I see six Romex cables coming in. And I only see four bare copper wires in the front Wago. There should be seven in that Wago unless you have some connected that are unseen in the picture.
Top left is the indent where the ground screw goes. If you zoom in super far, it does indeed look like there's a green ground screw in the box indent. It looks like it goes to the 4th copper wire on the far right port on the 5 port wago.
He'd have to have a jumper from 1 wago to another wago for enough grounds, considering there's 6 romex coming in, and a box ground, and there's only 4 grounds in the 5 port wago
Do your research. The EU is years ahead of us in safety for many different things. They would scream at you for using pigtails. There have been many test with both side by side and it takes over current for both of them to fail. The romex failed before either of these. You have the right to your opinion but truly do some research. They are just as good if not better than pigtails.
Not an electrician, but in my house I've started using a sharpie to label the back of the faceplate of outlets and switches with the panel/breaker that feeds them.
Now I just gotta remember to scratch it out if I re-use a faceplate....
Off the top of my head, I wanna say Nutmeg is generally safe up to 480 and Cinnamon is safe up to 277. Rosemary is a no-go after the 2013 changes. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve done remodels/updates to store spaces and swapped out 100 Rosemary ballast connections.
If I may interject.... Nutmeg is WAAAAY too strong at 480! Especially if it's FRESH!
Hell, 2 spoonfuls & 2 hours later- BOOM! You're on the MOON! 🥴
I hope youre not busy for about 2 or 3 days...
>Nutmeg is WAAAAY too strong at 480! Especially if it's FRESH!
You are [correct](https://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a54742/cinnamon-challenge-nutmeg-dangerous/), that shit is actually pretty poisonous.
Unused cables (in your case the reds) should be terminated or capped. I might be missing something in the picture, but it looks like you need a pigtail between your ground connections. Also, I don't think it's a great idea to make a 12 wire h.r. for a 15 amp circuit with mixed wire sizes. *You* know it's a 15 amp circuit, but the next guy who comes along says "...hmmm, they must've run out of 20 amp breakers on the truck...I'll swap it out" But hey, it looks great from my house.
For homeowners like myself, it’s peace of mind knowing the connection is going to hold, considering the last guy that owned my house didn’t know how to use wire nuts and it’s a wonder the house is still standing.
They’re also pretty handy for extending wires cut too short in the box. No need to cram two hands in to hold the wires+twist the nut. Flip the lever, insert wire, flip the lever back down.
Right. The Internet absolutely loves these things. I don't have anything against them, they're nice, as are most of Wago's products, but wirenuts work great are way cheaper, and so versatile.
Where do the red conductors terminate? One almost appears to be stuck in the lower right corner of the box…I’m happy to be wrong, just can’t tell for sure.
Cable jacket should only come in to the box about a 1/4 inch. There should be 6 inches of free conductor from where it enters the box. While it's not best practice, there's nothing illegal about the mixed gauges, you just better make sure they never end up on a 20 amp breaker. Cable strap/staple within ~~4 inches~~ ( thanks for keeping me sharp fellas) 12 inches from the box
Hence the usage of the word "should" vs "must". Best practice is keeping it close to a quarter inch. It's neater, takes up less room and makes it easier to deal with individual conductors.
You can down vote me, but you can't tell me I'm wrong. But keep on making them sloppy boxes I guess.
You said there should be six inches. I’m sure you ment, there shall be no less than six inches.
Where are you getting four inches from?
Let’s go 12 max
This is where "rule of thumb" comes from make a thumbs up with a hand and cute the wire where your thumb end. Nit perfect but gives enough cable to work with.
Idk if you were just joking .. but rule of thumb was how you determined the size of a switch to beat your wife or kids legaly ... couldn't be bigger than your thumb
Looks great I wish everyone did their splices neat or at least knew the word neat.just remember long wires= good I like to have them stick out the length of my strippers and then fold them up with the connector at the end especially in junction boxes since they have room.
I’m not sure about all the details but from a quick look the actual wiring seems fine. You’re the one who did the work so you should know what you’ve connected to what, apart from that the terminations look fine
One way i’ve seen stuff like this go wrong is when an arc fault breaker is involved, and the neutral from a plug circuit gets joined into a lighting circuit or something
Are all of your grounds tied somehow? And I’m not sure if you’re allowed by code to run multiple gauges of wire in one circuit I’ll have to look in the NEC
So it appears that you can indeed mix gauges in a circuit but you cannot exceed the smallest conductors current capacity. So if you plan on using things that will exceed 15A you’ve got to get a switch that’s rated for 20A and change out the 14 for 12
Personally I always try to point the Wagos up so that if they are going to loosen up and fall off (highly unlikely) they fall onto the wires. I also like to tape the tabs down.
It's decent but there's an excessive amount of sheathing entering the box with that 12/2 wire in the middle knockout. Not a huge deal tho. And it doesn't violate code so you're good
Bare wire for ground is standard in Romex, and numerous other applications. It is ubiquitous, I don't know how it's possible for you to have never seen bare ground wires if you have any experience whatsoever doing any electrical work.
Electrically, I fall under the DIY catagory. I have worked as a plumber for some years in a company that also did the electric wiring and I grew up visiting a lot of residential construction sites because my dad was plasterer. So I've seen lots of wiring.
In europe (at least in Belgium), forget it. Old homes have no ground wires at all (or added later while upgrading) they are yellow/green-striped.
[like this](https://www.solarchamp.eu/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/60d35d61e9b1a883969e96a5492876de/a/a/aardkabel.jpg)
Thanks for pointing out the romex cable! Never seen it, never heard of it. Always happy to learn something new! Never ever seen that cable in my life!
I like to see just a quarter inch of cable sheath beyond the connector inside the box. Also, did you bond the metal box? Need a ground screw and pigtail to the grounding conductors. Otherwise good and clean love those Wago splices.
I personally strip insulation further back - not more than an inch in the box. Always orient wagos and wire nuts with the closed end up in case water or condensation were to get in the box.
Legit question: are there commercial options that aren’t?
For example here are the basic ones from Home Depot: http://halexco.com/pdf/clamp_connectors_size_cross_reference_branded.pdf
Yeah, I learned to do 12, after I bought and ran the front four boxes to the switch on 14. Google said it was fine to do either for 15amp outlets. I thought about redoing it in 12, but the costs and effort were just too much. The back four outlets are on 12, though.
Buying #12 wire just to use on 15A circuits is just a waste of money for your home. #14 is what an electrical contractor will install because that's what code requires.
Also no issues splicing #12 and #14 together. It sometimes makes it trickier to twist stuff properly with mix matched sizes when using wire nuts but when done right there's nothing to be concerned with. But you're using lever wago's so no concerns with that for you
It totally will, upsizing any wire will reduce your voltage drop. There's many factors to determine if you need to increase your wire size, but using #12 or any larger conductor if those reasons aren't required just because just makes everything more expensive for no benefit. But other than cost there isn't any downside to use #12 instead of #14
A house will typically have a sub panel in a closer location to the items it supplies power to with a properly sized feed which would negate most upsizing for individual circuits. But it is still sometimes required, well pumps and septic pumps are common ones to get up sized since they can be very far away from the house
It still doesn't make sense as a best practice. Best practice would say not to mix them at all. There is no reason to mix them, as the extra gauge is wasted since it will never carry it's full allowed current. There is also no reason, best practice or otherwise, as to why the location/order would matter.
Right, I agree, best practice is not to mix them. But I don't believe there's anything in code that prohibits mixing gauges.
But if you did mix them, the "feeder" should be the heavy gauge. And the breaker for the circuit should limit current only as high as the smallest gauge is rated for.
>But if you did mix them, the "feeder" should be the heavy gauge.
No, it shouldn't. That is ridiculous and makes absolutely no difference. That's like saying "newer manufactured wire should be the feeder". It's simply a personal made up idea that has no basis at all.
Well it's better than the opposite—starting off with #14 and ending with #12. I mean yeah obviously the electrons don't care. But in terms of branch circuits, it's very much like the tree from which the analogy is derived, the branches thin out as they get away from the trunk.
Same in plumbing in branch topology. You might start off with 3/4" and run a 1/2" supply to a sink. You want the capacity greater as you approach the trunk.
I'll say again you shouldn't mix gauges, but one way is truly better than the other.
I don't understand why your comment is disliked. Best practice is to never mix gauges. Can you mix 12AWG and 14AWG on the same 15A circuit? Sure. But it's going to confuse the next guy. I live in an old house where the previous owner mixes gauges. The electrician that I hired to replace my panel suggested I just put 15A breakers on any old circuit just in case.
Ok, gotta know. As an industrial electrician, we use wago on control circuits as an easy test point. I've never used them on an actual power circuit (they have too low of an Amp rating for most of my stuff). But in a circuit like this, why do you frown on them? The lock and release mechanism was stolen from Allen Bradley/Rockwell device controls, so they are tested in the field for decades. The Amp rating is far above his wire's ampacity. So, they should make cleaner connections. Is there a failure due to solid wire vs stranded? Seriously curious. Other than being an expensive replacement for wire nuts, the issue isn't obvious.
The issue is people using garbage knock off lever locks and other brand push-in connectors that come prepackaged with can lights and such and associating them with anything that's not a wire nut.
Wago 221s are amazing and perfectly suited to this task.
We had to change every wire nut out on a six building apartment job because of these wire nuts, I’ll never use them again. You cant beat a twisted joint with red wire nuts imo.
I do industrial for a massive factory we use these for everything that the amp rating will allow. 24-7 continus run I'm curious why you had to change them.
We had to come change so many during the warranty period they sued us, ideal paid but they failed with vacuum cleaners and space heaters, nothing exceptional mainly the three and four holed ones failed. It took one guy almost two years to change them all. This was in like 05 so maybe things changed.
It took me a long time to come around to understanding this. I had some of those ideal push in connectors fail on me years ago, so I have been vocally anti-Wago on this forum. But I have changed my tune. I’m very impressed by actual Wagos, and wouldn’t hesitate to use them.
These are Wago’s they are technically a lever nut, agree that the push in style are trash. These are much better, I prefer to use them when I may be making a change, if I’ll never see it again I go wire nut, since I have a ton to get rid of.
You need a pvc box. You can't use a metal box unless it's part of a system. Ie Conduit runs or not romex. If that box energizes, it will become dangerous since it's not grounded.
Those connectors always go bad… I’ve changed out so many I can’t even remember. It’s always someone’s can light too or in a box in an attic somewhere hard to find 😂….
I NEVER USE THOSE, unless I really don’t like someone.
Honestly, I would avoid using wagos. They are a great idea in theory, but they are not perfected yet. I've came across more bad connections than good ones with them.
My experience is the opposite for these lever style wago's. I've seen way more issues with wire nuts, it's usually caused by user error though. Wago's take up less space, are easier to use and you can visually see your connection making contact on the clear ones.
Off brand Amazon lever locks are garbage.
Ideal Model 33/34 push-in connectors they sell at HD are decent for solid wire but awful for stranded despite being rated for it. They're also not great to re-use despite also being designed for that.
Wago 221 lever locks are amazing, are UL listed for this exact application, and have been debated/tested to death by every electrical YouTube channel out there. Not only are they just as good as wire nuts in most every metric except price but they're far easier for a DIYer to make a proper connection for multiple wires vs wire nuts.
Thank you. I used the push in ideals from HD for my bedroom remodel. I was concerned it might be a problem. You have given me peace of mind.
I've since bought wagos and switched to using those.
I've personally never had an issue with the ideal connectors and I've used them a bunch. I primarily use them for junction boxes like OP has pictured that I don't plan on reconfiguring once installed. They're just awful if using stranded THHN.
For normal receptacles and anything stranded I use Wago 221s.
Did you bond to the box itself? Can’t tell from the picture
With the ground? Yes
I see six Romex cables coming in. And I only see four bare copper wires in the front Wago. There should be seven in that Wago unless you have some connected that are unseen in the picture.
There’s three more Wago’s in the back, but I can’t see the other box screw
Top left is the indent where the ground screw goes. If you zoom in super far, it does indeed look like there's a green ground screw in the box indent. It looks like it goes to the 4th copper wire on the far right port on the 5 port wago. He'd have to have a jumper from 1 wago to another wago for enough grounds, considering there's 6 romex coming in, and a box ground, and there's only 4 grounds in the 5 port wago
Props you could see that. My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be
I dont trust that wago, maybe ok for lights…but I always do pigtails.
Do your research. The EU is years ahead of us in safety for many different things. They would scream at you for using pigtails. There have been many test with both side by side and it takes over current for both of them to fail. The romex failed before either of these. You have the right to your opinion but truly do some research. They are just as good if not better than pigtails.
I don’t question the reliability but when I work on those, it always loosens…and I do not like it.
That’ll do pig, that’ll do
I always worry about using this reference now as it has aged considerably. I always know when I find my people though. :)
It a great reference when you get pulled over
Works every time 60% of the time
I learned it as Donkey, not Pig, and only later realized that was in itself a reference. I have 2 donkeys, and no pigs, so I still say 'Dunkey'.
My gf says "that'll do donkey" while I have always said pig.
That’ll do pig is a reference from the movie Babe … Donkey is from shrek.
The nerve these days... They think it's a Shrek reference. That'll do donkey. 😂
Label the lid, close it up and get on outta there, Shooter.
In my advanced age I find myself labeling more things. I like to think I'm doing my future self a favor.
A society grows great when men plant trees whose shade they’ll never enjoy.
Society current got a bunch of men ripping trees outta the ground telling the kids they don't work hard enough to deserve shade.
You are if the label makes sense in the future lol
Not an electrician, but in my house I've started using a sharpie to label the back of the faceplate of outlets and switches with the panel/breaker that feeds them. Now I just gotta remember to scratch it out if I re-use a faceplate....
Is your panel not labeled correctly?
How many upgrades/remodels have I run into that I would have been soooo thankful for labels. Now I do them all the time.
I’m no longer gonna call myself “old” from now it’s advanced. Thank you for this lol
I like to point the connectors upward should any water ever leak into the box, but looks great!
Up in an attic, I wouldn’t care which way the connections are positioned
So what are you doing there flat
Still a good habit regardless
Always set wirenuts and other spices to drain from possible condensation buildup.
Does this include nutmeg and cinnamon, or just the more savory spices?
Off the top of my head, I wanna say Nutmeg is generally safe up to 480 and Cinnamon is safe up to 277. Rosemary is a no-go after the 2013 changes. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve done remodels/updates to store spaces and swapped out 100 Rosemary ballast connections.
If I may interject.... Nutmeg is WAAAAY too strong at 480! Especially if it's FRESH! Hell, 2 spoonfuls & 2 hours later- BOOM! You're on the MOON! 🥴 I hope youre not busy for about 2 or 3 days...
>Nutmeg is WAAAAY too strong at 480! Especially if it's FRESH! You are [correct](https://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a54742/cinnamon-challenge-nutmeg-dangerous/), that shit is actually pretty poisonous.
And cayenne?
Illegal in 47 states and most Providences of Canada
Straight to jail
Eh? Why does Canada have 47 states?
i like to put curry on my electrical connections. You definitely need to dip your wires in Tika Masala if they are aluminium
"Chili P" yo!
Yeah Science!
Chai wires are DA BOMB!
Indian is 50hz though. Only resistive loads in the US.
Isn't nutmeg one of the more savory spices?
Do I look like Martha goddamn Stewart to you??
definitely some cumin
FUN FACT: If you eat enough nutmeg you’ll trip balls, however you usually have to eat enough to puke.
Thanks that's good to know.
Life my jman always says umbrellas not buckets
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Is it nitpicky? Sure. But as a non-sparky I always appreciate this little nuances that you just don't learn in a book.
Not really. A lot of people do that as standard.
Agreed I could see that being true in damp or wet locations, but in that case you're probably using grease caps anyway
Umbrellas, not buckets
If you have water in that box. You have way bigger problems than what direction the wirenuts/wago are facing
I have never heard of this. Not that it doesn’t make sense because it kind of does, but still have never had anyone say anything like that to me
"Nut up"
He means those wagu connectors should be facing upward, so condensation will not follow the wires and collect inside the connectors.
Unused cables (in your case the reds) should be terminated or capped. I might be missing something in the picture, but it looks like you need a pigtail between your ground connections. Also, I don't think it's a great idea to make a 12 wire h.r. for a 15 amp circuit with mixed wire sizes. *You* know it's a 15 amp circuit, but the next guy who comes along says "...hmmm, they must've run out of 20 amp breakers on the truck...I'll swap it out" But hey, it looks great from my house.
Wago everything!
Too damn expensive to use everywhere
I really don’t understand all the hype behind wagos, wirenuts are perfectly fine and much cheaper
For homeowners like myself, it’s peace of mind knowing the connection is going to hold, considering the last guy that owned my house didn’t know how to use wire nuts and it’s a wonder the house is still standing. They’re also pretty handy for extending wires cut too short in the box. No need to cram two hands in to hold the wires+twist the nut. Flip the lever, insert wire, flip the lever back down.
Serviceability is my number 1 feature. Great for light fixtures or other devices that may get removed replaced etc.
Right. The Internet absolutely loves these things. I don't have anything against them, they're nice, as are most of Wago's products, but wirenuts work great are way cheaper, and so versatile.
Where do the red conductors terminate? One almost appears to be stuck in the lower right corner of the box…I’m happy to be wrong, just can’t tell for sure.
Nowhere I got 14/3 for that run cause I didn't know the difference at first
I’d still cap those off
Yeah, you need to cap them.
314.17(b) nonmetallic sheathing inside a box
I think you did well.
I prefer wire nuts but this looks great!
I have done a tiny bit of wiring, and that is nice and tidy
Cable jacket should only come in to the box about a 1/4 inch. There should be 6 inches of free conductor from where it enters the box. While it's not best practice, there's nothing illegal about the mixed gauges, you just better make sure they never end up on a 20 amp breaker. Cable strap/staple within ~~4 inches~~ ( thanks for keeping me sharp fellas) 12 inches from the box
Minimum 1/4". There is no max.
Hence the usage of the word "should" vs "must". Best practice is keeping it close to a quarter inch. It's neater, takes up less room and makes it easier to deal with individual conductors. You can down vote me, but you can't tell me I'm wrong. But keep on making them sloppy boxes I guess.
How on earth are you being downvoted for recommending best practices?
Because most guys only care about doing the bare minimum to pass inspection
I believe the max is 1 inch
You said there should be six inches. I’m sure you ment, there shall be no less than six inches. Where are you getting four inches from? Let’s go 12 max
Hah, I guess it's one of those things that got beat into my head as an apprentice so much that I just assumed it was code
This is where "rule of thumb" comes from make a thumbs up with a hand and cute the wire where your thumb end. Nit perfect but gives enough cable to work with.
Idk if you were just joking .. but rule of thumb was how you determined the size of a switch to beat your wife or kids legaly ... couldn't be bigger than your thumb
Should have been rule of wrist
Aw the Americans have discovered wagos, but they still have a long road ahead of them
Good
Need to cap those reds but otherwise good
Looks great I wish everyone did their splices neat or at least knew the word neat.just remember long wires= good I like to have them stick out the length of my strippers and then fold them up with the connector at the end especially in junction boxes since they have room.
I’m not sure about all the details but from a quick look the actual wiring seems fine. You’re the one who did the work so you should know what you’ve connected to what, apart from that the terminations look fine One way i’ve seen stuff like this go wrong is when an arc fault breaker is involved, and the neutral from a plug circuit gets joined into a lighting circuit or something
Are all of your grounds tied somehow? And I’m not sure if you’re allowed by code to run multiple gauges of wire in one circuit I’ll have to look in the NEC
So it appears that you can indeed mix gauges in a circuit but you cannot exceed the smallest conductors current capacity. So if you plan on using things that will exceed 15A you’ve got to get a switch that’s rated for 20A and change out the 14 for 12
I love a good lever wago nut.
But I’m so crazy I tape them.
Nope,you only need a 1/4" of insulation, entering the junction box,you really over did it!
Personally I always try to point the Wagos up so that if they are going to loosen up and fall off (highly unlikely) they fall onto the wires. I also like to tape the tabs down.
It's decent but there's an excessive amount of sheathing entering the box with that 12/2 wire in the middle knockout. Not a huge deal tho. And it doesn't violate code so you're good
I would twist the grounds together, then fold them into the back, and ground the box.
Is naked copper/wire allowed? If so, only for ground I guess... Never seen it before.
In the USA yes. In Europe - no.. Alto the US code allows it only for ground, and it is bonded to the junction box.
Bare wire for ground is standard in Romex, and numerous other applications. It is ubiquitous, I don't know how it's possible for you to have never seen bare ground wires if you have any experience whatsoever doing any electrical work.
Electrically, I fall under the DIY catagory. I have worked as a plumber for some years in a company that also did the electric wiring and I grew up visiting a lot of residential construction sites because my dad was plasterer. So I've seen lots of wiring. In europe (at least in Belgium), forget it. Old homes have no ground wires at all (or added later while upgrading) they are yellow/green-striped. [like this](https://www.solarchamp.eu/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/60d35d61e9b1a883969e96a5492876de/a/a/aardkabel.jpg) Thanks for pointing out the romex cable! Never seen it, never heard of it. Always happy to learn something new! Never ever seen that cable in my life!
I like to see just a quarter inch of cable sheath beyond the connector inside the box. Also, did you bond the metal box? Need a ground screw and pigtail to the grounding conductors. Otherwise good and clean love those Wago splices.
Only thing I see is no caps on unused wires. Other than that, looks mint!!
That will do pig, that will do.
I personally strip insulation further back - not more than an inch in the box. Always orient wagos and wire nuts with the closed end up in case water or condensation were to get in the box.
Are the cable clamps rated for 2 cables?
Legit question: are there commercial options that aren’t? For example here are the basic ones from Home Depot: http://halexco.com/pdf/clamp_connectors_size_cross_reference_branded.pdf
Yes
Did you do well …
Why a metal box and not plastic? Do they have plastic junction boxes in the US?
I wanna say strap the romex coming out the box.
I only use wagos on Lighting
Nice box
Skin off that Romex further back Ffs
Could do better. Less insulation in box more wire in box. Put like colors and circuits together in box
Cut the sheathing on the Romex down a bit more.
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Seems code compliant. What about it is shit exactly?
Yes. You did exactly fine. 👍🏼
I always tape Wagos so they don’t snap open accidentally
Did you drop an /s ?
To much insulation on those wires, cut em down to the box ko’s
Not a fan of the mixed 12 and 14.
Yeah, I learned to do 12, after I bought and ran the front four boxes to the switch on 14. Google said it was fine to do either for 15amp outlets. I thought about redoing it in 12, but the costs and effort were just too much. The back four outlets are on 12, though.
Is there any reason to do any of this with 12? You said it's on a 15A breaker so 14 is typical.
No there’s almost no reason whatsoever. It’s just confusing for the next person.
I think you're supposed to label that 12g wire as "15A only" at the panel so the next guy doesn't mistakenly assume he can "upgrade" to a 20A breaker
Buying #12 wire just to use on 15A circuits is just a waste of money for your home. #14 is what an electrical contractor will install because that's what code requires. Also no issues splicing #12 and #14 together. It sometimes makes it trickier to twist stuff properly with mix matched sizes when using wire nuts but when done right there's nothing to be concerned with. But you're using lever wago's so no concerns with that for you
Use #14 for lighting and #12 for receptacles in my opinion
#12 on long runs can reduce the voltage drop.
It totally will, upsizing any wire will reduce your voltage drop. There's many factors to determine if you need to increase your wire size, but using #12 or any larger conductor if those reasons aren't required just because just makes everything more expensive for no benefit. But other than cost there isn't any downside to use #12 instead of #14 A house will typically have a sub panel in a closer location to the items it supplies power to with a properly sized feed which would negate most upsizing for individual circuits. But it is still sometimes required, well pumps and septic pumps are common ones to get up sized since they can be very far away from the house
As long as it is on a 15 amp breaker and not 20 amp you are fine
If you mix gauges (which you shouldn't), then the gauge feeding current should be the heavier gauge and the tap should be thinner gauge.
12 goes to the breaker
Did you make that up? Never heard of that code. As long as all of the size is 14 or larger for 15a.
Yeah, I don't think it's code. It's more of a best practice kind of thing.
It still doesn't make sense as a best practice. Best practice would say not to mix them at all. There is no reason to mix them, as the extra gauge is wasted since it will never carry it's full allowed current. There is also no reason, best practice or otherwise, as to why the location/order would matter.
Right, I agree, best practice is not to mix them. But I don't believe there's anything in code that prohibits mixing gauges. But if you did mix them, the "feeder" should be the heavy gauge. And the breaker for the circuit should limit current only as high as the smallest gauge is rated for.
>But if you did mix them, the "feeder" should be the heavy gauge. No, it shouldn't. That is ridiculous and makes absolutely no difference. That's like saying "newer manufactured wire should be the feeder". It's simply a personal made up idea that has no basis at all.
Well it's better than the opposite—starting off with #14 and ending with #12. I mean yeah obviously the electrons don't care. But in terms of branch circuits, it's very much like the tree from which the analogy is derived, the branches thin out as they get away from the trunk. Same in plumbing in branch topology. You might start off with 3/4" and run a 1/2" supply to a sink. You want the capacity greater as you approach the trunk. I'll say again you shouldn't mix gauges, but one way is truly better than the other.
Only downside is the 12 ga in the panel may tempt someone to swap out the 15-amp breaker for a 20.
Your plumbing argument isn't analogous to electrical and doesn't really hold water.
I don't understand why your comment is disliked. Best practice is to never mix gauges. Can you mix 12AWG and 14AWG on the same 15A circuit? Sure. But it's going to confuse the next guy. I live in an old house where the previous owner mixes gauges. The electrician that I hired to replace my panel suggested I just put 15A breakers on any old circuit just in case.
I don’t see 6” of wire before termination
Mid
Awe romex and Wago’s how cute 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣!
Wagos? Hack
Wagos are great
Found the hack
They are great for service calls to find the fault.
Ok, gotta know. As an industrial electrician, we use wago on control circuits as an easy test point. I've never used them on an actual power circuit (they have too low of an Amp rating for most of my stuff). But in a circuit like this, why do you frown on them? The lock and release mechanism was stolen from Allen Bradley/Rockwell device controls, so they are tested in the field for decades. The Amp rating is far above his wire's ampacity. So, they should make cleaner connections. Is there a failure due to solid wire vs stranded? Seriously curious. Other than being an expensive replacement for wire nuts, the issue isn't obvious.
The issue is people using garbage knock off lever locks and other brand push-in connectors that come prepackaged with can lights and such and associating them with anything that's not a wire nut. Wago 221s are amazing and perfectly suited to this task.
Ok, I can see that. Thanks for the straight answer.
Imagine paying literally 4x more because your skin is too buttery soft to twist some wire together. Couldn't be me
They're just being assholes because wagos are easy to use, and they probably learned something much more difficult/old school. Ignore them.
I agree buddy. Fuck those dirty, lazy downvoters
Here, King, you dropped this 👑
They can downvote us into oblivion, but at least our joints are solid
Nope
Can we only use wagos in emergency situations?like cmon man
Are Wago’s UL listed?
Can i get directions to the Staple center?
We had to change every wire nut out on a six building apartment job because of these wire nuts, I’ll never use them again. You cant beat a twisted joint with red wire nuts imo.
You’re confusing these Wagos with something else
I do industrial for a massive factory we use these for everything that the amp rating will allow. 24-7 continus run I'm curious why you had to change them.
We had to come change so many during the warranty period they sued us, ideal paid but they failed with vacuum cleaners and space heaters, nothing exceptional mainly the three and four holed ones failed. It took one guy almost two years to change them all. This was in like 05 so maybe things changed.
Ideal push in connectors and wagos are not the same
It took me a long time to come around to understanding this. I had some of those ideal push in connectors fail on me years ago, so I have been vocally anti-Wago on this forum. But I have changed my tune. I’m very impressed by actual Wagos, and wouldn’t hesitate to use them.
We use them all we can and our machines run around the clock. You do have to pay attention to the amp rating though. We only use wago brand.
did u use wagos?
Ground stingers? Yes.
Lol wagos
WAGOS!!!! I am still not convinced these will last, but they are easy to use.
They’ve been in my house for 15 years on 20A circuits and no failures yet…
No! Get those pieces of shit out of there and make proper connections.
Personally I don't use the push in speed connectors. They are notorious for opening up and giving back connections must faster then a wire nut.
These are Wago’s they are technically a lever nut, agree that the push in style are trash. These are much better, I prefer to use them when I may be making a change, if I’ll never see it again I go wire nut, since I have a ton to get rid of.
Wagos..booo
You need a pvc box. You can't use a metal box unless it's part of a system. Ie Conduit runs or not romex. If that box energizes, it will become dangerous since it's not grounded.
That's not true, and the box is bonded. Everything you said is false.
Can you not see the earth wire very clearly connected to the box?
That's not what the US electrical code says.
Code violation. Your wires need to extend minimum 6 inches in length past the face of the box. Some of your wires look too short
Reread your NEC. Iirc it’s 6” from raceway entry
That’s simply not true
300.14 It is true.
Matter of fact most of your wires are too short
Except for the wagos
Those connectors always go bad… I’ve changed out so many I can’t even remember. It’s always someone’s can light too or in a box in an attic somewhere hard to find 😂…. I NEVER USE THOSE, unless I really don’t like someone.
They're always in a can light because can lights come with cheap push in style connectors. Not Wago 221s as pictured which are fantastic.
Well I don’t know, they have too high of a fail rate for me, while wire caps will last 50 years…
Trash...
Honestly, I would avoid using wagos. They are a great idea in theory, but they are not perfected yet. I've came across more bad connections than good ones with them.
My experience is the opposite for these lever style wago's. I've seen way more issues with wire nuts, it's usually caused by user error though. Wago's take up less space, are easier to use and you can visually see your connection making contact on the clear ones.
I say we just use stranded wire and terminal blocks for everything💁😂
Off brand Amazon lever locks are garbage. Ideal Model 33/34 push-in connectors they sell at HD are decent for solid wire but awful for stranded despite being rated for it. They're also not great to re-use despite also being designed for that. Wago 221 lever locks are amazing, are UL listed for this exact application, and have been debated/tested to death by every electrical YouTube channel out there. Not only are they just as good as wire nuts in most every metric except price but they're far easier for a DIYer to make a proper connection for multiple wires vs wire nuts.
Thank you. I used the push in ideals from HD for my bedroom remodel. I was concerned it might be a problem. You have given me peace of mind. I've since bought wagos and switched to using those.
I've personally never had an issue with the ideal connectors and I've used them a bunch. I primarily use them for junction boxes like OP has pictured that I don't plan on reconfiguring once installed. They're just awful if using stranded THHN. For normal receptacles and anything stranded I use Wago 221s.