Wago 221 vs traditional connector strip: including demonstration and testing point

so once again we're focusing in on those products that are going to make our electricians lives easier here we're looking at the way go to to one connector blockers what's significant about this connector block well he allows us to put two conductors in that will join them together you have maintenance free connector fantastic okay and what if I've got more than two wires I need to connect together so we can step it up two threes and fives etc so we're gonna be using the 2-way one because we're going to be join you together a set of neutrals and a set of circuit protective conductors as if we've simulated feeding a light switch very common than it was regarding of LED downloads etc yeah and then we compare it against maybe the traditional connector block and then look and see what the pros and cons between using a very fast maintenance-free connector and whether it holds true that it will be consistently better as we perhaps move towards a testing process well this is a thing isn't it because we all want to be nice and quick on the installation process we want to get that done as quick as we possibly can but if the speed of that is then counteractive its ongoing by something else then we might end up actually customer cells more time or you know more expense when we don't want to so we're going to consider these quite carefully I love this product I think it's fantastic writer job been around for a long time solid and stranded cables yes and flexible cables yes can I call are those off into here so that's another good bonus yeah so we'll bring the camera in we'll connect them up and we'll have a chat about these so Joe put the camera in nice and close and I can see you've got two slightly different looking stores of Wego connector block they have one that's a two-way and a three-way can dis explains several differences between the two yeah it's mainly in sizing so it's in sizing and it's also in terms of current carrying capacity as well you can see we've got these slightly smaller block on top there that's designed to take conductors of a slightly smaller size and will carry up to 20 amps through there and the bottom one is the larger size which will carry up to 30 amps so Joe this is the slightly larger to conduct a connector from Waco and there's some really important information written on the side of it explain that information to us absolutely yeah like you say is the larger of the two connectors and that becomes really really important because it defines the largest size of conductor that we can connect into here so if you look here you can see that it tells us the range of come exercises that we can connect it can go from point five millimeter squared all the way up to six millimeters squared so that's the largest conductor that we could connect into here six mil there's also some information about the AWG size at the top here should you need it and then down at the bottom some more critical information the highest voltage we can use this on and also the most amount of current that we can run through here safely which is 41 amps so we wouldn't want to be running more than 41 hours through one of these connector blocks when we turn the connector round we can see on the other side there's some more useful information and there this relates to how long the conductor is going into the connector so here we don't want to go beyond 13 millimeters long that's the maximum length that we're putting in there there's a handy guide on the side that shows you how long it is so you could put your conductor against it strip that amount off and then install it of course really experienced electricians will be able to eyeball that measurement and get that near enough to be safe so some really useful information on the side of our connector there let's have a look at the slightly smaller size so we swapped over now to the slightly smaller three conductor connector from Waco yeah is it going to send their information on it it does again very helpfully on this side we can see the the maximum conductor sizes that we can put in so we're going from naught point two millimeter squared all the way up to four millimeters squared and then down at the bottom it tells it that this can handle a maximum of 32 amps of current so we wouldn't want to connect this to a load larger than that and then again when we spin it around we can see that the maximum conductor length is ever so slightly different we can see that that is 11 millimeters max so again you've got that handy guide there should you need it and that's the most amount of conduct that would want to a strip to install into our Lego connected lock remembering those conductors could be solid stranded or fine stranded going into naked oh yeah absolutely and of course with the lever kind of connection that we've got going on here you just plug your conductors in which we'll show you in a moment snap it closed so now we're going to be using the two conductor connectors in order to join together our neutrals and our circuit protective conductors at this switch the reason being with mimicked as if we've taken the supply to the switch and a returning switching line neutral and CPC out to say a number of down lighters we can see the box and the switch are fully insulated to the CPC isn't required but could be required in the future if it was changed for an exposed conductive path over here however we've used a more traditional route exactly the same setup with a supply coming down any issues Joe with those connector blocks the only issue with connector blocks we've been using these for decades and really quite successfully there's not been an awful lot of problems associated with them however there is a risk and that risk is that the tightness of the connection is entirely down to the feel of the electrician a skilled and experienced electrician will know how tightly to do that up so that we're not overtighten in it getting it to the point where we're damaging either the head of the screw or the thread on there or even worse the actual conductor itself but if we've got a less skillful electrician that could happen and also what would be even worse would be is if we were to get a loose connection going on here if perhaps the electrician didn't do it quite tightly enough now the benefit of the way go connective lock in regard to that Gary is what we know they're very fast and will prove that again in a moment we've stripped the conductors to required length we open up the lever on both sides and drop it in bang we know they're quick while closing the lever we've got the required pressure set one manufacturer and that's what makes them wonderful as well yeah so we drop those two in fantastic so we we know how quick they are we've got the required pressure but is there going to be any issues when I start trying to prove that this CP C is present of the switch as a testing process because we were obviously in the future could turn this for an exposed conductive part and the electricians going to have to prove the CPC made the switch so over here Joe is it going to be easy for me to prove a cpc's present absolutely when you look at this connector block you can see that you've got loads of options there for connecting a probe to it we've got a couple of screw heads we could access we could even poke it in the end there and get a pretty good connection going on however with the Wego connect to the thing that I'm quite interested just have a look at is do we have that same ease of connection is it very easy for us to get the probe of a test instrument into that connector block and get a read and get a connection to see if our CPC is continuous to this point I think we ought to get a tester out and have a go and foresee proving continuity at both of these switches let's do that next so Joe we're the very crucial stage now where the electrician is going to have to prove that the circuit protective conductor gets to every point in circuit and in this case down to the switch we're going to start off by proving it at the actual 5 amp connector blocked switch so can we do that for me first please yep so we've got our meter all set up and ready to go I'm going to put one probe on to the common terminal there and I'm in a very fortunate position of having three hands which makes me a really useful electrician we're then going to probe into the screw there of that connector block now we can see from the reading on the meter that we've got naught point 1/2 of them so it was very very easy to get onto that connector block there that was really simple however are we going to have the same simplicity in getting onto the Wego connector because when I look at this if I look in there I don't really want to be shoving my probes down into there I'm not sure I'm going to get a connection in the end of it so what's the solution goes hopefully as a manufacturer they've left us an entry point in their job so if you have a look around you know I think they're going to be labeled something with a test point for us it wouldn't by any chance be this hole in the back a mark test with it that would be my first pause oh look actually wait I've done a fantastic job with this because they've actually given me to testing points there's one just underneath the lever here but looking at that I think I'd need a longer more slender probe to get in there so what they've done as well is on the back here there is a little hole through here marked test and let's see if I can get onto that so I'm going to test on two there and then I'm just going to plug my other probe into here so I'll just get this connected up and there it goes and we're getting north point 1/6 of it ohm there so again that's really nice and simple the reason all there is not so big that it's going to cause any kind of significant harm however it is the right size for me to be able to get my probe of my tester in there I think that's a great little design feature a very well-thought-out product so Joe that was really interesting yeah we got to see as always how quick these Waco connectors are to connect yep and then we looked for maybe a small defect in the fact that maybe could we probe into testin yeah was that an easy thing to do it really was I was really hoping that that wouldn't be a problem I was I was a bit worried cuz I'm thinking all of this kind of goodness all of the good side of this all of the benefits of this could be lost or slightly kind of restricted if that was an issue and the testing part wasn't an issue at all it was very simple just plugged the probe through the the pre design test hole and I got the connection as easily as you like so yeah really really happy with that also one connector does a vast range of amp rating yeah well we know the traditional connector block you have to select a 5 and 15 and a 30 amp connector block yeah so if we're going to say maybe a small negative towards it would you suggest it might be the price that is the only issue we've not got exact prices because it fluctuates all over the place depending where you buy it but it's it's we're looking at possibly three times the price per connector yeah so you know if you look at one connection from there and then one of these blocks they are more expensive in the comparable current range that we've been looking at so yeah but for me the speed or all the advantages and everything just just really outweighs that that small cost issue I don't see that has been a massive factor it's the pressure from the lever and I really like it's that yeah click yeah and done yeah I agree with that with an electrician with with slight OCD which I'm sure many of that Christians will share who isn't he the amount of times you've sort of gone back to it it's tight yeah is it tight yeah it's tight is it thought yes you don't need to worry about that without that's fantastic bonus so in conclusion we absolutely liked the two to one yet way go connect with a lot of you do and we'd encourage you just to nip over and have a look at our race that we had with these against each other we had conductors connected via conventional connect the block and away you go and that you can see the results of that race where me and Garriga went head-to-head yeah yeah when we went to head Ted which one did I get just a reminder to add do not I don't want to spoil yeah okay so go watch the video and you'll see you'll see who who came out on top

Channel: eFIXX

Views: 332,245

Keywords: wago 221, terminal block, testing, wago, connector, fast, electrical, efixx, wago használata, wago lever nuts, electrician, wago lever connectors, how to use wago connectors, wago 221 terminal block connector, wago 221 series splicing connector review, wago 221 connectors how to use, connector strip, wire splicing, wago 222, wago connector, wago connectors, connector block, wires connecting method, electric wire joint, wire connectors, electrical connector, wago current rating

Id: OI5ddnK_3-8

Length: 11min 30sec (690 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 07 2019