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My electrician buddy told me to stop using push connectors on outlets. Found out why last Tuesday.
My friend Mike who does commercial work kept saying those backstab push in connectors fail after a few years. I figured he was just being picky since I'd used them for like 10 years without issues. Then I had to swap an outlet at my sister's place in Phoenix and found two of the connectors had popped loose inside the box. The wires were barely making contact and the plastic around them had this weird burn mark. Has anyone else seen those things fail after a few years or was this just bad luck?
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patriciam2213d ago
Honestly I read an article from like 2019 where a guy tested those backstab connectors and found something like 30 percent of them had measurable resistance increases after just a few thermal cycles from normal use. That heat buildup is what causes the plastic to get brittle and warp over time. Mike is right about the commercial side too because those connections aren't rated for continuous load the way a screw terminal is. Ngl I think your sister got lucky that it only had a burn mark instead of actually welding itself loose or starting a fire. Those things are fine for a cheap ceiling light but for outlets that see actual current draw theyre just asking for trouble.
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