, but I do know they fail over time. Only screw terminals for me.
 

I replaced these three switches with 20A Leviton preferrred. I know there might be 0.5A flowing but I want as much metal handling the heat as I can get.

There were no back stabbing holes in the 20A switch.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 4MUL8R,

it's simply a race to the bottom of the bid. brought on by the homeowner wanting a cheaper house.
I don't think any builder wants to have issues with their homes but when the guy down the street will build it cheaper he has compete or he is out of business. if it takes an electrician an extra few minutes per switch and plug it all adds up. I have lost bids by 200 dollars before. if it meets code that's all they are going to do.

The bottom one is coiled in the wrong direction. When the screw is tightened it will tend to squeeze or push the wire out away from the screw.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
The bottom one is coiled in the wrong direction. When the screw is tightened it will tend to squeeze or push the wire out away from the screw.

Look closer, it's a loop not a hook. There is no right direction for that.
Wire also looks like it might be #12AWG, which is not allowed to be stabbed anyways.

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For all you stab back haters, relax. Those inept jerk wads pay my mortgage. If there wasn't people out there doing bad electrical work, then I'd have nothing to repair. You guys don't want me to loose my job or house do you?

Those failed stab in connections account for almost 50% of our repair work. Keep the handymen, homeowners, illegals, and painters doing shoddy work, so Skins can feed himself. Ok?

After the great flood of 2016 , I was replacing all of the outlets and found that nearly every one was backstabbed .On most of them I was able to grab the outlet with one hand and the wire with the other and twist and pull the wire out .
I installed every new one the right way . Piece of mind ...

quote:

Leviton

I've seen a major decline in their quality of product. Switches failing with only modest use. Latest was a GFCI that was faulty out of the box. It took a 2nd one to replace the original that failed after about 20 years. Seems it will be a miracle for this one to last that long.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
The bottom one is coiled in the wrong direction. When the screw is tightened it will tend to squeeze or push the wire out away from the screw.

look again,that is a jumper to another switch.

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
The bottom one is coiled in the wrong direction. When the screw is tightened it will tend to squeeze or push the wire out away from the screw.

look again,that is a jumper to another switch.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Never trust a back stabbing electrician.

The current electrician has some shocking work.