Posted by Matt Wilson [71.170.81.169] on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 at 13:13:01 :
I'm adding some outlets and a switch to my garage, and making the connections using junction boxes in the attic. When twisting the ends of the wires with my lineman's pliers (before putting the wire nuts on), I boogered up some of the wires pretty good. The pliers have rough, serrated jaws, and this seems unavoidable on the soft copper wires. I'm a little concerned over these nicks, because I've read on some forums that nicks can lead to broken wires over time. So now I'm getting concerned and wonder if I should re-do them.
Also, I wasn't using my head, and on one set of wires, I twisted them in the wrong direction (opposite the nut tightening direction), then I un-twisted them, straightened them out with the lineman's pliers (which added more nicks and gouges) and re-twisted them correctly. Those wires are now cold-worked and more brittle, possibly making them more sensitive to gouges.
How big a deal is this? Do I need to cut off the nicked parts and start over? How do I avoid this to begin with, since lineman's pliers cause this kind of damage? I want to pre-twist the wires, rather than just relying on the nut to do it. Surely electricians must run into this.
Thanks!
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