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Wago’s / conductor preparation

Baldyhugh
Hi


I find myself using the lever 221 wago’s more and more now mainly for lighting circuits but have a question regarding conductor preparation prior to insertion in the wago once the required amount of insulation is stripped off. A solid conductor seems to just go straight in but do you twist a stranded cable and a flexible cable or put them in untwisted? I can’t find any guidance on the box or on the wago website. What do other users of these great little inventions do with them?


Thanks


  • 0
    Baldyhugh:

    would you twist the stranded aswell? I remember a while back the debate about meter tails in a cage clamp terminal of a consumer unit main switch for example. The consensus was to keep the strands straight for a better termination. I think that the smaller conductors, say 1.5mm suffer less from strands rearranging than the larger but would be interested to hear other opinions


    No, only fine stranded. So 1.5 mm² (and upwards) singles go straight in. I have a lovely Facom stripper (and don't understand how it doesn't damage the strands), but if using a penknife, I would twist the sheath as I pull it off. I don't think that it matters whether we are talking about Wagos, choc-blocks, plug, or any other type of terminal, fine stranded gets a lazy twist.


    As for stranded, they are made with a twist in any event.


  • 0
    Chris Pearson:
    Dutch of the Elm:

    I guess the spring-loaded grip on the conductor is what gave me the impression that they should only be a temporary fix - have I misunderstood then, and are they okay for permanent work?  


    I keep a few of the older style ones with my tester for R1+R2 and ring tests.


    My understanding is that all Wagos are maintenance free (in a suitable enclosure), but for T&E the 773 series are cheaper. Clearly the push in types are not suitable for fine-stranded. A lazy twist seems to be the right thing to do.


    From their site:



    All our electrical interconnection solutions are distinguished by:



    • ...

    • Maintenance-free

    • ...



    Chris Pearson


    would you twist the stranded aswell? I remember a while back the debate about meter tails in a cage clamp terminal of a consumer unit main switch for example. The consensus was to keep the strands straight for a better termination. I think that the smaller conductors, say 1.5mm suffer less from strands rearranging than the larger but would be interested to hear other opinions


  • 0
    Very nice!


    Saved me a job too.  ?


    Thanks.
  • 0
    Much better than choc bloc in any application where it may thermally cycle or shake loose - we use them a lot  in vehicle/ genset settings - if you want them tidy ,they make little brackets that can be screwed to the wall of a box or clipped to a DIN rail, but it is rarely necessary.

    picture here



    or for the smaller bodied ones order part nr 221-500

  • 0
    Dutch of the Elm:

    I guess the spring-loaded grip on the conductor is what gave me the impression that they should only be a temporary fix - have I misunderstood then, and are they okay for permanent work?  


    I keep a few of the older style ones with my tester for R1+R2 and ring tests.


    My understanding is that all Wagos are maintenance free (in a suitable enclosure), but for T&E the 773 series are cheaper. Clearly the push in types are not suitable for fine-stranded. A lazy twist seems to be the right thing to do.


    From their site:



    All our electrical interconnection solutions are distinguished by:



    • ...

    • Maintenance-free

    • ...

  • 0
    I hope so there must be zillions in use
  • 0
    Hi. 


    Strangely enough I use them for bench testing too but a while ago when doing a quick fix on my flat, I used 'Wago-like' connectors in the back of a switch box.  I always meant to go back and replace them with a choc-block or something more traditional, as something was telling me I'd have got a raised eye-brow or two for leaving them in permanently.


    I guess the spring-loaded grip on the conductor is what gave me the impression that they should only be a temporary fix - have I misunderstood then, and are they okay for permanent work?  


    Thanks,
  • 0
    For things like lighting flex and so on I agree, if you do not give the tails a quick twist afte stripping it 'hegehogs' horribly and may end up hanging by a thread or two.

    (I once had a semi-automatic wire stripper that put in a beautiful twist as it pulled the insulation off, but who borrowed it I cannot recall,  and I've not seen one like it for years)


    Or if you know that it will need to be be undone repeatably for some reason (I (mis)use the lever type wagos for bench testing a lot, so if there are 100 of something to be rapidly energised and then removed again..) I'd use a bootlace ferrules and crimp, but for permanent installation that rather undoes all the advantages of the small size and 'no tools' installation.
  • 0
    Usually a finger twist to stop any stray whiskers

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