How to Repair a Damaged Electrical Wire by splicing in a new section of wire and wiring the junction boxes. This project is continued from Part 1.

Shut Off The Electricity

Before doing any work I verified the wire was “live” with the non-contact voltage detector. The purpose here was two fold:

1. To confirm the battery operated voltage detector was working
2. To watch the detector go silent when the electricity is shut off at the main electrical panel as confirmation the power is Off.

While watching the voltage detector, my helper located and switched off the circuit breaker; I was now confident the wire was dead.

Cut and Splice the Electrical Wire

After verifying the electricity is shutoff, I cut the wire in two at the damaged area:

To correct the Building / Electrical Code violation where the unsupported NM-B 14/2 cable was hanging outside the 2×4 wall, the upper section of wire is pulled up and rerouted through the ceiling crawlspace, fastening it every 4 feet to the 2×4 studs with an insulated cable staple just above the edge of suspended drywall ceiling:

Since I was working with the upper end of the severed cable and had no extra slack to work with, I stripped and prepared the wire in advance so I could better locate the splice junction box:

Electrical Junction Box Wire Splice Repair

The upper end of the NM-B 14/2 wire is inserted into the steel junction box, then the junction box is positioned against the 2×4 wall stud and fastened with two pan-head wood screws. This sequence ensured the junction box was located correctly given the limited length of upper wire.

I cut a generous 10 feet length of new Romex NM 14/2 cable for repair wire splice and connected the wires by first twisting the ends together with pliers and securing with wire nuts. The steel box is grounded by installing a #10-32 ground screw and a bare copper wire pigtail tied to the other ground wires. I set the junction box back about 1/4″ from the face of the 2×4 stud in case I decide to install drywall at some time in the future.

Note: Junction boxes must not be concealed; if drywall is ever installed then an access panel is required to reach the junction box.

Progress thus far: Upper junction box installed and new drop of NM-B 14/2 electrical wire for the wire splice repair.

The lower junction box is attached to the 2×4 stud and the wires secured with NM cable clamps.

This project is concluded in Part 3.

Thanks for reading,

Bob Jackson