From a recent Home Inspector forum someone asked about snap connectors which is fairly common in manufactured homes. When I am doing a home inspection on manufactured home I often see these connectors at the marriage line to connect a circuit from one side of the to the other.

                                              (from a recent Chelan Home Inspection)

So I did a little more research on these connectors and found out that there could be other permitted uses for them. One that I would not be very comfortable with but it would be okay by the electrical code.

These snap connectors are officially referred to as  “Nonmetallic Sheathed Cable Interconnection Devices” .

Here is what I found pertaining to their use.

They are allowed where Type NM cable (Romex) is permitted, They are allowed in all exposed cable wiring in new work and re-work applications. They are allowed and commonly used for  interconnection of modular components of manufactured  buildings and homes, mobile homes, and recreational vehicles.

But here is the kicker, they are also “allowed to be concealed”  when performing Re-Wiring in existing buildings. This is the part I would not feel too warm and fuzzy about but it is in the code as allowable. I am not big on having a splice that is not accessable.

They are designed for use with copper #12 and #14 solid strand wire. I found their cost to be anywhere from $6 to $8, so not the cheapest solution out there, but they may have their applications.

So I  found the code on these bad boys.

This is from the 2014 NEC- (Bold and underlined mine)

334.40 Boxes and Fittings

(B) Devices of Insulating Material.

Self-contained switches, self-contained receptacles, and nonmetallic-sheathed cable interconnector devices of insulating material that are listed shall be permitted to be used without boxes in exposed cable wiring and for repair wiring in existing buildings where the cable is concealed. Openings in such devices shall form a close fit around the outer covering of the cable, and the device shall fully enclose the part of the cable from which any part of the covering has been removed. Where connections to conductors are by binding-screw terminals, there shall be available as many terminals as conductors.

So there you have it on their use and application. Here is a couple interesting links on these devices.

http://datasheet.octopart.com/208169-1-AMP-datasheet-14548063.pdf

http://www.contact.com.gr/catalog/manuals/NM_Connector_Presentation_Rev3_Web.pdf

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