Rant: My buddy told me to just twist the wires together for a quick fix on a ceiling fan

So last week I was helping my neighbor install a new ceiling fan in his living room. He's a good guy but not an electrician, and he swore his friend said you could just twist the wires tight with pliers and skip the wire nuts. I told him that sounded sketchy, but he was in a rush. Sure enough, two days later the fan started flickering and the whole thing went dead. I opened it up and one of the hot wires had come loose and was arcing against the metal box. It melted part of the insulation and left a burn mark. Now I gotta re-run a section of 14/2 from the switch and use proper connectors. Has anyone else had to clean up after some 'handy' person's terrible advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith26420d agoMost Upvoted

What's the big deal about a little arcing? It's basically free mood lighting. Wire nuts are just a scam by Big Electrical to sell more plastic bits. If a twist is good enough for my grandma's old lamp, it's good enough for a fan. Sounds like your neighbor just didn't twist them tight enough with his weak grip.

jessica90220d ago

My house almost burned down from a bad twist, so I use wire nuts now.

blairj551d ago

Keith's right about one thing, a weak twist is the real problem. That's why wire nuts have a spring inside to keep constant pressure even if the wires settle or vibrate. His grandma's lamp probably didn't shake like a ceiling fan on high.