New Wago 221 Inline Connector That EVERYONE is Talking About - And One Thing Nobody Talks About

this is the Wago 221 inline connector so in this video we're going to take a good hard look at these where they can be used how they're used and we're also going to take a look at whether or not they actually deserve all the attention that they're getting so let's go ahead and Jump Right In let's go so here I've got the Wago 221 inline connector over here on the right I've got the original Wago two two ones and then of course I've got what pretty much everybody knows is a wire nut and then Wago introduces the Wago 221 inline connector so first let's notice the size difference as you can see the inline connector is a little bit longer and is obviously a lot narrower than any of the other devices it does take up the exact same room when it comes to cubic inches for instance as this two wire connector over here it's just that this one is in a line whereas this one you have two wires that connect side by side here and then if we compare it side by side with this red wire nut you can see that the Wago is a little bit longer than the wire nut but it is substantially thinner so the reason I bring up the sizing difference is this can come into play especially if you're dealing with a box that might be a little bit crowded maybe you're installing a Smart Switch or maybe you're installing one of these gfcis and as you can see like a Smart Switch these are extremely thick so they can take up a lot of real estate in a box so if we're not talking about multiple sets of wires in a box that's where this can come in really handy just because it does not take up a whole lot of room inside of a box and the way that this Wago 221 works is obviously we've got a port on each side of the Wago that is for where the wires go in lift up the lever take the wiring push it inside of the lever nut that's one thing that's really nice about these is we can look on the bottom of these and verify that they're seated correctly and we can see that there's a little bit of copper below the bus bar so we know it's going to make a good connection once we verified that then all we have to do is flip the lever down and now it is also stuck into place and now these two wires are joined together another great area for these because of how quick they are and easy they are to use is in areas where you'd be using these more traditional butt splices but if your situation calls for a butt connector and you're installing this in a wet or damp location I really would not recommend using one of these in that case I would go get a butt connector like this one here this one is going to be waterproof by the time you connect the two wires into this butt connector then you would heat shrink this tubing down I like to use a heat gun some people use lighter so that's if you want to get a water tight connection and more of a permanent connection another area where the the wagos can come in handy is when we have where we need to make a connection between stranded to solid core and regardless of skill level and experience it could be argued that this is one of the most difficult connections to make the reason for that is when you go to connect stranded to solid core a lot of the times the stranded might not bite as well underneath of one of these wire nuts as say the solid core will so if these two wires are not connected together properly it's more prone to fail so coming from a DIY perspective that might be another scenario where these Wago inline connectors or even the Wago original 221 connectors come in handy when you have two different kinds of wire because like the solid core wire it's as easy as flipping up the lever inserting the stranded flipping the lever down and then on the other side inserting the solid core wire and now we have a solid connection between the solid core and the stranded wires so that being said where I see this really coming in handy is when you're connecting say a new light fixture or a ceiling fan the majority of the time those fixtures are coming with stranded wire on them so you're going to have to connect that stranded wire to the solid core wire that more than likely your home was wired with and I really like these and the original wagos for that particular install because I know that there's not going to be really any issues we're talking about low amperage situations and on the side of all of them they say that they are capable of handling up to 20 amps and that brings me to the next situation where I think these are well utilized and that is extending wires we all know that it is a common situation to start working on something electrical whether it's switching out a switch or a receptacle and we notice that the wires are incredibly short but one of the reasons I really like using these for extending the wires is because number one they don't take up a whole lot of space in a box especially when we're talking about extending wires the inline connector while it is quite a bit larger in diameter than a regular wire it still is fairly close in resembling a wire so I really like these especially in light switch boxes again usually a very low amperage situation and I'm okay with using these to connect 15 amp receptacles again it says it's rated for 20 amps so we're well below that 20 amp rating and for the most part most of the things that we plug into a 15 amp receptacle really don't usually ever reach that 15 amp capacity now another area where these do differ from the original Wago 221 connectors and if we flip the inline connector over to the side we will see here where it says that this is capable of handling 18 to 14 gauge wire whereas if we look at at the side of one of these original Wago 221 connectors we will see up here where it says it is capable of handling wires of 24 gauge all the way up to 12 gauge apart from that they're pretty much identical in what they can handle it's really just the wiring size where they differ so that can come into play if for instance you have 12 gauge wire you would not be able to use this inline connector on the 12 gauge wire as the maximum size for this is 14 gauge but with that being said while this inline connector cannot handle 12 gauge wire not to fear because Wago also has this inline connector and this particular inline connector is also made by Wago it is also awago 221 but it also has a sub series number which is 2401 and it's a slightly more robust not in size necessarily but on the internal components and it looks a little bit different as well since it's got this White Strip on top whereas on this inline connector you can see that it's clear and the Wago 2212401 works exactly the same way as the other inline connector everything about it is essentially the same other than it can handle 12 gauge wire so as you can see here on the side you can use wire sizes from 18 gauge all the way up to 12 gauge wire now another pretty cool feature that I don't really see too many people talking about or highlighting is if you look right here in the middle there's a little cut out and that little cutout or hole that's right there is for sticking a probe in and being able to check your voltage now you can't see it as well on this one since it's clear but on this other inline connector model you can see it a little bit better you got this little rectangle cut out here and that's where you stick the probe in in order to check the voltage I have noticed one slight difference between the two and that's on this 2401 model the levers on it just seem to be a little bit more robust they seem to be just a little bit more difficult in order to lift those levers up which I actually appreciate because I don't want to accidentally have my levers lifted if for instance when I'm pushing these into the back of the box maybe it gets caught on something whereas on this one it's super easy just to lift the levers up and down and of course I'll have links for both of these down in the description along with everything else in the video and if you'd like some more information on the most popular splicing devices that are being used again I did a video in the past where I touch on each one of them I'll post a link to that video right over here and it'll take you directly to it so I hope that you found this video to be helpful and if you did if you could do me a huge favor hit that thumbs up button right down below and of course if you have any questions or comments I'd love to hear about them down in the comment section and I'll catch you all in the next one see ya

Channel: How To Home

Views: 234,715

Keywords: Wago 221 In Line Connector, Wago Splicing device, Wago 221, Butt Connectors, Wago 221 In-Line Connector, How to install a butt connector

Id: wb9K7UFT-zI

Length: 8min 10sec (490 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 08 2023