Old Master Electrician told me to stop using push-in connectors and he was dead right

I had this old guy, Mike, who has been doing electrical work since the 70s, tell me to toss out all my push-in connectors like the ones from Wago or the cheap stab-in ones. I thought he was just being stubborn because I liked how fast they were for roughing in houses around Phoenix. Last month I got a call about a ceiling fan that kept flickering in a new build, and sure enough one of the push-ins had backed off just enough to cause a loose neutral. I spent an hour tracking it down when a wire nut would have held solid from day one. He always said "trust the twist" and now I get why. Has anyone else had those connectors fail on them after a few months in a hot attic?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren30126d ago

Hear me out though, I think the real problem is those cheap stab-in connectors everyone buys at the big box store. I have used Wagos on a bunch of service calls in Phoenix attics that hit 140 degrees easy and never had one fail yet. The trick is you gotta get the lever style not the push-in ones, and make sure the wire is stripped clean and straight. A wire nut that's not twisted on right will fail just as fast, I have seen plenty of those come loose on ceiling fans too. Maybe Mike's advice was solid for the 70s but the good Wagos are a different animal now.

taylor_moore26d ago

Yeah, the lever Wagos are a different story. Buddy of mine used push-ins on a bathroom fan and came back two weeks later to find it melted halfway off.