Has anyone tried Wago Lever Nuts? It looks like a fast and clean way to connect wires. I'm looking for input on anyone who has actually used these items and not opinions on why their way of connecting wires is better, cheaper, faster, more reliable etc.
Here is a link that shows what they look like:
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Dave, I have never heard of them, but they look interesting. Some of their terminal blocks might simplify wiring.
Steve
Interesting product, it accepts a wide variety of wire sizes!
I've never heard of them either but they certainly look interesting.
Look interesting, the price for the 222 model is .50 each or .30 for 50 or more, the other orange 4 port model 773-164 are $10.30 for a box of 100. Should be good for LV model railroading.
Jack
Looks like they are for solid Romex. Not sure they would meet local codes with inspectors used to seeing wire nuts.
Dale H
From their home page.
2060 Series joins the 222 Series LEVER-NUTS™ lever-actuated Splices in WAGO’s growing portfolio of LED interconnect solutions. Offered in 2-, 3- and 5-pole variants, LEVER-NUTS™ accommodates solid and fine-stranded conductors AWG 28–12
They have them on Ebay and Amazon. Ebay has a nice variety pack for $34. I'm thinking of getting them. Handy little device.
George (G3)
These look terrific! For the last few years I was building homes, I switched from the old wire nuts to Ideal's push-connectors:
They are approved by most local codes and have pretty much taken over from wire nuts in most applications. But their shortcoming was that they really only worked for solid Romex: the internal spring contact made it difficult to insert stranded wire successfully.
These new connectors seem to solve that problem with the lever; and although the video doesn't say so, it looks like the lever also makes them re-useable, another drawback to the push connectors I was using: once the Romex was pushed in, you couldn't get it out.
I'm going to order a few of these and give them a try, if they work as advertised they're what I have been looking for!! Thanks David!
Dave, I have seen these in use for at least the last 6-8yrs in LED street lighting luminaries manufactured by Holophane, GE, and Beta/Cree. In those street lighting applications I have seen 100's in use and have not seen one fail yet. Just this year I have also started seeing them in Cree and Lithonia 2x2 and 2x4 troffers. They are UL listed; rated 32amp up to 400v; for solid or finely stranded wire, so if used per the mfg spec I'm not sure why a inspector would have a issue with them in Michigan. It's a terribly simple product to use.
Scott
Has anyone tried Wago Lever Nuts?
Personally I'm partial to cashews.
Jerry
Jokes or no jokes...codes or no codes, I received my order of 70 of them. Assorted 5, 3, and 2 position. They're very small and the lever is extremely tight. I haven't used any yet (have a broken ankle), but they'll be great on the layout. Connect/Disconnect at will...couldn't be better for the way I change things around. I don't plan on using them in house wiring.
George (G3)
We use them on equipment at the company I work for and they were very well. They even have a small port where you can get a probe in for your mtere to test if you need to troubleshoot things.
are these salted or honey glazed? they look like m&ms............
I just received the Wago lever nuts I ordered, and spent some time playing with them. They take a little getting used to, but I think they're a winner.
The levers are very stiff to operate and quite small for my fingers, but once you get the hang of it you can pry them all the way up to the 90° open position. I tried several different wires, and it takes them all easily - from 22 stranded, through 12 solid romex. They all slip in easily without resistance, and when you clamp the lever back down on them, they do not pull out. They work very well on the small stranded wires that are impossible in Ideal's push connectors.
How they will hold up over time is an unknown, but I ran the levers up and down on various wires 20-30 times, with no loss in performance. The levers seem to be very tough, it takes quite some force to operate them and they don't bend or break.
Dale, it isn't really a spring that holds the wire. The lever pushes down the contact strip and kind of goes over cam, to hold it tight against the wire. The contact strip does seem to maybe be made of spring steel, but it's not relying on the spring to hold.
Dale is right about code inspectors: basically, if they haven't seen it before, they won't allow it. If I was still in construction, I would contact the building inspectors, either personally or through the state office, send them samples and literature and web references on these, and ask them to take a look. That way maybe by next year they'd consider them. As it is, I'm not worried about it... no one is going to be inspecting the spaghetti under my layout!
I have used them extensively on (under) my layout. They work great.
Oakridge1st: How are they mounted to the underside of your layout?
I museum wax. That way I can move them when I need to.
2060 Series joins the 222 Series LEVER-NUTS™ lever-actuated Splices in WAGO’s growing portfolio of LED interconnect solutions. Offered in 2-, 3- and 5-pole variants, LEVER-NUTS™ accommodates solid and fine-stranded conductors AWG 28–12
Do you guys think they would work with the Z-Stuff switch motor wires?
(That stuff is finer than the few Angel Hair samples I've seen at Area 51.)
Ok, I started this thread and finally got around to purchasing several of the 5 connection Wago Lever Nuts. I would highly recommend them! They take a wide range of wire sizes, either solid or stranded and will handle all the current you can ever expect. When the levers are locked in place, you can yank on them all you want and they will not come out. The built in test point is great for troubleshooting you wiring. And if you make changes to your electrical wiring, just flip up the lever and the wire easily comes out, you can use them over and over.
I used them on my SGMA modules and they have worked great for the last few years. Easy to use and they provide a very secure connection. Highly recommended. I found them at Menards.
John.
Oakridge1st posted:I have used them extensively on (under) my layout. They work great.
Looks good. I intend to use them. How did you secure them to the board?
Lima posted:Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:2060 Series joins the 222 Series LEVER-NUTS™ lever-actuated Splices in WAGO’s growing portfolio of LED interconnect solutions. Offered in 2-, 3- and 5-pole variants, LEVER-NUTS™ accommodates solid and fine-stranded conductors AWG 28–12
Do you guys think they would work with the Z-Stuff switch motor wires?
(That stuff is finer than the few Angel Hair samples I've seen at Area 51.)
That's my question as well. Currently I'm using the Euro-style terminal strips for Z-Stuff switch machine wiring, but they are quite tedious to mount. Installing wiring while under the layout is a bit time-consuming as well. These look pretty intriguing and if they create a great connection...
George
Double sided tape?
I have used Wago Lever nuts extensively for DIY electrical work. I don't think I will ever go back from this connection method. I have used the 222 line and find them indispensable. Given their straight-in design, there is zero stress on the wires and the resulting connection is much easier to work into a junction box because the wires are not physically twisted into a stiff bundle with a cap that extends further. The conductors can actually rotate independently to adjust the final resting position of the connector. You can add one conductor at a time and firmly lock each independently into place. Each conductor can be a different gauge with an equally-firm connection.
I have used them on 12 gauge solid and 14 gauge solid and stranded wire (although I typically tin stranded wire with solder). I find the quick-connect, quick-disconnect, ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) operation to be the most-important feature that makes them worth every penny for a DIY project. Making or breaking the final fixture connection, especially for heavy light fixtures and ceiling fans, is a one-handed, snap-lock operation instead of a two-handed gathering and twisting operation. If you are alone and on a ladder, this is a huge benefit. When you come back one day to replace that light fixture, you will love how easy you have made this for yourself (or the next owner with different aesthetic taste).
If you are replacing outlets and fixtures in middle-of-run boxes, you can convert series wiring to parallel wiring that locks the electrical circuit connections into place and adds single pigtail connections to each outlet. This further simplifies the installation or future work on the outlet. It also isolates downstream outlets from an issue with a single outlet.
Especially on existing-work projects where you cannot see what's in the wall, isolating conductors to identify the cables is a key operation. There is a test-point opening to allow conductivity testing without removing the connector. Lever Nuts are perfect for impromptu wire caps, allowing you to safely tuck a partially-completed project into the junction box and re-energize the circuit if necessary.
No matter how much planning and research I do, as a DIY'er who can go months or years between wiring projects, final testing of modifications will eventually uncover a wiring problem. The time savings when troubleshooting circuit problems are significant. Disconnecting the wires to re-test and reconfigure the circuit with zero additional strain or bending of the wire ends is another huge benefit, especially when working with conductors that have been cut too short by prior electricians or DIY'ers, or on old wiring with insulation that has become brittle. And unless you have developed serious skills with lineman's pliers, making a firm mechanical connection on up to five conductors is far easier and requires less physical strength than traditional twisted wire nut connections.
There exists a newer 221 product line with connectors that are 40% smaller. I have never used them, but I expect equally-great results from a nicer design. This line comes at a higher per-connector price, so I see no essential need to use these connectors unless you are starting from scratch or have an extremely tight volume to work within.
As for reliability, these are broad surface-area connections (as opposed to edge connections on push-in connectors) that will not fail even under extreme conditions. I have watched videos of Lever Nuts of both styles passing 120 A of current and maintaining their electrical connections firmly. The wire insulation burns away long before the Lever Nut casing melts away, but the physical wire connection remains completely intact.
Source the product well, because pricing varies quite widely from vendor to vendor. While professional electricians who want to extract every possible bit of profit from their jobs may stay with the cheaper connection methods, I gladly pay the approximately $0.60 to $1.50 extra cost per outlet to gain the convenience and benefits of using Wago Lever Nuts. Anyone who comes across your work in the future will thank you profusely for making their lives easier.
P.S. I see a question regarding the usefulness of these connectors with very-small-gauge wire. I can see how this would matter a lot to hobbyists such as yourselves in low-current, low-voltage applications. My suggestion would be to tin smaller stranded wires, and if the wire is smaller than 28 gauge, solder a small length of a larger gauge wire to the leads and use that in the Lever Nut. I imagine that could be almost as short as the depth of the connector itself, but that might hide a strain-induced connection issue. If you have room for the connector itself, this ought to make the connections sound.
I hope this helps.
P.P.S. The Lever Nut product lines include commercial mounting options that you might want to consider for attaching the connectors physically to your work including strain relief and in a way that allows them to be removed and serviced. As an example, check out the Wago 222-500 Mounting Carrier. It includes a plate that can be physically screwed to any flat surface.
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