Romex Wet Inside Outer Insulation!? Problem?

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-MIKE-

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I've never run across this before. Can anyone tell me if it's normal or at least if it's something to be concerned with?
The inside of this Romex wire is wet. The paper insulation around the bare ground wire is soaking wet. How the heck can this happen? Do I have to pull it all and rewire?

Romex Wet.jpg
Romex Package.jpg
 
-MIKE- said:
... The paper insulation around the bare ground wire is soaking wet. How the heck can this happen? Do I have to pull it all and rewire?

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Water wicks into the cable from an exposed end in or subject to a deluge of water.

This is comparable to cables impregnated by floodwaters. Southwire pretty much recommends replacement for that scenario.
http://www.southwire.com/support/GuidelinesForHandlingWaterDamagedElecWireAndCable.htm

It will eventually dry out and could be as good as, or almost as good as new... but it may not. To use energize it would be a long term shot in the dark.
 
Did that come right out of a fresh role of nm-b?
I would guess that if it did then it probably sat in water somewhere along the line, the paper filler acts like a sponge when it gets wet. Unless that is a section that was exposed to exterior of a building and soaked up rain water. I know it's used that way all the time but should be UF wire.
 
Water wicking up the cable. Usually happens when it's stored outside with the ends uncovered. It can travel MANY feet. Happens with individual conductors as well, especially larger cables on reels stored outside. Usually sealed on the ends when in storage. Since the conductors are individually insulated I doubt it's an issue. Bare conductor should be fine too. I don't know of any way to dry it out. I'm not a Romex expert, though.
 
From NEMA's Evaluating Water-Damage Electrical Equipment publication:

4.6 Wire, Cable and Flexible Cords
When any wire or cable product is exposed to water, any metallic component (such as the conductor, metallic shield, or armor) is subject to corrosion that can damage the component itself and/or cause termination failures. If water remains in medium voltage cable, it could accelerate insulation deterioration, causing premature failure. Wire and cable listed for only dry locations may become a shock hazard when energized after being exposed to water.
Any recommendations for reconditioning wire and cable in Section 1.0 are based on the assumption that the water contains no high concentrations of chemicals, oils, etc. If it is suspected that the water has unusual contaminants, such as may be found in some floodwater, the manufacturer should be consulted before any decision is made to continue using any wire or cable products.
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http://www.nema.org/Standards/Pages/Evaluating-Water-Damaged-Electrical-Equipment.aspx
 
I've seen it happen on rough where the house wasn't weather sealed; I reckon that's pretty common and I'd be lying if I said we ripped it all out.

Romex is listed for dry locations, but even the NEC recognizes that a dry location may get wet temporarily.

Personally, it's not something that would worry me, but that's your judgement call. Just friendly FYI: Your tick-tester will not work on Romex with a wet sheath; don't blow up your pliers.
 
I noticed that when stripping back jacket on a few feeds to receptacles in weathertight boxes on house exterior. When the wires were run, the ends were poked through before a bell box was in place. It only took a little moisture and some rain to soak the paper.

i made up the box, installed GFCI. I assume it will dry out, since most of the damp area was stripped back and trimmed. This was a recent job but so far no problems with it.
 
FWIW, there was a thread a year or two ago about whether an inspector would accept cable, I believe NM, which had been stored unsealed and exposed to weather for a week or so during construction of a building.
The consensus was that the inspector would be justified in failing it. (It had not been pulled yet.)
 
-MIKE- said:
This is straight from the shelves at Lowes.
I only discovered it AFTER wiring a wall and now I am PISSED! :rant:
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Maybe they had it stored in their outside warehouse at some point. A little rain probably doesn't hurt too much, but maybe you got the reel from the bottom of the stack and it was submerged at some point. I'd demand a replacement myself, if you already have the entire thing installed... don't know what they will say, but you can always tell them you will get a replacement at HD and maybe they will at least compromise - you should have maybe caught it sooner.
 
I wouldn't worry one bit. I would have no problem installing it in my own house. Even better I would be pleased if I could find some wet rolls of Romex that was being thrown out so I could get it no charge and then use it in my house.

Even if there was aproblem, and there won't be, arc faults are gonna save the day.
 
-MIKE- said:
I've never run across this before. Can anyone tell me if it's normal or at least if it's something to be concerned with?
The inside of this Romex wire is wet. The paper insulation around the bare ground wire is soaking wet. How the heck can this happen? Do I have to pull it all and rewire?

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As a manufacturer of such wire and cable (actually Nonmetallic-Sheathed Cable) I would not warranty it or recommend you install it. It appears that this cable was left in the back of a truck, on a dock or somewhere that exposed it to a condition to which it is not permitted. I can also refer you to the NEMA Evaluating Water Damaged Electrical Equipment guide which will also call for this to be removed or replaced. So chances are it was stored in a location that subjected it to saturation.

http://www.nema.org/Standards/Pages/Evaluating-Water-Damaged-Electrical-Equipment.aspx
 
-MIKE- said:
How many times have you stripped the insulation off romex before pulling it through walls? :)
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Good point, If installing a short length and connecting it right away you probably catch it before the entire reel is pulled in, which was maybe what was on my mind to some extent, but rough in of a new building or significant addition and you are more likely run the whole reel without ever stipping off any sheath.

I honestly don't feel there is much of a problem with it other then some nit pick inspector possibly rejecting it. And if he does I am likely to rip it all out and leave it at the return desk at Lowe's even if they won't refund it I may feel the need to show them my displeasure and it is not coming back with me.

There is a good chance they will still try to sell it as cut pieces :roll:
 
ActionDave said:
Do you put some kind of tattle tale inside the wrapper, otherwise how would you even know a week after the install?
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It's just a general statement...lol....It's from my days at NEMA...lol

Actually we would not know up front. However, our chemist tells us that they can determine the level of moisture onto the interior paper if it came down to testing for such things. The NEMA Statement is broad in terms of it...however, if it is installed so be it but just wanted to let you know the rational from a producers perspective as it should not be saturated as shown but then again..If it happens to fail over time due to the moisture then I can promise you if it went to court the reason for the failure, if it was due to moisture in the cable will be determined.

Yes, the tattle tale is when people post it as being wet...lol....good news is it was not our wire so have at it...:sick:
 
Does it matter who made it? It likely left the factory in dry condition.

Can't speak for Lowe's but I know of another big box store that I can possibly see storing some extra stock in the outdoor warehouse. Just recently seen in their outdoor warehouse some buckets that said "protect from freezing" right in plain sight on the bucket - and it was a week or so ago when we were experiencing below zero temps:roll:
 
Here is my view- On a job some years ago during swimming pool excavation work, some directly buried cables were exposed. Some was uf cable, and some was nm cable that had been buried, run out to a shed . The nm was not nm-c, rather it was the old plastic sheath 60 deg stuff. I took a good look at all the cut up lengths, megger'd it with a Biddle megger, found no lowered resistance problems, found no fungus problems, found nothing at all that would be considered dedigration to the cable except the red clay mud we have did stain the outer jacket pretty good. The area it was buried in would be what you folks would call ''tropical jungle''. Very wet during most of the year. Much ado about nothing......
 
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