Factory splice

[mcclary's electrical]

Working in a 60's era home yesterday. Splicing into an existing piece of 14/2 in the attic.I cut wire, stripped sheath, and there was a factory splice made in the white wire. It was stripped about 1/2",,,laid on top of each other, and crimped, (not welded). Then it had a piece of clear heat shrink over the crimp so the crimp was visible, And then the sheath over that. You could actually see the heat shrink on the inside had a dark spot from the crimp getting warm. I think this is poor practice, is it legal? Is all NM manufactured that way and I never was lucky (or unlucky)enough to find one?

 

[iwire]

I bet it is still made that way.

 

[LarryFine]

I've never found a splice in a cable, but I did find a hand-knotted and NON-insulated joint in a roll of THWN/THNN several years ago.

We were wiring gas pumps. We might have missed it if I didn't have the habit of combing the wires with my fingers as they un-spool.

 

[augie47]

chances are if you stay in the field you will eventually find another one or one that is "open". I've found two over four decades.

 

[nakulak]

when you are rolling out the romex and you see a thickened little patch of cable, guess what.

 

[hunt4679]

I have found welded butt splices in NM and mc cable

 

[jwjrw]

I have found welded butt splices in NM and mc cable

Wow I've never heard of it and I's swear its an old electricians tale if I hadnt heard it here. And I still want to see one before I totally believe it!:grin:

 

[SEO]

I have found welded butt splices in NM and mc cable

I have as well. Kind of makes you wonder when you install cables that will never be accessible again and have splices that could go bad.

 

[electricmanscott]

Never saw a splice but I did find a bunch of romex with #12 black and #14 white. This was in a development built circa 1965.

 

[kbsparky]

Found something similar on a job about 15 years ago:

We had roughed-in a new circuit for a wall heater in a bathroom. Went to trim it out a couple weeks later, and the heater would not work.

Troubleshooting revealed that we had power at the panel, but nothing at the heater. Single run of romex, no splices or junctions, etc.

Since there was an open ceiling in the basement below, we ran a new piece of romex, and fished it in ---> heater worked fine after that.

Removed the old piece of wire, and stripped it open to determine why it had no continuity from one end to the other, and viola! There was a jack-leg splice inside of the cable sheath, with a bad crimp on the grounds, and open gaps in both the black and white conductors! This gap was about several inches to a foot with no connection!

I took that piece of wire back to the supply house, and explained the time and trouble I went to over it, and suggested that the manufacturer might be held liable for such poor quality control, etc.

They gave me a 1000 foot spool as replacement for the bad piece of wire, since it was originally on that size reel. They generally don't reimburse for labor, but replacing the whole reel for a 25 foot piece was enough for me at the time.

 

[charlie k.]

Years ago I wired a house for a friend. He had a family room with cathedral ceilings. I picked up some 14/2 and started wiring the recessed lights. When I started the cable had hot, neutral and ground. After about 3 lights when I cut the cable it did not feel right. The ground disappeared. About 100' of the roll was missing the ground. Supplier did make good.

Charlie

 

[steve66]

Never saw a splice but I did find a bunch of romex with #12 black and #14 white. This was in a development built circa 1965.

Sounds right to me. The load must use some current so there must be less on the way back to the panel :grin:

 

[Cow]

We found the ground factory buttspliced in a piece of MC also. It'll probably be years before I see another...

 

[hunt4679]

I have as well. Kind of makes you wonder when you install cables that will never be accessible again and have splices that could go bad.

I will get some pics tomorrow we save all the neat stuff!! I think it is taking up two large boxes now

 

[mivey]

I bet it is still made that way.

I would not think so since it doesn't seem very efficient given the modern equipment, but who knows.

The facility I have been in joins the ends with a butt-end arc weld. The splices I have found in the field (look for a knot in the cable) have also been joined with a butt-end arc weld.

 

[c2500]

I had a roll of THHN #8 that 80' or so into the roll it looked pregnant. It was some kind of repair/defect. Supply house took it back. I would like to have known what was under the mess, but I had no cut any of the wire yet.

c2500

 

[mivey]

I had a roll of THHN #8 that 80' or so into the roll it looked pregnant. It was some kind of repair/defect. Supply house took it back. I would like to have known what was under the mess, but I had no cut any of the wire yet.

c2500

Those big knots set off an alarm on modern machines. They even measure the amount of insulation applied down to the thousanths of an inch on wire that is flying by at high speed. I suspect human error let it get by. When you are in a wire plant, there is a constant barrage of alarms that are being attended to by the workers. Sometimes the workers do the right thing, sometimes they don't.