in the beginning of the video, test hot AND neutral, you never know if it was properly wired, maybe the hot is the neutral! or there is a backfeed

I'm no electrician, just a DIY homeowner/landlord, but the grounding solution shown here still "goes against code" since a grounding screw is not to be used for any other purpose (such as one used to secure/clamp the romex). To double-check, I looked it up in the code; that restriction is covered in 250.148 (C)...I'm guessing that a dual purpose creates a greater risk that the grounding screw will later become unbonded to the box. The alternatives seem simple enough; permitted grounding/bonding equipment is found in 250.8 (A)...if the old box doesn't have a spare threaded hole for a dedicated machine screw, one of those green grounding clips would do, assuming that's what's being referred to as a "pressure connector" in 250.8 (A)(3).

FYI: You should test BOTH Hot and Neutral wires. I've seen some DIY in my home and on KZfaq (OMG) where they use whatever color they want for hot/neutral/ground. Yikes!!!

If I saw good twisted and soldered splices, I would save the wire length and shorten the splice to the length for a wire nut and twist on a wire nut. Your approach also works fine.

I wouldn't use the cable clamp screw for the Equipment Grounding Conductor. Drill and Tap for a green screw. That way you can torque it properly.

I agree with Ed. 44 years as a residential electrical contractor. You never use a steel romex clamp to ground a box, ESPECIALLY if there is a romex under that clamp. I also use the 3M wirenuts with the skirt. You have more copper twisted together. Much better connection. Cutting the good copper even shorter is a bad habit too.

WAGO’s are the Way to Go! Absolutely love them. First heard of them on your channel. Keep up the great videos. Some of the best on KZfaq.

I've done push in type, but this is even better! Thanks!

1) using the clap screw as a ground would be a code violation. Its probably fine, but it would be preferable to drill and tap and use a green screw in the electrical box. 2) you didn't test the neutral wire for hot, something could be miswired somewhere or it could be a traveler wire in some cases. Always test each wire to see if hot. Additionally the touchless testers are ok, but I prefer to also test with a DVM before I start working on the wires.

Nicely done!! I've stored that one away in the memory for later.

Love love LOVE setting the Wago up BEFORE trying to hold the fixture in one hand, manipulate the stiff wires with the other hand, and ... errrrr ... screw on the caps with the third hand?! Yeah, funny thing, I was not ISSUED a third hand, so this is a SUPER suggestion! Very helpful! Off to the store to pick up some Wago! Thanks!

As other's have pointed out, using the wire clamp screw is a no-no code-wise. Either drill and tap or go with a slide-on box-edge grounding clip. I have a collection of such clips along with green grounding screws of various lengths/diameters for retrofitting existing installations.

New to your channel, lot of great stuff for a DIY’r. Thank you!

I use those Wago nuts all the time now but I do go one step further and wrap electrical tape on those levers because they can pop open easily when placing the wires back into the metal boxes. Yes, I learned the hard way.

Always check BOTH black and white... you never know which was the switch leg, until you prove it out. Also, you shortened already short looking wires... you could have trimmed them back slightly, and wire-nutted it, or, not trimmed it, and used heat shrink insulation and a wire nut. Better choice to an already good electrical connection.

I just finished wiring my barn for lights and outlets using wago connectors for the first time. Shaved quite a bit of time too!!!

Great tips. Wago is the way to go with these electrical tasks.

By Code these wire must protrude from a fixture or outlet a minimum of 3 inches... in any dimension, each conductor shall be long enough to extend at least 75 mm (3 in.) outside the opening. Exception: Conductors that are not spliced or terminated at the outlet, junction, or switch point shall not be required to comply with 300.14.

Another thing to think about is max box fill. I didn’t look this one up but boxes have a max fill based on the conductor fill, yoke, cable clamps and support fittings. Like I said i didn’t look this one up but it is a code item

I was an electrician for 39 yrs. and it's been my experience that most pressure type electrical connections fail in time. The twist type wire nut if installed properly fail far less. I always preferred 3M brand wire nuts. Never been fond of pressure type ground connectios either. Grounds are extremely important and should always be treated as such ,your life or someone else's can depend on it. I was always taught that the code is bare minimum. If you can improve on it so much the better.

There are Green ground clips (that are approved) that push over the edge of metal boxes for case without the tapped screw hole (really old stuff)

My ground wires are back wrapped like 4 inches from each box. Maybe you could do a video on refitting old grounds like mine. Love you videos!

Should definitely check neutral wire. I just had a circuit with a three way light switch go out. I checked the breaker and it was on. I then started to check the connection on that circuit and found a hot neutral. Then found a failed three way switch that was approximately 25 years old.

250.148(C) A connection used for no other purpose shall be made between the metal box and the equipment grounding conductor(s) in accordance with 250.8. The language has made for some debate, but I read that as the ground connection should not be doubled as a NM clamp screw. You can use a tap bit (Ideal has a nice bit set) to create a threaded hole in the top of the box, and attach with a standard ground screw.

Never use your linemans to grab wire and put into a wago or anything. Use your fingers. You could nick the insulation. And yes, drill and tap 10/32 for the ground screw, use a ground clip or use the hole in the box made for it. Gotta love resi guy’s techniques.

What are the wire strippers you are using in this video?

I suspect at the time the old fixture it was in compliance with the code of its time. I remember: good mechanical joint, solder, rubber tape, friction tape was the standard most everewhere.

Could you please suggest how to wire shop/ceiling Fluorescent Lights into an ordinary outlet?

Well everyone is right about the dedicated ground screw, but lets not forget that for older boxes without a threaded hole, there is a green metal clip that slides over the front edge of the box. Sometimes called a ground clip. Since these wires were all soldered, cloth friction tape would be the solution. It was used for years before plastic and becomes a solid mass over time. It will not come off! Also better quality plastic tape is long lasting too, it is the cheap stuff that fails to adhear over time. I too think I would have just connected to the free ends with wire nuts or wago connectors. There is no better connection than solder, not even wago. Solder only went away because it was labor intensive.

So what if the wire from the electrical panel to the light fixture have no ground? What do you do in that situation?

I worked on a house that had knob and tube wiring. All of the connections were soldered and taped, but there were no junction boxes. Also, back then there was no such thing as the plastic tape we have today, but a cloth based "friction tape".

Great video. thanks for sharing. Quick question; how long have the Wagos been per code? (Been a while since I worked in the electrical field and a lot has changed.)

I would expect that soldiered connection to outlast wago or wire nuts, i would have kept it.

Another advantage of Wago connectors is when stranded and solid wire are being joined together. Wire nuts are pretty easy with all solid or all stranded wire, but a mix of both can become a problem when using wire nuts. (I am sure pros would say never, but for DIYers- yes.)

Ummmm . . . I've seldom seen ground wires connected with other than crimp sleeves (in professional installations). Does the NEC allow Wago for ground wire connections?

I will also add that after about 40 years of hanging lights, It is far easier to attach the pig tails in the box and put them into the fixture when mounting the light. Then make the final connection with the light mounted. Why would you ever want to make a connection with a four foot or even 8 foot light hanging loose.

I have a similar situation. I'm trying to replace a fluorescent light with ballast over the sink with an led fixture. The fixture is powered by a switch on the wall. I opened the florescent light fixture to get at the wires and there are two separate sets of wires. One set has two wires (black and white). The other set has three wires (black, white, and bare copper). The two wires were connected to the three wire set. Once I took them apart, the two wire set has no current even with the switch turned on. The three wire set has current even with the switch turned off. I'm confused as to why there are two sets of wires, why one set of wires have current with the switch off, and how to wire the led fixture which only has three wires (black, white, green). I want to still turn the light on using the wall switch.

That was done correctly..... Although not how we do it today.... Another pro tip..... Take that little volt stick and throw it as far away from u as u can.... You need a meter....use a stick to quickly check voltage if you have to and then check with your meter.... And never get in between those neutral wires like you were doing..... That is a lesson you won't forget.... Unbalanced loads on your neutral, is a thing....

The box seemed to wiggle around a lot. Was it secured to anything?

If you start a petition to get Wago to make an inline 4 terminal connector, I'll sign it.

👍 well done 👍

Test the neutral side too. Not all homes are wired properly. (Edit: just saw Da Hai Zhu's post...but it's worthy to post it again, I've seen this error more than once)

I've been using Wago connectors for several years. I love 'em. However, I've often wondered about the actual surface area of the contact with the conductors. With a wire nut, there's lots of contact, but with Wago, the contact is quite small. I couldn't disassemble a Wago to see what the actual surface area of the contact is. I ask this because, years ago, the NEC stopped allowing back wiring of receptacles with 12AWG. My understanding at the time was that it was a concern over the actual surface area of the contact.

What! No fourzee! One thing that happened to me with the Wago’s, I pushed the wires into the box and the lever hit another wire and flipped open. Gotta be careful about that.

I like lever nuts, but when I ran into old soldered connections in my house, I left them be. I think the lever nut is less reliable.

Replacing 1" twisted pair of (mechanically sound) solid, and SOLDERED copper wire with a "Wago 221" connector, instead of replacing the tape with a red wire nut, is by far the most regressive effort in electrical wiring you could make. Wago connectors were designed for ease of use and time saving, not for improving the soundness of the termination.

Wouldn't it make more sense to buy a plug in LED fixture and convert that ceiling J-box to a receptacle? Then you would have the option to plug in the light and have an extra outlet, or plug in two lights for extra light. All in all, still love these videos.

Solider was legal for years. so it was legal at the time. learned this from a old timer electrician. He started in the elec trade back in the early 1950,s, and this is how he was trained before wire nuts were used. i started in the elec trade in 1978.

You don't have to use green ground screws?

Why don't they make a 4-wire WAGO? That's the one that I seem to need often and you could have used one twice in your box. Besides, the 5-wire just takes up more room in the box.

Question: I turn off the breaker in the garage to replace the light fixtures and there was some spark in the neutral. Why is that?

It's against code to use the screw from the clamp as the ground you must put a grounding screw pigtail or clip

What do you think of those ground wires being crimped together to begin with? I keep finding them all over my house. It looks cheap...but it's just ground wires...so I'm always hesitant to bother wasting Wago's on them.

Insert obligatory non contact voltage tester disclaimer

What would you do if you had a plastic box rather than a metal one with no ground wire in the box?

Will you make a video on how too attatch a new light fixture? I'm kinda stupid 😅

What about NFPA 70 300.14?

instead of adding that pigtail to ground the box, could you have just connect the bare copper wire coming from the Romex cable to that box screw and get same results??

I’ve never cut length off wires coming out of box . Once it’s gone it’s gone.

Wago is fantastic

I would have left the soldered connections alone. They are more mechanically and electrically sound than almost anything when done properly. Cutting them off made the wires too short. They were short to begin with. Never had electrical tape drop off. If anything, it gets gooey with age and is nasty to get off. You can always wrap friction tape over it like the old timer's did. Needed to drill and tap for a separate ground screw if there isn't one in the box.

if you do this trade long enough, there will be a time you will have to work things hot and knowing the proper tools what is essential. In this scenario, I would have used a pair of Dikes. In this trade work as if everything is energy.

It appears that your j-box is flapping around in the wind, not very secure... is that code compliant?

Are those lever nuts code compliant? I'm anal and would never shorten wires if not necessary. I"ve come across situations where wires have been shorten and is a pain in the butt to work with.

Wago commercial buried within bad technique. Just shorten the well-twisted and soldered wires and install a wire nut.

The box ground is not to code the way you showed to do it.

Watch those neutrals. If' it's a MWBC you can get bit pretty hard if you touch the wrong things at the right time. Other electricians will know what I mean LOL.

I would have left the wires soldered and just snipped the tip slightly so a regular wire nut would fit over it completely.

Shortening the conductors length not a good idea and if it were a code compliment installation when the work was originally done it’s now non code compliant the conductors are not to proper length and improper use of grounding method. Ask your friend Joel welsman he’s a master electrician he would advise you.

I appreciate your videos. However you state you have enough wire length to cut off when the standard is 6 inches. You cut off to 2 inches.

That sure didn't look like a green ground screw..

Why you like wago connectors? They are free to you but for the common home owner wire nuts are more convenient and a he'll of a lot cheaper!

hello, any chance for us to work together? we willing to sponsor a 4K POE security camera system to you to install or test out. The detail i had emailed you and waiting for your reply.

No, you check both sides. Hot, neutral & ground

Anyone else thinking in 30 years people will be wondering why we used these plastic clips. Not sold on the idea unless it is for low power LEDs that need frequent changing.

Technically it’s still a code violation. The wires are to short.

I don't understand why you would use WD 40 or any other oil on electrical wires. So what if the insulation is a little sticky. Also you might be cutting and stripping the sticky part away anyway. WD 40 is oil. It breaks down plastic, like insulation for example. It also ignites if it gets hot enough or if there is a spark arc from a loose wire. When I was a kid, my Dad had a bug zapper. The electric grid inside was getting rusty, so I had the brilliant idea to spray it with WD 40 so it wouldn't rust. Being young and stupid, I failed to see my flaw until it zapped a bug, created a spark and caught the thing on fire, and almost caught the roof of the house on fire. Being a dumb, smart kid, I unplugged it and hit it with the garden hose, and saved the house. Lesson learned, the hard way.

Box needs to be drilled and tapped to accept a ground screw.

Wires cut too short.

The connection made by those wires being twisted together and Soldered was 500 times far superior to those Connectors you used. The surface area from the wires being twisted like that and soldering, so much better. Throw some rubber tape on those connections and then the black tape and it would’ve been way better. Also, you shorten that up so much now the wires are too short. I know you love those connectors and I know it’s the craze nowadays but I guarantee you that twisting your wires together is far superior to those connectors. There have been tests that have been done on KZfaq to prove that point.

FYI, wago is german so the W should be pronounced like a V

👍👋👋👋

I have to 100% DISAGREE with your video. The twisted, soldered, and taped wire connections are way more solid and secure and safe than those newer connectors. I love Wagos. Yes they are good. I use them all the time. But there is NO good reason to cut out and replace those soldered and taped connections. Saying tape will dry out and fail ? No. I have taken apart tape insulated connections that were older than I am, and they are just fine. And I work on all kinds of industrial machines, even where oil gets in. Never a problem with the tape. I think you are falling into the trap of thinking old is bad, new is good. The intelligent approach is to evaluate each situation for it's merits and detractors. It is a cop out to think old is bad, just because. Someone did an excellent job on that wiring and you cut it out. If you were that concerned with the tape, why didn't you just re-tape it? ? ? By cutting all the wires back, you shortened all of them. Not a good practice either. I would NOT have taken the approach that you did with this job, but hey, your channel, your rules. I just want to give people a different prospective than the one you presented here to stimulate thought. Good day. --Doozer

DAAA

Why not just put wire nut on.It is already for it . You sir are a the mixed up

🤓👍👌🖖✌️😎

People who cut wires too short are clowns

This guy is an amateur don’t take him seriously

Sorry, you lost me a “wagon”. I’ll stick to real electrical work, not Lego