Nicked the 240 volt Air conditioning wire


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Old 04-18-09, 07:33 PM
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Nicked the 240 volt Air conditioning wire

I accidently nicked the air conditioning wire running through the basement while drilling out a hole for a vent. Is it best to replace the whole wire now or is there an approved splicing method?
 
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Old 04-18-09, 07:45 PM
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You don't have to replace the entire length of the wire, as long as you mount a junction box, (waterproof if outdoors), and then use large wire nuts to rejoin the cables. But you probably won't have enough slack in the cable to do this, so you'll have to replace the one to the condenser unit, or the one to the electrical box, whichever is easier.
 
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Old 04-18-09, 09:27 PM
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Describe the "nick" more. Did you just nick the insulation? Can you see any bare metal? If you can see any bare metal, do you think the metal itself is nicked? Did you nick more than one of the conductors inside the cable?
 
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Old 04-19-09, 09:06 AM
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Nicked the 240

No, sparks flew as I nicked it and popped the breaker. It is way up in the rafters above a suspended ceiling. The concern I had was the draw on the circuit and using a junction box or should I run a new cable (about 60 feet ). The basement is finished in the electrical box area but I think I can fish tape through the rafters. The box would be accessible through the suspended ceiling.
 

Last edited by Did it again; 04-19-09 at 09:08 AM. Reason: Poor wording
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Old 04-19-09, 10:59 AM
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With supened ceiling then yes you can add two junction box and run short new NM cable { make sure they match the size of conductors } but if you feel it very easy to snake in all new cable you can go that route as well.

The fewer splices you make the less the situation will go wrong.

Merci,Marc
 
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Old 04-20-09, 06:07 AM
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Got it fixed

I was able to get enough slack to add a junction box and splice the wire together, after a sore neck and arms reaching into the cramped area. I did solder the connection to ensure connectivity and put connectors on each with electrical tape as a final seal. I'm still not sure that with two junction boxes in this line I shouldn't replace the whole line?
 
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Old 04-20-09, 08:21 AM
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What's the draw of the unit and the size of the wire?
 
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Old 04-20-09, 08:31 AM
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Depends on what you mean by "enough slack". Your interpretation of "enough" may not match the code requirements for "enough".

Solder and wire nuts and tape! You're a real belt-and-suspenders guy.
 
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Old 04-20-09, 08:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Did it again
I'm still not sure that with two junction boxes in this line I shouldn't replace the whole line?
There's no need to replace the whole cable. The splices only marginally increase the chance of failure. Plus, if the A/C ever stops working unexpectedly, you'll know where to look.
 
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Old 04-20-09, 11:32 AM
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Answers to two questions

It is number 10 wire with thirty amp breakers and to question number two the wire was run under some of the original basement construction. By removing some staples and pulling the cable back I still have the box well up in the ceiling and can staple the cable to the areas above the suspended ceiling along the main I beam.
 
 

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