Did I disconnect this outlet safely?

In my basement there is an opening to the crawl space that is under my family room.

The opening and crawl space is VERY cold (and makes my finished basement cold) so I wanted to fill the opening (leading to the crawl space) with insulation but the previous owners but an electrical outlet in the opening.

This outlet was the last one on the circuit and I found the outlet it was connected to (i.e. the previous outlet on the circuit).

I disconnected the crawlspace outlet and also disconnected it from the previous outlet (i.e. both ends of the romex wire).

I couldn't pull the romex out of the wall completely because it must be stapled behind the drywall, so here's what I did:

1) Put the loose end of the romex (where the crawlspace outlet was) inside a junction box. I didn't use wire nuts or anything. I just put the romex inside the junction box.

2) On the previous outlet (the outlet was connected to this one), I pushed the romex out of the box the best I could.

Is what I did safe?

 

If you have plans on reconnecting this receptacle at any time in the future, I would have wire nutted both free ends and enclosed them in separate junction boxes with covers. Either that, or cut the romex too short for it to be connected back to the live circuit and leave it hanging. Of course pulling it all out in the event it will be permanently abandoned is the best choice.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will never use this outlet again because I'm filling the opening with insulation (and I didn't think it was safe to put insulation over a live electrical outlet)

Also, I couldn't put a junction box on the one end of the wire because it's inside a wall outlet box. In hindsight, instead of pushing the wire out of the wall outlet box, I probably should have just used wire nuts.

However, is what I did safe?

One end of the wire is inside a junction box (without wire nuts), and the other end is just pushed outside/behind the wall outlet box.

 

Cut it off where it enters the box and shove it out. Remove the box on the other end and as much of the cable as you easily can.

 

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you mean.

Here's what I have:

One end (unconnected) was placed inside a junction box for safety (so I didn't have a lose end just hanging inside the wall).

The other end, which was connected to an existing outlet, was simply disconnected and pushed outside the outlet box and is now just hanging freely inside the wall (without wire nuts or anything).

Does that make more sense now?

 

You can remove that box if you want, leave the wire in the wall, and patch the hole in the wall or just cut the cable off, shove in the wall and put a cover plate on it.

That was a correct way.

 

Cut the end still in a junction box so short they cannot be reconnected.

 

OK - Thanks everybody!

I've cut both ends so there are no loose wires (i.e. the wires inside the romex cable).

 

Then you have it done correctly..