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TV cable ran through 12 gauge romex

6K views 26 replies 11 participants last post by  adgjqetuo 
#1 · (Edited)
My basement had 2 tv cables ran in and I only use one. I decided today to try and remove the extra wire since it was easily accessible. (Loose cable laid in the square door to the right). I bundled it up and got to where it came into the house. I pushed back some insulation and found this!!

I used my volt pen and verified its a live wire. By process of elimination I figured out that it was the 20a circuit which first feeds some dining room outlets and then travels to some kitchen outlets upstairs (no GFCI until it hits the first kitchen outlet)

How am into fix this? I can't access the upstairs entry point unless I remove some serious drywall in my dining room and basement (maybe even my hard wood flooring too??). Do I have no choice? This is obviously a fire hazard.

I thought about seeing if I could pull any slack and add a junction box but I'm not sure if that would be allowed.

The wire is inside the door on the right and up toward the top of the foundation tucked behind insulation. The breaker box is on the far left - I left the circuit off for now.
 

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#3 · (Edited)
I can't believe I haven't either. Scary thing is all my neighbors have told me stories about the old owner and how half ass the basement was built by a shady contractor - and this isn't the first time I've come across stuff like this. It makes me want to rip everything out down there and ensure there isn't anything else hiding.

Months back I found an open box with a live wire laying loose within the rafter just laying on the drywall ceiling. Not as bad as this but still makes you worry.

Thanks for the suggestion - if I don't rip out my entire basement ill do that :)
 
#4 ·
All I will say ., Wow!! Ya lucky nothing blow up yet but I know you mention this is above the large cabient door on the right side so if you have room it is pretty easy to put in two junction box and resplice them and that will slove the issue right there.

If you heard any noise like light cracking or humm you will have to move the cable away from power lines ( some of cheap cables can pick up electrical noise if not well protected )

Merci,
Marc
 
#8 · (Edited)
It makes you wonder if the person he hired did it on purpose. It does come from outside but I still can't see how it would be an accident - it comes in about 7-8 inches to the right if where it went through the romex. But even so if it was drilled through by accident, actually feeding it through couldn't have been any accident.

A few months back I found a dead wire with a screw right through the romex. I've also found a live open wire in an open box down there and also lastly, I had to re wire my sump because the plug was dead and I couldn't trace it. Who knows if that wire has something through it too somewhere.

What would you do? Is 4 strikes enough? Should I tear down and re drywall my basement before by house burns down? Or fix and move on and hope nothing else is going on behind the walls.

I have a newborn so safety is on my top list right now...
 
#11 · (Edited)
Getting ready to install the two boxes, but then I got thinking - this closet has my main sewer out, main city water in and also feeds out to my irrigation system outside - I've never had a leak yet, but should these be inside water proof junction boxes rather then standard metal boxes just in case?

Any code violations if I use metal boxes?

Any help ASAP would be great so I can continue or make a quick Home Depot trip tonight so I can regain power to my kitchen!
 

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#17 ·
If you want to part with that treasure, most defiantly donate it. When I was a full time tech teacher I used every thing I could for "Show and Tell". brought in my old dishwasher once for a dissection. Kids loved it and learned alot about control circuits. now I sub in the local regional votech. I am sure they would love to have it.

many times I have directed students to this as well as other sites to find answers to technical questions. got to make learning real and personal. the "show" is part of it and reading, writing and talking about it is the "tell"

bernie

PS man are you lucky finding that!!!!!!
 
#18 ·
Yes that would be great for a tech school.

People wonder how you could possibly loose a neutral in a circuit for example - a lot of electrical safety practices are designed for that possibly happening. Here is an example of what can happen. Someone cuts or drills through a wire...
 
#19 · (Edited)
Wow that's interesting - I never thought that something like that would be of good use at a school. I was honestly going to keep it long enough to show my neighbors and most likely toss it. I don't know anyone I could give it to around me though. If either of you are able to donate it PM your address and I'll mail it to you (first come first serve). I'll just trust you will take it somewhere to get good educational use.

Anyway - project is all finished - cant thank you guys enough for your help - being 28 and a first time homeowner of 3 years, I'm still learning a lot!

The original wire followed the foundation right angle so by cutting the corner and going through the rafter I had enough room to get away with one box. I labeled it (mostly because I'm OCD) but also in case I'm not here someday someone else doesn't wonder what the heck happened. Even though I hope to live here until I retire.
 

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#20 ·
If more people made notes like that for the next guy.....DIY would be a lot easier.....

Did you pull the romex apart to see if it nicked either one of the wires?

But if it makes you feel any better.....a few years ago when I was driving a ground rod for my detached garage....I picked the best of spots....right on top of my underground conduit.....drove that rod right through the conduit...and through the hot...shorting it out....all while my oldest son was holding the ground rod with his bare hands...the CB did it's job....
 
#27 · (Edited)
The wire is secured on the right side after the box and on the left side after it feeds through the rafter.

The box is screwed into the side of the joist on the right-hand side. It hovers about 3-4" above the base of the joist.

As for all the writing - I told you I was OCD :)

It just has the cause of problem, circuit # and Amps, wire gauge, and dates found and corrected. I also made a point to note it wasn't MY error just because.
 
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