4 ms·

Here's what they look like wired up. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1A5LF7NIWnw/T-M82wntRaI/AAAAAAAADZE/OQRcosKVVxE/s1600/To+Ensure+a+Connection,+there+are+Two+Spli

by rascul 4y ago

Here's what they look like wired up. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1A5LF7NIWnw/T-M82wntRaI/AAAAAAAADZE/OQRcosKVVxE/s1600/To+Ensure+a+Connection,+there+are+Two+Splicing+Jaws+for+each+Wire..jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1A5LF7NIWnw/T-M82wntRaI/AAAAAAAADZ... Supposedly you can just press the insulated wire into the splicing jaws but I've found that only works about half the time and I need to slit the insulation for the splicing jaws to make contact. And then sometimes the screw clip things that hold it in the wall get messed up so it probably needs to be ripped out of the wall, which means the wall needs repaired before putting it back in. Regular outlets are preferred.

amluto 4y ago
That’s... bizarre and not particularly safe looking. A UL listed name brand old work box costs under $3. A UL listed name brand outlet costs less than $1 (or rather more if you want a nice one — $3 gets something entirely respectable). A cover plate costs $0.50 or less. A nice Klein wire stripper costs $20. So for about $7 I can buy a terrifying mobile home outlet that uses insulation displacing contacts and has serious risk of making an accidental high resistance connection and also puts the insulation right next to where heat would be generated. Name brand UL listed parts cost less, can be safely reworked without risking losing the wire behind the wall, almost certainly work better (and the tamper resistant versions protect against little kids to some degree), and have actual respectable contacts for the wire. Heck, even throwing in a torque screwdriver to make the connections correctly will amortize away quite quickly at any sort of scale. But a 110 punch down tool will not make those evil connections on the mobile home part — are you supposed to bang on it with a flathead screwdriver or do you need a fancy spring loaded tool that may well cost more than a nice wire stripper?
- ssharp 4y ago
  The $7 cost is substantially lower for the manufactures buying these things at scale. That would apply to outlets and work boxes, too, but I'm assuming the retail / wholesale difference is much higher with the mobile home parts. I'm also going to guess that these are much faster to install that proper outlets and work boxes. I've never seen one of these things get built but I'd guess the ability to quickly throw up drywall and then be about to float these outlets wherever need be (similar to old work boxes), without needing to put boxes on studs and drywall around them is a considerable time savings. They may also have tooling that makes making those single wire connections much faster/reliable than you'd be able to attempt to do at home.

by rascul 4y ago

amluto 4y ago

That’s... bizarre and not particularly safe looking. A UL listed name brand old work box costs under $3. A UL listed name brand outlet costs less than $1 (or rather more if you want a nice one — $3 gets something entirely respectable). A cover plate costs $0.50 or less. A nice Klein wire stripper costs $20. So for about $7 I can buy a terrifying mobile home outlet that uses insulation displacing contacts and has serious risk of making an accidental high resistance connection and also puts the insulation right next to where heat would be generated. Name brand UL listed parts cost less, can be safely reworked without risking losing the wire behind the wall, almost certainly work better (and the tamper resistant versions protect against little kids to some degree), and have actual respectable contacts for the wire. Heck, even throwing in a torque screwdriver to make the connections correctly will amortize away quite quickly at any sort of scale. But a 110 punch down tool will not make those evil connections on the mobile home part — are you supposed to bang on it with a flathead screwdriver or do you need a fancy spring loaded tool that may well cost more than a nice wire stripper?

ssharp 4y ago
The $7 cost is substantially lower for the manufactures buying these things at scale. That would apply to outlets and work boxes, too, but I'm assuming the retail / wholesale difference is much higher with the mobile home parts. I'm also going to guess that these are much faster to install that proper outlets and work boxes. I've never seen one of these things get built but I'd guess the ability to quickly throw up drywall and then be about to float these outlets wherever need be (similar to old work boxes), without needing to put boxes on studs and drywall around them is a considerable time savings. They may also have tooling that makes making those single wire connections much faster/reliable than you'd be able to attempt to do at home.