mkgrady
Senior Member
- Location
- Massachusetts
I have a customer that is planning a large addition and some remodeling in his home. Parts of the existing home are wired in that original Romex that has the reduced ground wire. No sure but I think it runs half the size of the other conductors. He is asking me my opinion on whether or not he should consider replacing the old Romex even where he has no plans to remodel. To do this he would remove lots of the wall and ceiling surfaces. He does not want a lot of cutting and patching and snaking.
So my question is: Is it worth replacing the old romex and what would be the reason to do so? After all, all the larger sized Romex cables have a reduced grounding wire. I have told him the function of the grounding wire is to provide a way for the circuit breakers to trip in the event of a ground fault. He is smart enough to understand what that means as he is an HVAC contractor but I am having trouble deciding if the idea of rewiring is overkill. I guess the answer might lie in the reason the reduced wire is no longer available is sizes less than #10 Romex.
Any suggestions (other than just do it and make more money)? He is by far my best customer.
So my question is: Is it worth replacing the old romex and what would be the reason to do so? After all, all the larger sized Romex cables have a reduced grounding wire. I have told him the function of the grounding wire is to provide a way for the circuit breakers to trip in the event of a ground fault. He is smart enough to understand what that means as he is an HVAC contractor but I am having trouble deciding if the idea of rewiring is overkill. I guess the answer might lie in the reason the reduced wire is no longer available is sizes less than #10 Romex.
Any suggestions (other than just do it and make more money)? He is by far my best customer.