On Sun, Sep 19, 1999 at 05:23:40PM -0700, Michael Barker wrote:
> To insure the connection, however,
> the wires were twisted together tightly using side cutters and the wire nuts
> were mainly used to cover and hold the joint.  If the wires were not twisted
> together beforehand, I doubt the connection would be as good.

I worked as an electrician on a construction job for
a Summer (actually, as a helper, but I had tools and
could think, so they gave *me* a helper and had me
work independantly), and we used wire nuts extensively.
There was one thing that was drilled into me, though:
Do *not* pre-twist the wires. The spring will cut into
and hold the wires much more securely if the full side of
the wire touches the springs. You want the force of the
compression created by twisting the wire nut down onto
the wires to be what holds the wires together, not a
relatively loose crimp from a pair of pliers.

--Bob

--
============================================================
Bob Drzyzgula                             It's not a problem
bob@drzyzgula.org                until something bad happens
============================================================
        http://www.drzyzgula.org/bob/electronics/
============================================================