Twist-on wire nuts don’t have our trust. Sure, there are enough of those low-cost twist-on connectors in the cabling in my walls, but it doesn’t mean that for future electrical improvements and wiring additions like new ceiling fans and light fixtures. We have to use conventional wire nuts and the wire nuts that frequently accompany those crafts seem especially flimsy.
We have a better choice with Wago lever nuts. We threw away my typical wire nut connectors with colour codes once we learned about these connectors. We’ll only use these nuts going forward.
Wago Lever Nuts: What Are They?
You open an orange lever with a Wago lever nut, insert a severed wire end, and then close the lever. You’re finished once you’ve done that for the two or three wires you’re linking, and the wires are joined when the lever is closed. Make sure that each wire is locked in by giving it a slight tug.
These lever nuts can be found for various wire gauges and in two (221-412), three (221-413), and five (221-415)-wire configurations. They work with both solid and stranded wire.
How we Tested Them
In our warehouse, we just installed a few surface-mounted electrical outlets, and the small outlet boxes made it challenging to utilise ordinary wire nuts for all the pigtailing we needed to accomplish.
In the warehouse we have boxes of Wago three-wire model 221 lever nuts. We required a way to incorporate pigtail connections, and in our warehouse we were installing seven additional boxes and connections.
Performance Evaluation
These are not simple push-connect fittings; each lever requires some effort to open, and they close with a distinct snap. The work is done by the lever closing, which you can feel.
As you enter the wires into the largely transparent plastic connector, you can see the wires. This aids in ensuring that you are fully putting them in. You can accurately remove the appropriate amount of insulation from each wire using the little gauge on the device’s side.
Three Wago 221s, one for the neutral, hot, and ground lines, fit easily into my little outlet boxes. To add an added layer of security, we colored-coordinated electrical tape over each lever nut so I could identify each one if we opened an outlet box. Although it is not required, it was simple and felt appropriate.
Conclusion
No problem or regret has ever existed for us. In our opinion, these connectors are reliable and a great replacement for standard wire nuts.
The lever control mechanism makes it incredibly simple to add or replace wiring whenever I need to open a junction box or light switch box.
We would advise you to look at our business’ website and conduct your own investigation. According to our experience, there isn’t much justification for the do-it-yourself homeowner to prefer conventional plastic wire nuts over this more modern method of joining electrical wires.