Moving An Electrical Plug

[Michael Roback]

I am doing a remodel and needed to move an electrical outlet box (4S Box) up as it was too close to the vanity top. It it wired with romex. When I moved it I merely unscrewed the box from the stud and pushed it up about

1-2" and then refastened it. I did not undo the box connector and pull the romex through. In order to move it this way, I had to push the romex into the middle of the stud bay and kind of bend it around a bit. In other words I couldn't just push the romex up and keep it straight. I guess it was stapled to the stud somewhere above. I am wondering if this added bit of pressure on the box/connector is in any way a problem. I have already put a drywall patch on it and put the first coat of mud. I guess I thought that if I did it this way and ever wanted to move that box, I would have some romex in the wall? It is going behind tile so it will be hard to get to unless the tile is removed. Any advice? It is kind of bugging me. I don't really want to redo but will if I need to.

[Travis Jordan]

Not a problem; don't worry about it at all. You should see the way romex is bent behind some wallboards!

[Toller]

When I first started doing electrical work I took some romex and abused the hell out of it; bending it sharply back and forth dozens of times, hammering staples in way way too tight, etc. I then cut it all apart and found it was all fine.

While I don't recommend treating it roughly, it is very durable stuff.

(on the other hand, a mouse chewed through a piece and nearly burnt my house down; go figure)

[Chris Lewis]

According to Michael Roback :

Exceedingly unlikely to be a problem.

Inspectors don't like seeing the wire "tight" - there should always be a bit of slack - many electricians leave an inch or more of slack. In some cases, you'll see a lot more than an inch... I usually leave a couple inches.

By "pushing" on the cable, you formed (or enlarged) a bit of a loop between the box and the nearest cable clamp (or hole in the stud). Unless you had to wrench _really_ hard at the cable to bend it (ie: a cable staple was _very_ close), there won't be any problem whatsoever. Most times there's about

4-8" between the box and the nearest staple. Plenty of room for giving a bit of a push without hurting the cable.

That being said, if the wire is real old (ie: the 40's), the insulation can sometimes be rather fragile. If the stuff didn't come apart in your hands, it's fine.