Changed my mind about using those cheap Wago knockoffs after a fire call in Cleveland last March

I was stripping a burned out junction box in a 1920s row house and found a melted 3-way connector that looked exactly like the no-name clones I'd been buying in bulk on Amazon, so I tossed all 200 of them in the trash and drove straight to the supply house for real Wagos.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_kim1mo ago

Did you ever test one of those cheap ones by just wiggling the wire? I had one spark on my bench.

nina_hall1mo ago

Wait did you actually find that the no-name ones had the same failure pattern as the real ones in that fire? Because I've been seeing those cheap connectors on Amazon for like half the price and been tempted, but hearing this makes me wonder if it's worth the gamble. What exactly was melted on the cheap one - the lever mechanism or the contacts inside? Just trying to picture how bad it was compared to the genuine Wagos I've seen hold up in some rough conditions.

fiona33223d ago

Did they use the same cheap plastic as those dollar store extension cords that melt on you?