Heavi-Watt Multi-junctions don't seem to work anymore

I may be mistaken, but this happens all the time, and i thought its intended to behave that way. Had this setup build myself a couple of times by accident, and most of the time it would not work. So i assumed its meant to not work that way. Which would make sense after all. Put two power outlets on top of another, and it would not work, because there is no connection. You need a connection in some way.

Well, similar to a couple of other things that work like this, it requires you put a single spot of conduit, and it's hit or miss.  Pipes in particular.

I've had straight lines for the heavi-watt junctions cause issues for a single square, but until now a corner never caused me problems.  I have a common design I use for my bases that have used it successfully until now.