Hot take: Those push-in wire connectors are overused on service calls

I got called out to a condo in Tampa last Thursday because a ceiling fan was dead. Pulled the box and found three push-in connectors that had loosened up over time. One of them was barely gripping the 12 AWG solid wire. I swapped them for wire nuts and a proper pigtail and the fan worked fine. Took me maybe 20 minutes total. Has anyone else noticed these things failing more than they should on 15 amp circuits?

3 comments

3 Comments

martinez.kim1mo ago

i remember reading a study a while back that tested push-in connectors under different temps and vibrations, similar to what @drew55 mentioned about the heat thing. the data showed wago connectors actually held up better than wire nuts in most cases, but the margin got real small when you added constant vibration like from a fan. i've had the exact opposite experience though, found more loose wire nuts on fans than push-ins over the years. might just come down to how clean the wire is or if someone stripped it sloppy before you got there.

bettyroberts1mo ago

Whoa, I gotta push back a little on this one. I've been using Wagos for years on both service calls and new installs and I hardly ever see them fail. The key is making sure you're twisting the wire straight and pushing it in all the way until it clicks. I've seen way more wire nuts loosen up on me from vibration over time, especially on ceiling fans. Plus, those push-ins make it way easier to swap out a fixture without yanking on the box. Maybe that condo in Tampa had some bad ones, but I'd bet it was an older installation or they weren't seated right to begin with.

drew551mo ago

Yeah, I read something a while back about how Wagos actually have a higher failure rate in high heat environments like attics compared to wire nuts. But in normal conditions they're pretty solid if you push the wire in all the way.