[Rav]

In another thread I asked about replacing worn (old cloth-covered rubber) pigtails that feed a receptacle, and I'm going to replace those with new #14 wire. But the wires that enter and exit the box that are wire nutted to those pigtails are the same kind of old wire, and I'm thinking that if they are in the same condition as the pigtails that I should do what I can to make them safer within the box.

If they are worn, assuming it would not be a good idea to cut the wires back towards where they enter/exit the box and splice on new wire, I'm thinking of applying heat shrink tubing to the wires (using a micro torch in hot air blower mode because the box is too small to fit a heat gun nozzle in).

It this a good idea, or should I just leave those wires alone and manipulate them as little as possible (other than connecting them to the new pigtail wire)? Thanks.

 

[ER2]

In another thread I asked about replacing worn (old cloth-covered rubber) pigtails that feed a receptacle, and I'm going to replace those with new #14 wire. But the wires that enter and exit the box that are wire nutted to those pigtails are the same kind of old wire, and I'm thinking that if they are in the same condition as the pigtails that I should do what I can to make them safer within the box.

If they are worn, assuming it would not be a good idea to cut the wires back towards where they enter/exit the box and splice on new wire, I'm thinking of applying heat shrink tubing to the wires (using a micro torch in hot air blower mode because the box is too small to fit a heat gun nozzle in).

It this a good idea, or should I just leave those wires alone and manipulate them as little as possible (other than connecting them to the new pigtail wire)? Thanks.

Post some pics

 

[dmxtothemax]

It all depends on how bad the condition is on the
wiring ? Sometimes just moving them at, all will
cause the insulation to crack and fall away.
Re-insulating the wires in the box only may be
just a partial repair.
You need to consider replacing all the suspect
wiring completely !
YES
Not cheap !
But cheaper than replacing a burnt down house.

 

[Rav]

It all depends on how bad the condition is on the
wiring ? Sometimes just moving them at, all will
cause the insulation to crack and fall away.
Re-insulating the wires in the box only may be
just a partial repair.
You need to consider replacing all the suspect
wiring completely !
YES
Not cheap !
But cheaper than replacing a burnt down house.

Thanks. Yes, that is a longer-term goal. Just want to do what I can for now, since I'm in there anyway, without making it any worse by doing so.

 

[Rav]

Post some pics

Right now the GFCI is installed and I don't want to remove it to take pics (and disturb the wires) until I'm ready to actually do the work. But I've attached two pics I found on the web that look something like my pigtails (condition is not quite as bad at the first, and worse than the second).

 

[joed]

Heat shrink tubing. It comes in many colours.

 

[MrElectricianTV]

In another thread I asked about replacing worn (old cloth-covered rubber) pigtails that feed a receptacle, and I'm going to replace those with new #14 wire. But the wires that enter and exit the box that are wire nutted to those pigtails are the same kind of old wire, and I'm thinking that if they are in the same condition as the pigtails that I should do what I can to make them safer within the box.

If they are worn, assuming it would not be a good idea to cut the wires back towards where they enter/exit the box and splice on new wire, I'm thinking of applying heat shrink tubing to the wires (using a micro torch in hot air blower mode because the box is too small to fit a heat gun nozzle in).

It this a good idea, or should I just leave those wires alone and manipulate them as little as possible (other than connecting them to the new pigtail wire)? Thanks.

Some old wires have a wax coating on it. I don't know if yours does, but if it feels a little slippery it probably is coated. If it does have wax, heating it up to apply heat shrink may be detrimental. I run into this situation from time to time and I usually use electrical tape, white for white, black for black, red for red.

Don't cut the wires.

 

[Rav]

Some old wires have a wax coating on it. I don't know if yours does, but if it feels a little slippery it probably is coated. If it does have wax, heating it up to apply heat shrink may be detrimental. I run into this situation from time to time and I usually use electrical tape, white for white, black for black, red for red.

Don't cut the wires.

OK, thanks. When I open it up again I'll check to see if it's coated.

 

[ER2]

Right now the GFCI is installed and I don't want to remove it to take pics (and disturb the wires) until I'm ready to actually do the work. But I've attached two pics I found on the web that look something like my pigtails (condition is not quite as bad at the first, and worse than the second).

Don't fully understand what you are trying to accomplish.
The pic on the right shows an old cable with worn outer casing, which is usually external to a JB.
You speak of pig tails which would be in the JB.
Don't mean to be difficult but as an electrician I don't want to give advice if I don't fully understand the situation.

 

[Rav]

Don't fully understand what you are trying to accomplish.
The pic on the right shows an old cable with worn outer casing, which is usually external to a JB.
You speak of pig tails which would be in the JB.
Don't mean to be difficult but as an electrician I don't want to give advice if I don't fully understand the situation.

Those were just pics I found to try to show the condition of the wires I'm referring to, not actual pics of my wires. The wires in the pics are old fabric covered, and so are my wires. What I have is an electrical box which contained a non-GFCI combo receptacle and switch. I replaced it a few days ago with a GFCI version of the same. After wiring and closing it all up, I re-thought about the condition of the wires I had seen while it was open and thought I really shouldn't leave it that way, with the pigtails frayed and cracked. So I want to open it back up and replace the pigtails with new wire. The issue I'm addressing in this thread is that I had also noticed that the wires that enter and exit the box (which are wire nutted to those pigtails) are also likely in a similar condition, though I couldn't see them as well since they were stuffed in the back of the box. I thought perhaps I should also deal with those wires, by applying heat shrink tubing. I wanted to know if that was a good idea, or if I should just leave those other wires alone (other than connecting them to the new pigtail wire). I hope that helps explain the situation. Thanks.

 

[Jim Port]

I would slide heat shrink tubing in the proper colors and shrink it.