[teamgiants]

Hello, first time poster here. I have been searching for an answer to my issue but can't seem to find anything. I had an unfinished attic with a ton of wiring running through. I had an electrician move a lot of the wiring so that we could finish the space for storage. There is a 240v wire that runs through the rafters. However, there is one spot where it goes from the rafters to the studs, where it is fairly close to the top stud. I was installing some paneling to cover the insulation and completely forgot about this one spot. I nailed all of the paneling in with 1.25" brad nails. After finishing, I remembered that one spot, and sure enough, had nailed close to where the wire was near the surface. I never saw a spark, nor did I trip any breakers. Tested the appliance and it all worked fine. However, I was still paranoid so I removed the paneling. Sure enough, the nail went straight into the wire. I pulled it out, again, no spark no tripped breaker and appliance still worked fine. I am hoping that I just damaged the wire insulation, but really do not want to burn my house down. What do you all recommend?

 

[teamgiants]

Decided to just shut off the breaker and call the electrician. Figured it's not worth the risk. Sorry for wasted post, please delete.

 

[surferdude2]

I would kill the power, cut the cable and run it through a j-box and splice it back together. The danger can't be assessed since it's out of sight. It may be just fine but there is a possibility that a line conductor has been cut down to such a low cross section that it will get hot when the circuit is loaded and act to ignite the wood of the stud. Not real likely but still a gamble you don't need to take.

 

[joed]

Put a metal plate over the wire so it won't happen again.

 

[Nealtw]

Good call, a chip out of a wire could create heat.

 

[teamgiants]

Thanks all for the fast responses! I was tempted to splice in a new section in a junction box myself, but am hoping the electrician will give me a good price after all the work i have given him lately so mad at myself, such a rookie mistake.

 

[Nealtw]

My grandson managed to poke a cable with full sized nail from a gun. It was to be an unfused cable in concrete from the meter to the panel in the basement.

Everyone that looked at it said it was just a dent in the jacket and tape should be good.

But non of them want to do it.

The first electrician called his senior partner who called his boss who called his partner who called the inspector. When the inspector told the partner to tape it, he told his partner to have it taped who told the senior guy who told the kid to tape.

It only took 3 hours.