Hi everyone,
I recently tripped over these wire connectors and thought they were an excellent idea:
They work as you expect - strip the end of a wire, lift the tab, insert and close the tab. Do the same for the other side of the connection. What is really nice about them is if you want to T off a line, they come in 2 wire, 3 wire and 5 wire options. So you can take a main power feed and go off in 4 new directions, for example. Even better, you can leave a port for future expansion if you aren’t quite ready but know you need to come back and add a wire at a given junction.
They also have external test points so you don’t need to un-do them (compared to a traditional wire nut) to test. A brief video is here: - YouTube
I have a kit on order and hope to get it in the next few days. Everything I’ve read and seen says these are ideal. Make sure you get the brand name Wago ones or at least ones with CSA/UL rating. The earlier version one connectors are widely copied and available on Amazon but I’m suspicious of their safety testing. I went with the Wago branded ones, even though I’ll mostly be using them for low voltage.
Anyway, I just wanted to pass the discovery along since I know a number of folks found some of the wires a bit short (like the ones to the control box) and would like an easy way to extend without soldering.
-Jeff
PS: If you’re like me and you curse the mess low end wire strippers can make of a job, check out these compound wire strippers that easily gauge to the wire and then cut and remove the sheath all in a single, one handed, movement: https://www.amazon.ca/Capri-Tools-CP20010-Precision-Stripper/dp/B01018CVM0/ref=sr_1_30?keywords=wire+stripper&qid=1576535785&sr=8-30 I have these exact ones and can highly recommend them for nice clean stripping. You’ll still need something to cut with, they don’t have a cutter on them.