4 ms·

I'm curious if there is some productivity-improving tech for electricians waiting to be invented. The following will be super North-America-centric, but: Right

I'm curious if there is some productivity-improving tech for electricians waiting to be invented. The following will be super North-America-centric, but: Right now you have to fasten a box to the wall structure, cut the wire so that about 8" can make its way into the box, strip the outer insulation and insert it into the box, strip at least some of the individual conductors, and then splice (by twisting and using wire nuts, or less commonly using a press-fit dingus) the ones that need to be spliced. You then repeat that for every outlet (which in electrician-speak includes lamps and such) on the circuit. Then repeat that for every circuit. You are now ready for your "rough" electrical inspection (the one before the in-wall wiring is covered). Then before the final inspection you have to individually connect each conductor to (usually) a screw on the actual device before cramming^H^H^H^H^H^H carefully folding the wire back into the box and screwing the device in place, followed by screwing the cover in place. Repeat for every outlet in the unit and you are ready for your final inspection. What I'm picturing is a special box that can insulation-displacement-crimp right onto the wire (probably with some giant pliers. On the inside it has some sockets that the eventual device plugs straight into, possibly with a sort of optional middleware layer that can reconfigure the connections for less common hookups. So you crimp all the boxes to the wire and fasten them to the wall structure and you're ready for the rough inspection. Then after the walls are covered you plug in the devices directly for all of the common configurations (e.g. just a receptacle in a string of receptacles) and fiddle with some kind of middle layer for the oddball configurations (e.g. a duplex receptacle where one of them is switched). As an alternative to the "middleware" maybe there are a collection of different boxes that are pre-configured for the circuit arrangement in question (not unlike plumbing components are today).

keltor 4y ago
There have been attempts to use modular electrical systems, but consumers want choice and flexibility and governments at least in the US want those inspection $$$$s.
frankus 4y ago
Or even something as simple as studs that come pre-drilled at outlet and switch height (they already come pre-cut to slightly less than 8 feet to be the right height when installed between top and bottom plates).
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  What purpose would this serve? A drill and drill bit is a very common, quick, and easy to use tool. If you were screwing a box to a stud, I do not think you even need a pre drilled hole. You can just use any wood screw. Also, outlet/switch boxes get nailed to the studs during construction, and modifications to those boxes are fastened to the drywall, in my experience.
  - georgeoliver 4y ago
    Holes for the wires/cables, not the screws.
bluGill 4y ago
You need to invent it, and make it cost effective. While there is a lot of labor, I'm not sure if you can actually invent something better that is also safe and will last for decades. I welcome you to figure it out though.
throwaway4aday 4y ago
Implementing this would cost a lot more and would need uptake from all of the hardware manufacturers plus building code changes. The productivity improving tech you're looking for is called an apprentice though opinions differ on how much time they save/waste.
- frankus 4y ago
  I mean apprentices are great, but we just got done reading an article about how there's a shortage of workers in the field. You can either train more workers to do it the old way or invent new ways that require fewer workers (or less highly-skilled ones). Kind of how PEX plumbing (whatever its drawbacks) has made it much simpler to plumb a house than it was when soldering copper fittings onto copper pipes was the norm (let alone threaded connections shudder).
mech987 4y ago
insulation-displacement-crimps are not a good idea for the relatively high amounts of power coming through household wiring. Not much contact area, lots of potential for high resistance and heat and oxidation at the contact point. I wouldn't trust them. Then again, wire nuts aren't that great either.
- frankus 4y ago
  Maybe insulation displacement isn't exactly the way to go, but some kind of machine that quickly secures a connection onto a cable, either inline or at the end. And then create modular electrical boxes that those connections can connect to (probably somewhat permanently). It could even start out as basically a fancy wire stripper and a box with push-in connections that switches/outlets subsequently plug into.
VLM 4y ago
So, essentially "power over thicknet ethernet". Nobody liked that tech. "Worked in the lab, and whenever it breaks we can blame the user for improper abuse" was such a fiasco it resulted in the world being re-networked in twisted pair, which ironically is installed very much like legacy power outlets... Also the only way to replace the outlet would seem to be to rip out the entire wall and splice in new cables like a complete do-over which seems a bit extreme although profitable, or do a high resistance fire causing re-crimp. This is "OK" for receptacles that last the life of the house, if the life of the house is short enough, but wall switches would be essentially unreplacable. One idea that might save money is giving up on copper switched wall switches. Feed the wall switch 12 volts and let them speak zwave to control things.
- frankus 4y ago
  What I'm proposing is that the electrical box (the blue plastic thing that's essentially non-removable in current practice) would have the vampire connection to one or more cables passing into/through it, and the actual device (outlet, switch, light fixture) would plug into some conductors at the back of the box. So you could replace outlets more easily than you can today. The boxes would come in a few varieties based on the number of cables that could pass into/through them. Again I'm picturing some kind of intermediate layer between the box and the device that could accommodate less-common connection arrangements, but maybe you lose a bit of flexibility in the name of progress. The connections wouldn't have to be 100% reliable, but at least as reliable than hand-twisted wires and wire nuts (also AFCI breakers could eliminate a lot of the fire risk).
  - VLM 4y ago
    You might be in for a difficult discovery about how unreliable consumer-grade connectors have always been across all the history of EE-land, compared to professionally installed (or even amateur installed) wire nuts. (edited, not to say its impossible; perhaps your innovation would in itself be the world first reliable connector...)
    - frankus 4y ago

keltor 4y ago

There have been attempts to use modular electrical systems, but consumers want choice and flexibility and governments at least in the US want those inspection $$$$s.

frankus 4y ago

Or even something as simple as studs that come pre-drilled at outlet and switch height (they already come pre-cut to slightly less than 8 feet to be the right height when installed between top and bottom plates).

lotsofpulp 4y ago
What purpose would this serve? A drill and drill bit is a very common, quick, and easy to use tool. If you were screwing a box to a stud, I do not think you even need a pre drilled hole. You can just use any wood screw. Also, outlet/switch boxes get nailed to the studs during construction, and modifications to those boxes are fastened to the drywall, in my experience.
- georgeoliver 4y ago
  Holes for the wires/cables, not the screws.

bluGill 4y ago

You need to invent it, and make it cost effective. While there is a lot of labor, I'm not sure if you can actually invent something better that is also safe and will last for decades. I welcome you to figure it out though.

throwaway4aday 4y ago

Implementing this would cost a lot more and would need uptake from all of the hardware manufacturers plus building code changes. The productivity improving tech you're looking for is called an apprentice though opinions differ on how much time they save/waste.

frankus 4y ago
I mean apprentices are great, but we just got done reading an article about how there's a shortage of workers in the field. You can either train more workers to do it the old way or invent new ways that require fewer workers (or less highly-skilled ones). Kind of how PEX plumbing (whatever its drawbacks) has made it much simpler to plumb a house than it was when soldering copper fittings onto copper pipes was the norm (let alone threaded connections shudder).

mech987 4y ago

insulation-displacement-crimps are not a good idea for the relatively high amounts of power coming through household wiring. Not much contact area, lots of potential for high resistance and heat and oxidation at the contact point. I wouldn't trust them. Then again, wire nuts aren't that great either.

frankus 4y ago
Maybe insulation displacement isn't exactly the way to go, but some kind of machine that quickly secures a connection onto a cable, either inline or at the end. And then create modular electrical boxes that those connections can connect to (probably somewhat permanently). It could even start out as basically a fancy wire stripper and a box with push-in connections that switches/outlets subsequently plug into.

VLM 4y ago

So, essentially "power over thicknet ethernet". Nobody liked that tech. "Worked in the lab, and whenever it breaks we can blame the user for improper abuse" was such a fiasco it resulted in the world being re-networked in twisted pair, which ironically is installed very much like legacy power outlets... Also the only way to replace the outlet would seem to be to rip out the entire wall and splice in new cables like a complete do-over which seems a bit extreme although profitable, or do a high resistance fire causing re-crimp. This is "OK" for receptacles that last the life of the house, if the life of the house is short enough, but wall switches would be essentially unreplacable. One idea that might save money is giving up on copper switched wall switches. Feed the wall switch 12 volts and let them speak zwave to control things.

frankus 4y ago
What I'm proposing is that the electrical box (the blue plastic thing that's essentially non-removable in current practice) would have the vampire connection to one or more cables passing into/through it, and the actual device (outlet, switch, light fixture) would plug into some conductors at the back of the box. So you could replace outlets more easily than you can today. The boxes would come in a few varieties based on the number of cables that could pass into/through them. Again I'm picturing some kind of intermediate layer between the box and the device that could accommodate less-common connection arrangements, but maybe you lose a bit of flexibility in the name of progress. The connections wouldn't have to be 100% reliable, but at least as reliable than hand-twisted wires and wire nuts (also AFCI breakers could eliminate a lot of the fire risk).
- VLM 4y ago
  You might be in for a difficult discovery about how unreliable consumer-grade connectors have always been across all the history of EE-land, compared to professionally installed (or even amateur installed) wire nuts. (edited, not to say its impossible; perhaps your innovation would in itself be the world first reliable connector...)
  - frankus 4y ago