Hi, I ran into an issue in my garage and i need to run several new lines throughout the first floor of the house and the easiest way i can determine is to utilize a steel beam that runs across the garage. the beam is about 25 feet long and i framed it out with 2x4 and is kind of built into the beam to that there are about 8 inch tall vertical "studs" that i can drill holes into and run the wires. As i run the lines through the framing i will drill holes through the 1 1/2 inches of the 2/4 that extends past the i beam and then run along the joists to get to the final locations. My questions are 1) does this violate the NEC? 2) if i can drill 14 three quarter inch holes in the short studs (done before nailing in place) can i run up to 14 separate wires mainly 12/2 12/3 and 14/2 14/3 NM and two 10/3 for HW heater / dryer and two 8/3 up to kitchen for appliances or are there limits to the number of wires i can put in this set up. Nail blocks will be used everywhere as i am a bit paranoid about not having them! any thoughts or concerns also welcome thanks!

I have 1 of my interconnected smoke detectors that is not getting power. Green light is not on. I've confirmed the detector works and I have switched out the cable that comes with the new detector. All other detectors are operating properly. I've checked light switches and it does not seem to be wired to any (smoke detectors are on their own circuit). I'm not very experienced with this type of work. Any ideas?