14-2 600 volt wire

[snipergirl]

My fiance and I have been remodeling his mothers' house we just wanted to take out a couple of walls than found old wiring that was connected to the new wiring so we took out all the old wires. My question is this we had an electrical outlet catch fire last week when I shut off the power to the main breaker to take it out I found the wire to be a gray 14-2 600 volt what is this used for as it was connected to another outlet as well I have never heard of such a thing used in residential before.

Anyone have any ideas all help would be appreciated.

I do understand that you cannot hand out advice to do it your self such as my self I am just trying to understand why something like that would have been used on an outside kitchen wall as well as an inside wall for regular outlets. Just trying to gain knowledge and information.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

If the cable is gray it is probably UF which is rated for outdoor and in the ground use. It stands for underground feeder.

Let me remind you we cannot help with diy projects but questions as you stated we can help.

 

[snipergirl]

But I found this in the kitchen on an inside wall and that does not make sense to me. I live in central MN and this is an older house that desperately needs to be updated.

 

[augie47]

Soutwire and Encore are two of the leading manufacturers of NM & UF cables. Both companies show those products to be 600v rated. This allows the product to be used on voltages up to 600v as well as "standard" residential voltages.

 

[snipergirl]

So that is ok to use for a residential outlet? I thought it would be more for heavy appliances such as a stove or refrigerator.

 

[LarryFine]

1. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about inside or outside walls.

2. UF cable is solid plastic, while NM is tubular with filler paper strips.

3. UF may have been used because it's what the installer had handy.

4. The gauge of the wire depends on the circuit and load requirements.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

So that is ok to use for a residential outlet? I thought it would be more for heavy appliances such as a stove or refrigerator.

Yes, it is okay to use UF inside however it is more difficult to work with. It must be all they had available as Larry stated

 

[drcampbell]

A cable rated for 600 volts can be safely used at any lesser voltage.
Likewise fuses, circuit breakers, fuseholders, lampholders, switches, et al.

I've seen some older cloth-covered NM (non-metallic) cable that was grey. (or had turned grey over the years)

 

[winnie]

First I want to compliment the OP for taking the time to understand the forum rules; very few people do this.

Virtually all 'normal' building wire has 600V rated insulation even though for residential applications it gets used for 240V at most.

If, as we are guessing, the wire is 'UF' cable, then it may be used for any application where normal NM may be used, in addition to being used underground. However, unless there is a compelling reason to use UF cable then if I say UF cable used where NM would be acceptable, it would scream 'hack job' and I would look very carefully for other problems.

UF cable is more of a pain in the donkey to work with; it is stiffer and harder to strip, and is more expensive. But by its design it doesn't wick water and probably has better UV inhibitors ( I don't know if _all_ UF cable is made for outdoor exposure, or only that marked for sunlight resistance.)

-Jon

 

[infinity]

No offense to the OP but given that you have already had a fire you should hire a competent licensed electrician, there could be other problems that your inexperience will not allow you to find and could have deadly consequences.