pstigerfan Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Was going through my inventory of Christmas stuff last night, trying to prepare for setup in about 4 weeks (I have 22 boxes of stuff altogether). I realized that I had purchased SPT-1 vampire plugs, along with SPT-2 wire (about 1000' total) from Home Depot.I don't really feel like returning the wire, since I'm in a time-crunch. I thought I read on here you can use SPT-1 plugs with SPT-2 wire, but I can't find that thread. Is it safe to do that, and if not, what do you recommend?Another "stupid" question from a newbie.... Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Safe ? Yes.Will it work? Maybe, depending on your plugs.SPT2 wire has thicker insulation. SOME -1 plugs and sockets do not have "teeth" long enough to pierce the insulation and make good contact with the wire.I have also seen the "teeth" bend and not pierce the insulation at all.It depends on your plugs, might work, might not. I have seen it go both ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pstigerfan Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 JBullard wrote:Safe ? Yes.Will it work? Maybe, depending on your plugs.SPT2 wire has thicker insulation. SOME -1 plugs and sockets do not have "teeth" long enough to pierce the insulation and make good contact with the wire.I have also seen the "teeth" bend and not pierce the insulation at all.It depends on your plugs, might work, might not. I have seen it go both ways.If it matters, I got my plugs from both CDI and CLS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Two different suppliers. Using a product for a purpose it wasn't designed for. As I indicated, it may or may not work.Some testing might be in order, to find out for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I tried to use SPT-1/3 plugs with 16/2 SPT-2 wire and there's no possible way that's going to work - the wire simply won't fit the plugs without making dangerous modifications to the wire - definitely not worth it. Maybe if your wire is 18 ga it might make a difference, but I'd still recommend returning it and getting the size you need. Takes a lot less time to return it than taking a trip to the ER or the county morgue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pstigerfan Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 George Simmons wrote: I tried to use SPT-1/3 plugs with 16/2 SPT-2 wire and there's no possible way that's going to work - the wire simply won't fit the plugs without making dangerous modifications to the wire - definitely not worth it. Maybe if your wire is 18 ga it might make a difference, but I'd still recommend returning it and getting the size you need. Takes a lot less time to return it than taking a trip to the ER or the county morgueGeorge- I absolutely agree with you 100%. I'm just going to return it to Home Depot and order what I need through CDI and CLS. Since most of my plugs are from CLS, I'll probably order what I need through there to make sure everything is the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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