Romex question

[Roger D]

Hi,

I have an old house with old wiring, some of which is "early romex", that is, plastic sheathed, 14 gauge, with a much thinner ground wire. I'd like to replace that lot with new 12 gauge romex with the fatter ground wire.

Problem - In the attic they fed the old wire down thru a whole drilled in the top sill, into the wall, to the outlet on the floor below. They've stapled the old wire to the top sill and then the wire just bends and heads thru the hole in the sill, down the inside of the wall.

Question - Is there some risk of wear (and fire) from the romex constantly laying on that corner of the hole they drilled in the sill ?

============\ | | | |

In the 'picture' above, the wire runs horizontally along the top of the sill and at the baskslash (\) goes down the hole; at the backslash the romex is resting on the corner of the hole, as it were.

Seems like something should be put between the romex and the 'corner' of the hole.

Thanks !

[jim]

they have been doing it since the beginning of time(well since electricity).. my home i built in 1972 has it like that and never a problem... probably all the housed in the area has it like that... matter of fact almost all houses probably have it like that... worry about something else... no need to worry about a fire from that....

[spamfree]

I was thinking the same thing !!!!

I question the reason to replace it. If it has a ground, he's doing well. Some of the old fabric coated stuff had no ground at all. If it's only for a few lights, I'd leave it alone. If it's feeding the whole upstairs, then it might be worth changing to a #12. Of course the supply to the outlet below that wire will need to be changed too. Of course if it feeds the whole upstairs, I'd take the cable right to the breaker panel directly.

By the way, to the OP. When I wire things, and the wiring is exposed, such as in my garage. I want the wire to lay flat in a corner, I literally hammer the cable around the corner to make a sharp bend. It dont hurt a thing, as long as I dont slam it so hard to puncture the coating (which I dont).

[zxcvbob]

It won't wear because it doesn't move. And the hole is unlikely to have a really sharp edge. After you install the new cable, staple it to the sill before it runs down the hole. BTW, "old work" like this is exempt from the rule about fastening the cable every few feet and within 12" of the box (unless the particular cable is easy to do).

Bob

[Dan Lanciani]

In article , [e-mail] writes: | On Wed, 26 May 2004 12:18:23 GMT, jim wrote: | | >Roger D wrote: | >> | >> Hi, | >> | >> I have an old house with old wiring, some of which is "early romex", | >> that is, plastic sheathed, 14 gauge, with a much thinner ground wire. | >> I'd like to replace that lot with new 12 gauge romex with the fatter | >> ground wire. | >> | >> Problem - In the attic they fed the old wire down thru a whole drilled | >> in the top sill, into the wall, to the outlet on the floor below. | >> They've stapled the old wire to the top sill and then the wire just | >> bends and heads thru the hole in the sill, down the inside of the | >> wall. | >> | >> Question - Is there some risk of wear (and fire) from the romex | >> constantly laying on that corner of the hole they drilled in the sill | >> ? | >> | >> ============\ | >> | | >> | | >> | | >> | | >> | >> In the 'picture' above, the wire runs horizontally along the top of | >> the sill and at the baskslash (\) goes down the hole; at the backslash | >> the romex is resting on the corner of the hole, as it were. | >> | >> Seems like something should be put between the romex and the 'corner' | >> of the hole. | >> | >> Thanks ! | >they have been doing it since the beginning of time(well since | >electricity).. my home i built in 1972 has it like that and never a | >problem... probably all the housed in the area has it like that... | >matter of fact almost all houses probably have it like that... worry | >about something else... no need to worry about a fire from that.... | | I was thinking the same thing !!!! | | I question the reason to replace it. If it has a ground, he's doing | well. Some of the old fabric coated stuff had no ground at all. | If it's only for a few lights, I'd leave it alone. If it's feeding | the whole upstairs, then it might be worth changing to a #12. Of | course the supply to the outlet below that wire will need to be | changed too. Of course if it feeds the whole upstairs, I'd take the | cable right to the breaker panel directly. | | By the way, to the OP. When I wire things, and the wiring is exposed, | such as in my garage. I want the wire to lay flat in a corner, I | literally hammer the cable around the corner to make a sharp bend. It | dont hurt a thing, as long as I dont slam it so hard to puncture the | coating (which I dont).

Wouldn't this (and possibly the original poster's configuration) be likely to violate the minimum bend radius rules?

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

[I-zheet M'drurz]

Bingo, give this person a cigar.

[Oscar_Lives]

Thanks Mr. Clinton!

:-)

[I-zheet M'drurz]

Hey, no problem. Can ah count on your support when the gloom and doomsayers show up? Ya know, the few guys who just insist that every inch of wiring in my home should be prepared to make it through an earthquake??? If'n ya back me up, I'll get ya a date with Monica. If ya don't, there's always Hillary.

[spamfree]

But it DOES move. Just think of all those electrons moving thru that wire.

[Tekkie]

posted for all of us....

Have a short on it and watch it jump!