Wire Repair - Old Wire Bandaids


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Old 01-16-06, 09:47 AM
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Wire Repair - Old Wire Bandaids

I wanted to start this as a discussion. Since this is a DIY board I would love to hear some input. Short of replacing antiquated wiring, what are some of the best techniques to repair or stabalize old wire. I have a few practices I can share.

Old wire in Switch or Receptacle box: Cut back as far as possible to good portion of wire and then I will wire nut newer wire either a 14 gauge or 12 gauge depending, then I electric tape and coat with liquid electric tape. This way nobody has to fuss with the old. I make sure if there is a marked wire or a wire that needs special designation that it is marked.

If its really bad, I may cut out the bad section and run new from a small single gang box and either add a blank cover or a receptacle.
 
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Old 01-16-06, 09:57 AM
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If it's really old wiring, it's probably not grounded. If it's not grounded then you cannot add a junction box containing a receptacle, since that would be extending the circuit which is not allowed since it;s not grounded.
 
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Old 01-16-06, 12:25 PM
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True indeed. I forget that you must touch upon every detail like that. Thanks for making that clear.
 
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Old 01-17-06, 05:48 AM
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If the wire looks bad in the junction box, then you really must check elsewhere to determine its condition.

If the ends of the conductors in the JB are covered with intact but brittle insulation, and the rest of the wire looks fine, I like to sleeve them with fiberglass sleeving. You can buy vinyl or silicone insulated fiberglass sleeve that neatly fits down over the old insulation, supporting and protecting the original (listed) insulation, while at the same time providing its own backup insulation.

An example would me McMaster ( http://www.mcmaster.com ) part number 7453K86 . Note: these sleeves are listed by wire gage for _bare_ wire; you need to figure in the insulation thickness. So if you want to over-sleeve 12ga wire, you will need to buy sleeves for anything between 4 and 8 ga, depending upon the original insulation thickness.

-Jon
 
 

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