This past weekend I replaced two ancient bathroom ceiling lights that were sorely due for replacing. They were rectangular flush mount fluorescent circa-1951 things that were buzzy and harsh and just awful. Had a general contractor guy come in and frame in the holes and drywall them closed with a ceiling box.



I decided to replace the two old switches too, one for the vanity lights and one for the ceiling with modern rocker switches and a dimmer for the ceiling. Found that they cut the wires very short in the boxes for the switches which I have seen all over this house so far. They are so short I'm not even sure how they were even able to wire the old switches. Not like modern standards where they call for a certain amount of excess wire to be folded back into the box. Not sure why they would do that? These old electricians also didn't seem to like ground wires much. My house wiring is all an early generation of Romex and the boxes had the ground wires either cut off short and just sitting back there or they wrapped it around one of the rear box screws but that was it.

I used Wagos to wire new pigtails for the switches and also for the ceiling lights which did have plenty of length to work with but it was really nice to be able to work up on a ladder with those and not trying to hold a light fixture with one hand while also twisting a wire nut.

It's my understanding they have been in use in Europe for years where wire nuts are not permitted. Everything there has to be a terminal block type connection or a Wago type connection. No twisting wires and wire nutting.

Please note: these are NOT the stab-in type connectors that look similar. I would never trust those.

Anyone else here use them?

Never seen them before but then again I don't do much electrical work in the house.

Thanks for sharing though.

I've never used them but everyone raves about them. Could folks recommend a starter pack to buy off homedepot.com or amazon?

I'll have to check them out. Are they spendy? I hate wire nuts I either put black tape around the wire nut after making the splice or sometimes I will actually solder the connection and then the wire nut. The wire nut bites into the solder much better than just bare wires.

I'm drawing up the electrical for a ice fish house build this summer. Lots of 12V splicing and home runs from lights and USB chargers and some 12V fans. Also some 110V wiring. I'm going to look these up.

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
I've never used them but everyone raves about them. Could folks recommend a starter pack to buy off homedepot.com or amazon?

I bought packs on Amazon, the 2 and 3 slot type, like bags of 25 or 50 IIRC. They aren't cheap compared to a wire nut but they are worth it to me.

I also use these. Good for a variety of AWG and I dont find them to be expensive when you buy in bulk.

You can get them at ACE, Home Depot, Lowes and wherever quality hardware items are sold...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
You can get them at ACE, Home Depot, Lowes and wherever quality hardware items are sold...

My HD does not have them...

Only the stab-in type that look similar but are NOT Wagos.

These lock tight with a lever.

I love them. Great for limited space in j-boxes.

Someone put 130 amps through one of these and while the outer plastic shell melted off, the physical connection never failed:

quote:

I love them. Great for limited space in j-boxes.

This. In a rental house had a bathroom with multiple switches, outlets going to a J-box; no extra wire. Wagos saved the day.

They started in Minden Germany if I remember correctly. I used to use them over there all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
You can get them at ACE, Home Depot, Lowes and wherever quality hardware items are sold...

My HD does not have them...

Only the stab-in type that look similar but are NOT Wagos.

These lock tight with a lever.

Huh, they have them at my Home Depot

Link

Amazon has the push in type and the lever lock type. Prices are not that bad.

I'm a big fan.

As for "spendy", far from it, though that's a bit relative...

They're only a few cents apiece, compared to a few cents for a whole pack of wire nuts.

So relative to wire nuts they're more expensive, though still not "expensive" at all.

And if you were a commercial electrician doing the complete wiring for multiple entire buildings, the cost savings of using thousands of nuts instead of thousands of Wagos might be noticeable.

But for a homeowner or even a handyman, the ease of use more than makes up for the extra few cents apiece.

Big fan of Wago's. Very clean, positive connections, zero issues. I'm sure there's plenty of electricians that swear by using wire nuts-only but, after day of stripping & twisting, your wrists & hands have got to be screaming.

I'm in the minority, they're easier, but I don't really care for them. I just finished a kitchen remodel and I used them in a few places. I just had a problem with them connecting 4 neutrals in a 5 way Wago. I was changing a single pole light switch to an electronic timer for an exhaust fan I have. One of the 4 wires kept falling out of the Wago when I was stuffing everything back into the box behind the timer. It was crowded in the box with many wires.

I've never had that happen with a wire nut. I will say I twist the wires together with lineman's pliers before screwing on the wire nut. I've had the connection come loose if I didn't twist them first. I'm amazed at the number of people I see on youtube stuff the wires under the nut and twist the nut on. No bueno.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:

One of the 4 wires kept falling out of the Wago when I was stuffing everything back into the box behind the timer. It was crowded in the box with many wires.

I had this happen twice with Wagos, it's that as you are stuffing it all back in, something caught the lever and popped it back open. That's the one flaw I've seen, they should have the levers lock down and then have another lock across them or something. I've seen people on YouTube videos using small zip ties across the levers when they are done connecting wires using them.

Well as an aircraft electrician who has never liked wire nuts, I like these but might, for my confidence level, add a wrap of electrical tape to ensure the lever(s) do not magically pop open (akin to my concern with wire nuts).

I'll be getting some of these. Wire nuts can be a pain in the ass and as said, take up a lot of space.