How to Splice Conductors
- 1). Strip off an inch of insulation from the tip of both wires to be spliced, using a wire stripper. Place the stripped ends of the wires against each other at a 90-degree angle so the wires will resemble the figure X. The axis of the splice should be about 3/4 of an inch from the tip of each wire.
- 2). Grip the insulated portion of the wires up to the axis of the figure X firmly with regular pliers. Grip the stripped wires above the axis with another pair of regular pliers and twist the pliers in opposite directions. Repeat the procedure until the wires have completely twisted around each other. Make sure that the connection is tight. Over a period of time, loosely spliced wires can create sparks that will corrode the wires and possibly burn the insulation.
- 3). Cut the tip of the splice about 1/4 inch from the tip, using diagonal pliers. Insert the tip of the spliced wires into the opening at the base of a wire nut which has same color as the wires and which is properly sized to cover the splice, without exposing any of the bare wires. Twist the wire nut clockwise until it is tight. Tug at each wire to make sure that each wire is secure. Repeat the whole procedure if you are unable to create a tight splice.
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