Always use parts specifically rated for the job at hand.
Household wiring used to be a collection of loose wires floating inside of your walls. Sometimes they would be color coded, sometimes not. That was all left up to the electrician who installed it. Modern building codes require a bit more uniformity and organization. ROMEX® is a type of wire bundle commonly used in home building that consists of essentially all of the wires you need for residential installation all wrapped up in their own non-metallic conduit. Splicing two pieces of ROMEX® must be done inside of a properly installed junction box that is rated for the job at hand. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Shut off the power to the circuit you need to access to prevent injury. Alert everyone on the premises that the breaker box must not be approached until the job is complete.
2. Open the access plate of the junction box with your screwdriver. Place the plate and its retaining screws in a safe place until you need them for replacement after the splice is complete.
3. Slide a piece of ROMEX® into each collared access point. Pull the wires into the box until you have 6 inches of each wire in the box. Tighten the screws on the wire collars outside of each entrance point to hold the ROMEX® in place.
4. Cut through the rubber, outer armor of each piece of ROMEX® in the box with your razor knife. Remove all of the outer armor. Loosen the grounding nut in the junction box. Wrap both bare ground wires around the screw and tighten it to hold them in place.
5. Strip 1/2 inch of the wire sheathing off of both white pieces of wire in the box. Hold the stripped ends next to each other and twist a wire nut onto both of them at the same time. Twist the nut on as far as it will go. Wrap electric tape around the wire nut and continue along the wires. Bind the two white wires as far as possible with the electric tape.
6. Strip and add a wire nut to the black wires in the box. Bind the black bundle with electric tape. Bend the bundle of black wires into a loop and push it into the electric junction box. Store the white bundle in the same manner.
7. Replace the access plate over the open junction box. Install the retaining screws to hold the plate in its proper position. Restore the power flow at the breaker box. Let everyone know that you are done and that it is okay to access the breaker box if they need to do so.
Tags: electric tape, access plate, black wires, outer armor, piece ROMEX®, rated hand, retaining screws
