smoke damaged romex

[electricalperson]

how many people here replace smoke damaged romex on fire jobs? this job im doing has a ton of smoke covered romex. the insulation is not charred and i meggered it and had 2+ gigaohms of resistance. if i wipe the cable the soot comes off. im replacing all the dark brown/black and melted cables

 

[Minuteman]

I Meg and inspect for damage. Cut out the bad stuff and splice in new, and move on.

 

[electricalperson]

i had a piece of cable i cut that just suffered smoke damage and i stripped it and the other side of the jacket was perfectly white and the conductors were not damaged at all and stripped nice and easy. im just concerned if the insurance agency will want it all ripped out. i would also like to find some notes and guidelines from the nfpa or some organization like that

 

[mdshunk]

I don't replace it if it's just smoked up and megs out okay. Quite normally, whoever has the main restoration contract is going to have anything that's smoked up soda blasted anyhow to get the soot smell out of the house, so that soot will go away soon enough. What you have to be concerned about is brown insulation. That insulation is charred, and shouldn't be permitted to remain in service. You do need to replace a smoke damaged panel and breakers, however.

 

[electricalperson]

that smell of melted plastic is terrible. so many wires were melted and the insulation just dripped off of them and pooled up on the ground or stuck to the joists. its a pretty fun job actually i dont mind coming home filthy. he said once everybody is finished hes going to get a cleaning crew to scrub the joists and someone to insulate the attic. he ripped out all of the insulation i nthe attic the day after the fire.

now that i think about it i should climb in the attic to check the conductors up there. there was a chase that went from the basement to the attic where a lot of cables went up. wasnt really near the fire but he said smoke got up there

 

[frankft2000]

When meggering home wires like this, would a 1000 volt megger surfice since thenwire is rated 600 volt, or would a bigger megger be used? I'm looking at buying one. I do primarally residential work.

 

[mdshunk]

When meggering home wires like this, would a 1000 volt megger surfice since thenwire is rated 600 volt, or would a bigger megger be used? I'm looking at buying one. I do primarally residential work.

I know that Brian John, the voice of authority on this topic, says 1000 volts, but I don't do it that way. I use the 500 volt setting. I'm worried about taking good romex and making it bad, but my fear may be unfounded. Nonetheless, I stick with a 500 volt check anyhow.

 

[frankft2000]

Thanks Megger Expert! lol

 

[Mule]

I also check for dis-coloring and/or anealing of the conductors in any questionable area.... softened conductors wont hold in a wire nut in my opinion...peoples lives are at stake....

 

[electricalperson]

i megger romex at 1000 volts and never had a problem DC tests are not really destructable. insulation starts to get damaged when you use an AC hi pot

 

[wawireguy]

I've installed dirty romex.. replace because it's dirty? LOL! If it isn't burned or heat damaged let it be.

 

[electricalperson]

only time i damaged insulation of romex using 1000 volt megger was when i intentionally cut the romex and caused it to arc across the 2 conductors. the arcing caused it to burn a little bit but not much to start a fire just enough to melt them a little

 

[Mule]

i megger romex at 1000 volts and never had a problem DC tests are not really destructable. insulation starts to get damaged when you use an AC hi pot

I agree, but caution should be used....IEEE has standards for DC and/or AC hipot testing, and with a 300v insulation rating you could degregate the insulation.....did I spell that right...thats kind of big words for me :smile: a small pocked sized booklet is supplied with most Biddle meggers...its called a "Stitch in time" I believe...

 

[electricalperson]

I agree, but caution should be used....IEEE has standards for DC and/or AC hipot testing, and with a 300v insulation rating you could degregate the insulation.....did I spell that right...thats kind of big words for me :smile: a small pocked sized booklet is supplied with most Biddle meggers...its called a "Stitch in time" I believe...

i megger by the rating of the conductors and equipment not by the voltage supplied. i megger 480 volt equipment at 1000 volts. i megger 250 volt ac disconnects at 500

 

[fireryan]

I don't replace it if it's just smoked up and megs out okay. Quite normally, whoever has the main restoration contract is going to have anything that's smoked up soda blasted anyhow to get the soot smell out of the house, so that soot will go away soon enough. What you have to be concerned about is brown insulation. That insulation is charred, and shouldn't be permitted to remain in service. You do need to replace a smoke damaged panel and breakers, however.

what effect does smoke have on a panel and breakers?

 

[mdshunk]

what effect does smoke have on a panel and breakers?

It's conductive, for one.