School me on connectors

[ajchien]

Ok, I admit I still know nothing about electrical ...

When is it better to use wire nuts vs. **** connectors?

I've always seen wire nuts in homes and **** connectors in cars/audio. But I'm not sure why. Is there any problem using a **** connector for house electrical and vise versa?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

You cannot use crimp connectors such as **** connectors in household wiring. They are not listed for such use.

Charles

 

[Alchymist]

Wire nuts in mobile applications have a tendency to vibrate loose. Ccrimp style connectors work better in mobile applications, especially when glue type heat shrink is applied over the splice. Wire nuts are the approved connector for ac wiring. There are **** splices, but they are restricted to large wire sizes, and are installed with a very expensive set of crimpers.

 

[greaseyjockey]

I always assumed it was because most ac home wiring is solid wire and wont squish into a **** splice while most dc mobile wiring is multistrand and will hold a crimp better.

 

[Alchymist]

I always assumed it was because most ac home wiring is solid wire and wont squish into a **** splice while most dc mobile wiring is multistrand and will hold a crimp better.

True to some extent; there are a number of solid & stranded connections in AC wiring - lights, fans, etc are stranded in most cases.

 

[Mmfh]

If you use a wire nut the wires are actually touching each other, twisted together. With a **** connector the wires are only touching the connector.

With high amp A/C stuff it would seem safer to have the wires twisted together.

 

[ddawg16]

I always assumed it was because most ac home wiring is solid wire and wont squish into a **** splice while most dc mobile wiring is multistrand and will hold a crimp better.

True to some extent; there are a number of solid & stranded connections in AC wiring - lights, fans, etc are stranded in most cases.

As noted, 'most' wiring in a house is solid...solid wire does not work well with crimp connectors. Additionally, you don't have a lot of vibration and movemement in a house. Wire nuts have proven to be a very good connection system.

In cars you have a lot of vibration and flexing....solid wire would not last long. If you look at wire for automotive use, you will notice that the insulation tends to be a bit thicker.

There is also a significant difference in how houses are wired vs cars. In a house, it's more of a power distribution scheme....in a car, it's point to point. There are not too many points in a car where you have the same wire going to multiple places. Additionally, you need a practicle method to connect/disconnect devices....hence, most wiring goes to plug in connectors where the wire is crimped to a pin.

 

[Alchymist]

As noted, 'most' wiring in a house is solid...solid wire does not work well with crimp connectors. Additionally, you don't have a lot of vibration and movemement in a house. Wire nuts have proven to be a very good connection system.

In cars you have a lot of vibration and flexing....solid wire would not last long. If you look at wire for automotive use, you will notice that the insulation tends to be a bit thicker.

There is also a significant difference in how houses are wired vs cars. In a house, it's more of a power distribution scheme....in a car, it's point to point. There are not too many points in a car where you have the same wire going to multiple places. Additionally, you need a practicle method to connect/disconnect devices....hence, most wiring goes to plug in connectors where the wire is crimped to a pin.

A lot of the distribution wire is stranded, especially above #8. Crimp style connectors like these are used, and require a crimper like the one shown.

 

[frankush]

These are becoming a lot more popular in residential wiring. I don't like them but some do.

http://www.idealindustries.com/prodDetail.do?prodId=in-sure&div=0&l1=push-in

 

[Oyvind Ryeng]

These are becoming a lot more popular in residential wiring. I don't like them but some do.

http://www.idealindustries.com/prodDetail.do?prodId=in-sure&div=0&l1=push-in

They're very popular here in Norway, but I'm only familiar with the ones made by WAGO, as I've used them in my course as an apprentice electrician. They are very compact, and the standard series 771 we install on our solid or coarse stranded 2.5 mm² (~13 AWG) wire is good for up to 24 amps, I believe. Wire nuts (Torix) used to be common in the olden days, but today we only use WAGO. These are the kinds we usually install:

Series 222 (for fine stranded wire):
http://www.wago.us/products/2631.htm

Series 771:
http://www.wago.us/products/2635.htm