Common Wire Splices and Joints

• Western union short tie splice - the most widely used splice or joint in interior wiring installation extend the length of wire from one point to another
• Western Union Long Tie Splice - used extensively for outside wiring to extend the length of wire from one end to another
• Y Splice - Generally used on small cables because of the strands are flexible and all can be wrapped in one operation
• Splicing - electrical connection or joining of two or more wires that conduct electricity in a building
• Jointing - Can be as simple as twisting the wires and tapping them or more detailed using a variety of inline adapters and connections
• The britannia joint - a form of electrical joint used for bare overhead wires where great tensile strength is required
• Straight Joint - The copper wires are separated for a length about 2 inches from the end and carefully cleaned with emery cloth
• Tee Joint or Wrapped Tap - used on large solid conductors where it is difficult to wrap the heavy tap around the main wire
• Rat tail or pig tail - commonly used to join two or more conductors inside the junction box
• Knotted Tap Joint - All the splices discussed are butted splices. Each was made by joining the free ends of the conductors together
• Plain Tap Joint - used where the tap wire is under considerable tensile stress circuit
• Aerial Tap - used as a temporary tap usually done in construction sites. The easy twist will facilitate tap wire movement
• Duplex Cross Joint - a two-tap wire turned simultaneously and is used where the two tap wire is under heavy tensile stress
• Cross Joint - The same application is done as in plain tap and the only difference is that this tap is a combination two plain taps placed side by side with each other