Pro Handyman Blog

I see a lot of very shoddy electrical home repairs. Some of it is downright dangerous. A lot of homeowners will take a stab at installing various electrical fixtures, but sometimes lack the understanding of what can go wrong and the consequences. It is scary to see black electrical tape as the only thing holding a connection together.

Wire nuts are the way to go. There are several types of wire nuts, both hard and soft bodied. Use the hard bodied wire nuts as they grip and hold better. Wire nuts have a threaded feature inside of the body that twist the wire ends together as you tighten the nut. This is a nice feature in that you simply hold the wires to be connected together side-by-side, place the nut over them and twist. You can use the black electrical tape over the nut after it has been installed if you wish. Make sure the wire’s insulation in covered by the nut so that the bare wire cannot be shorted out if it makes contact with, for example, the side of the metal junction box.

In a typical homeowner job, you will likely see a yellow or red wire nut. The color determines the size and number of wires that can be joined. This differs by manufacturer, but the large home centers carry wire nuts by Ideal. When you buy wire nuts, there will be charts on the packaging so you can purchase the correct ones for your project.